New to forum. Leased an LR3 when they first came out and just bought a used one.

I’m looking at coil conversions and see that there are yellow 4600 struts available and OME and terrafirma springs but I can’t find any tophats or bump stops to make my own coilover assembly.

Has anybody seen anybody use these Bilstein struts and if so how?

 

Why are you converting it? Do you intend to off-road it?

 

Not rock crawling but plan to use it for gravel/sand forest service and state game land roads and some beaches with the family. I realize an air suspension is superior because of the cross linking for articulation and I also like being able to adjust heights for road vs mush less common off road use. But realiabikity is a big concern as is ride quality, especially on bumpy roads.

The situation I want to avoid at all costs is having a completely immobile vehicle, especially when traveling with the kids.

My newly LR3 is low miles (75k) but is a 20yr old vehicle and parts degrade from time alone.

Budget/expense is less of a concern. I am open to treating EAS as something that needs periodic/scheduled replacement of parts if that would provide reliability but the complexity of the electronics gives me pause. If it was just compressors and struts that failed, I’d be a lot less concerned about keeping EAS.

 

A failure in the air suspension won't strand you if you stay at or under I think 31.5" tires. You'll just be on the bump stops- a but bouncy but not stranded. (I've never run bigger tires than that, but I understand an SYA kit can extend the bump stops and keep you mobile if you go with 32"+ tires.)
A GAP tool in most cases can help you air back up, then you can disable the system to keep it at normal ride height until fixed.
Coil spring conversions typically degrade the ride quality quite a bit from most reports I've read.

 

Thanks, that was going to be my next question. I might just be best served by making sure my compressor is good and getting some good 265/60r18 AT tires. I don’t need something that pushes the limits with the suspension for my purposes.

 

I thought of going to coil long, long ago. In fact I have been sitting on two rear absorber assemblies from TJM (TJM-659GE239V). But they will never be installed. I totally understand your point of wanting to avoid issues but on the whole you are more likely to have a water pump or alternator failure in a maintained vehicle. The air ride is pretty simple. Where people run into issues is ignoring maintenance and installing sub-par parts.

But if you convert to coils you will lose ride comfort and if you load it up in back, the *** end will be much lower than the front. This is just the price to pay for coils. For Bilstein absorbers, the general consensus it they ride a little rough. Also if you are set on coils, keep in mind the LR3 was in fact sold with them in the euro markets. Not a very common install, but you *may* be able to locate a sweet used deal from eBay.UK or the like. It would get you the conversion you want and could save you funds to place into other systems.

 

Thanks. I was hoping no to switch to coils. The fact that is you keep tire size down you won’t be completely immobilized is enough for me.

I’m still wondering who buys those Bilsteins sold at AB and other sites. I installed some on my F150 and think they are great on gravel/rough roads.

 

Well in fairness, air ride is REALLY nice and coils are always more harsh. So he feedback on Bilstein may be subjective.