I've been forced to make the decision between replacing an airbag and sensor and converting to springs. I opted for a 2" ome that is waiting to be installed with the conversion parts.

I have read a handful of threads on the topic but I've been finding conflicting answers to my situation.

An important part of the process is reprogramming so the disco thinks it originally came without SLS (my understanding at least). The closest dealership is 3 hours away and a small local euro mechanic shop says they will have the device(s) necessary to reprogram "sometime in the near future".

My question: In the meantime what is my best option for avoiding problems, alarms, and battery drain? I can remove the compressor entirely if necessary and I can deal with a dash light but if I can do something like remove fuses without disabling anything else that's important I would really appreciate some guidance. Thanks in advance.

 

I removed my SLS. Zero issues. I never had it reprogrammed. All that would happen is occasionally the air suspension fault light would illuminate. No alarms. Beeping. Or battery drain. I rode it like that for 6 months. My truck was frequently not driven for a few days at a time. No issues or problems.

 

Good to hear. Did you remove the compressor?

 

Nope. Left it. I had plans to remove it but never got around to it

 

Here are a couple ideas.


Start a new thread on this forum with a subject line that says you're looking for a forum member in your area with equipment to reset SLABS settings. There are lot of members who've bought things over the years who'd be happy to help you out. You could stop by my house but I'm a little far away for that to be practical.

OR

You don't say what year your truck is but you could just buy a used SLABS unit that is already set up for coils. I bought an updated SLABS from an '03 to get the more CDL-friendly programming and I have the old one in my garage that you could have for cheap if you don't have CDL or don't care about that programming. The SLABS is very easy to swap out.

 

My 2001 came converted from bags to springs. It turns out the PO didn't reprogram anything, though, so it would drain my battery if I left it sit too long, as the compressor would cycle intermittently. I didn't realize this for quite a while though, it just would be dead.

After I figured out the problem, I first pulled the fuse and relay for the compressor, which I initially thought fixed the problem. One day when I was crawling around under the truck, I could hear a faint clicking sound from the compressor box. It turns out there are some solenoids there, and they still had power from somewhere.
If you unplug these, you'll get an unpleasant tone if you drive over 20 mph.

By this point, I was paranoid as I was planning to leave the truck for a week in long term parking at an airport and I didn't want any surprises.
There isn't a LR dealer anywhere near me either, but I found a European import place that had software that would do what I needed.

They charged me (as I recall) 1/2 hr labor to switch it to springs as well as disable superlock. Money well spent in my book.

No problems since.

 

I pulled the compressor, relay, fuse, valve blocks, and sensors. I installed an 03/04 SLABS unit in preparing for an 04 CDL linkage. Funny thing though I slapped the 99 SLABS into my parts truck and it's never showed a SLS fault. I don't go over 20MPH in it as it's got a bad engine, but no SLS fault at start up like I was getting in the 99 before I swapped the SLABS unit.

 

IMO an SLS truck for road and green lanes is far superior to replacement coil springs and far superior for autoroute towing. However, if offroading and needing additional height under the frame it is preferable to change to springs but the onroad performance at speed and cornering is compromised. Many lift their trucks without castor correction but it's bad news IMO.

 

I'd have kept the SLS, but I wasn't going to pay 200.00 for Aluminum Air Bag Spacers.....

 

All I did was disconnect the height sensor arms and wire-tie them in place at a level setting so the system thought the truck was always level and the compressor wouldn't turn on anymore. When inspection time came around, I asked my indy guy to turn off the SLS option.