Big Blue, My 2000 Disco, has some holes in the air suspension sleeve, glove, shock or whatever else you want to call it. Is there any way to seal these holes? I doubt that there is, but just curious. Since Strutmasters is the cheapest I've found does anybody know if they include instructions? If not where can I find instructions? What would be the difference in converting to the coil springs instead? What are your guys recommendation? Should I replace the regular shocks why I'm at it and if so what ones would you recommend?

 

Be more specific, how many miles on your truck, is one of the bags leaking and have you verified it is a bag and not something else? Do both sides leak down, if so when and how often?

 

I have been struggling with the variety of facts I have gradually uncovered as I have diagnosed my leaky (but intermittent) rear system. I was not fond of the idea of spending US $400 for a new pair of air shocks, when I was not 100% certain that I would be replacing the correct parts (I hate the idea of trouble-shooting by replacing expensive parts one at a time). I have inspected the bags, not discovering any leaks with a bubble solution, but with our lousy weather, I didn't spend a lot of time staring at them. I removed the air shocks to do a visual and not finding any obvious problems, I reinstalled them. I have inspected as much of the tubing as possible, all found to be in good shape. I disassembled each air valve, inspecting the solenoid mechanism, spring, and seals, then reassembling them (and without breaking the locking tabs on the sides!).

My remaining suspects were the air shocks (#1), the air valves(#2), and I was even suspecting the SLABS ECU (at one point, I got some strange warning lights that later cleared up on their own, so I couldn't rule out a "confused" computer, deciding on it's own to lower the vehicle as a cruel joke).

I was killing some time at a tool store over the weekend and some tire sealant caught my eye. This is the kind that is in a simple squeeze bottle (this particular stuff is called "Slime" and is a bright lime green color). I decided, as a trouble-shooting measure to try and seal up one of the bags (the right side one is the worse offender), and see if the leaky behavior stops or changes. Primarily, I am looking for more clues to decide if I am replacing the correct parts.

Anyway, I bought an 8 ounce bottle of the Slime, deflated and removed the one air shock, then got a compressor and a blow nozzle ready to go. I squeezed the air shock partially flat, then squirted the contents of the bottle into the air port. I then pressurized the air shock up to about 30 psi, then quickly put my thumb over the air hole to hold the pressure in. As I started to rock the air shock from end to end and rotate it around (to let the slime roll around all over the interior surfaces) I noticed little lime green droplets oozing out of some very small pin holes. All of this was observed in the area near the bottom where all the folding and flexing happens. I held the pressure in and rolled it around for about ten minutes, trying to get as much material pushed into any remaining pin holes in the porous area as I could.

I wanted to keep pressure on the air shock, but I also thought I should get the thing into it's normal operating shape and position before the sealant fully cures. To get it reinstalled, I cleaned the sealant out of the fitting with a clean paper towel, refitted it, then got the vehicle fired up to get the system pressurized and at normal ride height.

I know I've made this into a long story, but I am at the 24 hour mark, and the system is holding air like a champ! The side with the sealant has held like a rock and the other side has lost about 1/2 inch over night. Normally, the one side would have been down to the stops by morning, with the other side held somewhat higher.

I would not necessarily recommend this as a permanent "repair", and I am sure somebody would scream that it is unsafe to do such a thing. However, as a trouble-shooting measure, this is absolutely the best US $5 I have ever spent. At the very least, I now know that the rest of the system, compressor, tubing, computer, and valves are sound. So, when I get around to spending the big money on new air shocks, I will know it is actually the right thing to do.

I plan to seal up the other side later this week, so if you are interested I can provide an update of my ongoing results.

Thanks for withstanding my long dialog,
Brian.

 

Thank you Brian for your post. I have actually thought about doing that, but didn't know if it would ruin anything, if it would work or if it would get pool up in the bottom of the air shock, even though that's where my leaks are. When you do the other side could you take pictures and e-mail them or post them? Please keep me posted as to how it works. I have a bottle of slime and as a college student, I would rather use something that is free instead of spending $120-150. So I am so glad that someone else has tried that, because I was very curious about trying it. If you do decide to replace them I found two great sites and have been the cheapest I've found: www.roverconnection.com
http://www.strutmasters.com/
I am excited to hear how yours goes!
Mine is the drivers side air shock. It is only the one. It did it twice over a couple week period, but I just thought it was all the snow, ice melt and slush that I thought had splashed up, along with the 8-16 degree weather. Then it happened on a clear road on a 30-40 degree day. Since then it will inflate, but then go flat while driving or being parked for awhile. There are easily 15-20 pin-size holes at the bottom of the shock where it rolls under.
If I do replace them, what are peoples views and opinions on replacing the air shock or replacing the rears with springs or all of them with springs. One set that I saw at strutmasters said that the springs give it a two inch lift too. I liked the sound of that! What are the pros and cons of each? How do the springs affect performance, comfort and handling? I personally like the air shocks and feel that the air is a part of a Land Rover. I don't know what the pros and cons of the coil shocks are though. Thank you guys for your help and ideas. They are greatly appreciated.
Disco Mike - I love the picture and sound of all that you've done with your Disco. Do you have any pics. you can send? I'd love to get mine to that point, but that is going to take a long long time. Actually, with a welder I could do a lot of what I would like to do to Big Blue.

 

I would suggest you stop what you are doing.
Are you aware that doing it's operation, the SLS will vent air from the Bag's, not shocks, and in venting your green slime will eventually get into the solenoid and there goes the pump. Bad mistake, that I wouldn't promote and would certainly clean up by replacing the bags for a proper repair.
Any question, get back to me.