Ladies and Gentlemen,

Am interested in your (each and every one of yours) opinions on replacing air suspension with coils.

What I have seen is that replacement bags won't break the bank...and neither will a conversion kit. So in the end, what are the risks/benefits of each? Has anyone actually done the conversion and can it be done in the driveway by an old Army helicopter mechanic?

Also my intent with this post was to have a pure suspension thread for future reference.

Thank you all!
Shannon
Oh, the old Disco his 182k last week!!!!

 

Bags are better IMO.

 

yes you can do it in your driveway. extra set of hands helps and you need two jacks at least one a bottle jack. some will agree getting rid of the bags and putting in springs is the way to go. as the SLS system ages hoses start to go, the bags leak the compressor can go and its costly to repair the whole thing piece by piece not to mention dizzying... there is a video on youtube i think by justin at lucky8 where he shows step by step how to do the swap.

 

I like the bags. In some cases I know people who have tried to make the bags work but have so many issues that they just get tired of it and swap to coils. Also it is a good time to get a lift if you go to coils as well. The smooth ride of the bags is so nice compared to the front of the vehicle. I also have the Range Rover on all bags and it is pure butter of a ride.

Just about anything can be done on these trucks as long as you are mechanically minded, no special training required for the most part.

 

Keep the bags, definately, if I had known better at the time I bought my Disco I would have passed and looked for one with bags.

 

After driving both i prefer the coils due purely to reliability factor. I had Bags on another truck and the AZ weather played games with the hardware. It was great when towing, but i am fine with the ride from PHX to Parker without them knowing i wont be a bag down on the road at some point.

 

...ever since I put a 8 oz. of slime in each air pockets ALL the strange and inconsistent deflation issues went away. I used to be scared to have the kids sit in back SE7 seats. Since fix I have towed, packed the car with 14 5-gallon paint buckets, etc. and never a problem. Takes about an hour, just be very careful taking off the tubes as the angle is awkward and I think people swapping in new bags end of tweaking the nipples and have issues later on from that, even with the new bags.

I know others feel the slime will get sucked into system and destroy everything, I beg to differ...

 

I have had both. I cant really tell that much difference really, but I like having the coils myself one less problem to deal with.

 

I've opted to go with replacement bags, hopefully will have them in this weekend. It's my wife's Rover, and with the bags working we think the SLS system is a very nice ride. If it were mine, I'd swap to coils with a small lift at the same time because I'd want to take it off-roading and like the look of a small lift. She only prefers her pavement queen to look and ride great.

BP of Utah sells the Arnott (lifetime warrantee) bags for $115 each on sale. So we are going to give it shot before we toss out a nice system.

Good luck either way!

 

If you take the time to understand the SLS system, it's very easy to keep it reliable.

My DII is almost 12 years old and has 155k miles on it and works fine - I replaced the OEM compressor with a Viair unit and the exhaust solenoid is now aftermarket also - both were direct connections to OEM wiring; all you need is a reducing T from Grainger, MSC, etc. (I think 1/4 top T and 3/16 on both ends, since I wanted my compressor to use 1/4) $120 for compressor, $20 for solenoid, and it'll never die.

Plus I keep off-road height button, remote control lowering/raising for hitching trailers, and she will auto-level with heavy payloads/trailers. AND my retrofit is significantly cheaper than coil-spring conversion.

I don't see the debate