So my 03 has rear air suspension. It works as it should during day to day use with a variety of light-ish loads and under no load. It will squat to the bump stops on occasion if it senses a load when stopped and the engine is off. Not sure if that is normal but I figured it’s some kind of setting for loading and unloading? But it has always returned to normal position and off road height always works when tested.

That being said, I was going to take Chloe, along with Disco Steve, on her first overlanding type excursion this weekend. She was loaded with rooftop tent and gear. By far the heaviest load she’s seen under my ownership. However it was far below the stated 1488 lb payload capacity. So as I was loading her up, she squatted to the bump stops. The problem?….she would not raise to standard height, even when pressing the raise/lower button. The compressor would come on for awhile, then for a short time and then I’d just get the blinking suspension light. So I reworked the plans and we only took the Disco Sport. Upside, I got to ride my Tiger.

Upon return from the trip, Chloe was unloaded with only the RTT left on top. I pressed the off road height button and sure enough she raised to off road mode. Pressed the button again, she lowered to standard height. She stayed at standard height overnight even at cooler ambient temps.

so my question is…. Is the old compressor getting too weak to support heavier loads? Or are the springs part of the problem? Maybe a combination?

In the photos below, you can see Chloe squatted to the stops, and then back at normal height after unloaded and sitting overnight.

 

Alright! Good answers! The air retention is intermittent so it’s most likely the valve block. Ordered a new one. I’ll see if that is the fix.

 

Finally got a chance to tear into this problem. I found the leak. It’s the passenger side bag. There’s a small split. It will hold air sometimes but of course eventually the split will open and down it goes.

what’s the best replacement bag? Or does it really matter?

 

Most people have recommended Arnott. I went for a set recently but found that a lot have a manufacturing defect. I think I went through about 4 bags that would blow out at the upper ring that locks the bag on. I ended up going with a set of Dunlops and they have been holding air fine so far. I haven’t driven much but the car hasn’t dropped since installing them.

 

Here’s my old thread showing the issue with Arnotts:

https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...65/#post786946

 

Thank you. Yes I went with the Dunlop from lucky8. FWIW, Lucky8 slays Atlantic British on pricing for these bags..with free freight.

 

There are replacement bags for $100 on Amazon (for a pair). If you are set up properly, you could technically do a field repair. So if nothing else, a $100 set for trail spares (it’s what I did with the last Disco and what I plan on doing for my latest one).