Alright, friends.

This weekend, I'm tearing into the back end of the D2 and doing the airbag/coil swap. I've watched the videos, read the stickies and have studied my RAVE. oh...and ordered my parts.

two questions remain.

1. how tall is the rear axle/what recommended height of jack stand (i moved and have to buy new equipment unfortunately)?

2. does anyone have tidbits of advice, that might lead to my ultimate success, versus my ultimate failure?


many thanks for all the advice.

 

I fall into the "no mechanical background or experience whatsoever" category before buying my D2, and I did this swap in my driveway in about 4 hours taking my time and being SURE about every step.

Removing the bags: nice to have a small-small 10mm(I think) open end wrench to break loose the air line from atop the bags. After broken loose (especially if you PB Blaster every nut/bolt hours in advance) you should be able to slowly loosen with your fingers to release air-pressure and remove line.

Bottle jack: using a bottle jack was paramount for me. I didn't have a spring compressor and didn't see any way of getting the coils in without one.

The job really is pretty straight forward, just nuts & bolts. BUT, after the job is done be sure to NOT ONLY remove the underhood SLS fuse/relays BUT ALSO unplug the wires/connectors to the compressor under the car below the driver's seat. I had a draw on my battery even with all the fuses/relays pulled.

And while you are at it, just remove the compressor (like 4 bolts I believe) and put it up for sale to recover your conversion costs. I didn't want to charge much for a used compressor, so I let someone name their price and it covered my cost (got conversion parts cheap from Will Till).

Good luck, and enjoy a never-sagging-bumpy-ride Rover!

 

I appreciate it! Unfortunately, my compressor is el-cookedo. My bags are still relatively good though so I figured I could get those online. This is horrible policy, but since my relay in the engine fuse block is cooked, I won't be losing power to the system, technically....right?

I know I need to remove it, and I will. Just a theory.

Anyway! Thanks for the help!!

 

Before you jump into this, you might want to send me your number so we can discuss what to do and what lift to install.

 

How do you know the fuse is cooked? Doesn't matter, pull it, and pull the connections to the compressor, and remove the compressor to shed the dead weight too. Only takes a minute and worth it.

 

Mike,

We've talked already about which lift I will be pursuing in the future! It was some time ago, but I've definitely settled on OME, going back and forth on whether or not I'll have the constant load to do HD or not, but at this point I'm doing too much freeway driving to justify that (plus I still don't have the front/rear bumpers!).

 

take a look at the picture..big 30A.

 

Gotcha, but why not pull it anyways? Just stab some electrical tape there once removed.
Out of curiosity before you convert, how do you know your compressor it cooked? I'm assuming you tried replacing this fuse first? Or you just want to be done with the SLS?

 

Well I immediately went to get a new fuse and called my shop in Dallas to inquire. They're solid and know their stuff and the service manager strongly believed that the compressor would be done. I think my plan of action is to open up the compressor, clean it out, swap the fuse and see if that makes a difference...but honestly I'm just waiting for SLS to go. There's so many variable parts and so many things to go wrong...my bags definitely are living on borrowed time at 11 years old.

 

That's crazy talk for someone to diagnose a compressor as cooked without even seeing it and knowing that the fuse is burned out, no offense to them.

The fuse is cheap, why not at least check to see if the compressor runs? If it does you can still convert and then sell the compressor. I think there's another 30amp under hood that you could swap just to see.

I had the same mindset with my SLS system too at 12 years old, but might as well either ride it out till something goes, or sell the parts before they go.