Hey all,

The parking deck at my office is 6'8". That's fine for the stock height, but I'd like to add a roof rack, some lighting, and other accessories to the Disco, which will put me well over the height limit. Has anyone converted the front and rear to bags for the purpose of lowering the truck when necessary? I know this is somewhat silly, but interested to know if there is anyone with experience or a kit.

Thank you,

E

 

You'd have to add height sensors for the front, and the BCU probably isn't equipped to handle the additional inputs.

 

... I assumed it would likely need to be a completely aftermarket solution ...

 

Sorry there is no coil to air suspension kit but you could sell your D2 and buy a LR3 or Range Rover Sport.

 

Or P38.
A conversion would be a big job.

 

There is a couple on YT (GrizzlynBear) who converted their Defender to air suspension. It was an aftermarket solution with auto-leveling function (useful if you sleep in a roof top tent or in the car). Since suspension of the D2 is similar, that could work with some modifications. Maybe ask them, they used the kit from airbagman: https://airbagman.com.au/

GrizzlynBear video:

 

If you had a stand alone system...it could be done. A system that does not rely on any imput from the rover systems. You could mount air bags and sensors and control all four counters independently with dump valves. You'd have to modify front shock assembly. Now, the million dollar question would be...is this going to offer you enough clearance...even after doing this?

 

Do you have rear SLS (air suspension) now? If so - You can buy an accessory plip and lower the rear enough to get in now. Otherwise - no.

 

Fully deflating and inflating every time doesn't seem good. You can do it. There was a Disco 2 with 4 Airbags online. But if you're only doing this for height clearance in a parking garage it doesn't seem worth it. When you have off-road tires, lift, and rack you have to tolerate putting the car outside or finding garages where it fits. Keeping it under 8 foot is the best option. Mine is 7 foot 11 inches high without the loaded roof rack.

You need to buy the Nanocom to lower the SLS. There might be another cheaper computer but I don't know of it.

 

Recently been looking into this myself as I'd love to have the adjustability and ride qualities of air ride on my D2. Specially in the off camber environment of the mountains here in Colorado.

Long story short, yes, it can be done, and there's lots of options out there to do it. The biggest modification is the need to move the front shock mount off to the side, like it is on the P38. The RAC twister kit ( https://www.racpartsltd.co.uk/produc...-2-twister-kit ) does this, so it's seems like a non-issue? You can use the OE Rover airbags from the P38, they should bolt right on. Or, there's a few nice aftermarket options that provide up to 15" of travel that I don't think would be to difficult to fit. ( https://www.universalair.com/shop/02...tegory=1#attr= ) Also, the technologies today enable the use of a pressure sensor rather than the old style ride height sensors, so it becomes much easier to install and run this kind of system.

The control system is where I'd probably go aftermarket, as I hear OE Rover stuff was pretty unreliable. But today's products seem to have no issues, as long as they are installed properly, and maintained for it's environment. You can get premade system if you have the cash to play with, that will include air tank, compressors, air fittings, air line, wiring, and a control computer of some form. Or, you can go DIY, and source used parts on Marketplace or the like. All depending on your abilities and pocket depth. Stay away from the ultra cheap stuff tho, reliability is reportedly an issue.

This guy made a bad a#@ system for himself, that includes auto tire pressure and even an air operated clamp to hold his camper down. ( Info on his control system starts at about 8:00 )
There are no plug and play kits available that I have found for the D2, but like I say, there's LOTS of ways to DIY... Anyway, good luck, and Happy modding!