My LR3 has 109,000 miles on it and still on original air shocks. ride is fine compressor and control box replaced at 80k miles. How long do these last?

When they fail is it usually a burst of the bladder or more of a slow death? They are not broken so maybe don't fix them but curious on how long these things last and if I replace them should I stick with OEM or cheaper clones of the same shocks? Can a non LR shop do it or do they need a LR specific diagnostics to set the compressor computer on shock changes?

Thanks

 

I can give a stat for how long they might last
I have over 175k miles on my original air shocks

 

Struts can make it to 200k pretty easily. The shock absorber portion will wear out before the strut air bag will and thus I think that is the bigger issue more often than not. The airbags can crack and fail, but usually see the internal seals fail - a series of green o-rings. When that happens they usually appear to leak out the very top. The compressor I would say maybe 100k on its life span, depending on how much its operated (lot of off road or not). Or if a leak is ignored, such as a leak in a valve block, requiring lots of extra use by the compressor. That can certainly cut its life short. Or just flat out abuse, that is getting is hot a lot by tasing and lowering it. Heat is pretty much the killer of em. If I am servicing the air ride and need to air back up, I generally kill it half way and let it cool down before inflating the rest of the system.

I really have not heard much bad in the way of the cheap ones. If anything they probably dont ride well. If the air part hold air, well there is not much to it. But again the shock absorber is the true working part of the strut. Arnott is usually the only aftermarket brand I go with when it comes to air stuff. Compressor though, the cheap knock off suck and often can cause issues right out of the box. Its a gamble with them. The Hitachi can generally be rebuilt, which is a plus. No compressor is better than another, so ignore the frivolous claims that the AMK brand compressor is an upgrade, it is not.

The shocks are very easy to change, even for a DIYer. Even the compressor is not too hard. If you change the compressor you are often better making a clean cut of the two large air lines entering it and using a push connect to put back together with some short sections of new lines (I think 8 and 12mm???). This is because the lines, over time, can get fused into the compressor (heat, vibrations) and removing them forcefully generally creates hell. But cutting is easy/safe. They are not under any pressure ever, they are just intake and exhaust for the compressor air - snorkel tubes if you will.

 

I'll add one thing, and this is anecdotal. The rears seem to last about twice as long as the fronts.

 

Thanks! So as long as its not bouncing around (Like bad oil struts do when old) don't worry about the air bags. I just don't want to open a con O worms as everything works fine right now. I do have a rear air dust cover that is torn and not sure how long. I don't really go full height much anymore so not even sure what its protecting it from. I got to looking at it and though hmm maybe just replace both rears.

If you look at the photo it does it look like maybe a cut in the side of the shock bladder? Is it a big deal driving it like this? I bet its been like this for 2 years last time I had the tire off to see it, would never have noticed it if it were not for the it being on a tire shop jack and noticed it.
Michigan Salt makes it tough to get those bolts off I bet. I might be able to do it myself but I only have one 2500 lb floor jack. What else would I need to best stabilize should I attempt to fix myself?
BTW - If the air shock should fail can the car be driven on the road or are you stranded? Im guessing all 4 shocks deflate too.

Also I took a look at this video Do you need that hawkeye calibration tool? I've seen people put the top in first then do the bottom of shock bolt last. Guess two ways of doing the same thing.

 

To answer your question about calibration: If you are only replacing air struts, then you *shouldn't* need to perform a suspension calibration. The height sensors will set the struts at the correct level no matter whether they are new or not.
I say 'shouldn't', but these systems don't always perform exactly the way one would think they 'should'.
If you get a scan tool, though, I wouldn't recommend the Hawkeye. Get the GAP IID tool, or alternately, something like the Autel AP200 (though the GAP tool guided calibration process is easier).

 

The rear struts do last longer than the front. Probably because the front are subjected to lots of heat from the engine and the rears not at all.

The dust boots tear all the time. Some people opt to stop replacing them after the second one rips shortly after replacement.

If you don’t have oversized tires, a bad air strut won’t prevent you from driving. If you are running 32” and larger tires, you are going to be stuck if a front strut fails.

Each strut has a dedicated solenoid in the valve blocks. A bad strut should not affect performance of the others unless the system goes into a fail-safe mode. I think with one bad strut it will be OK, you might just need to inflate each strut independently using the GAP tool or other means and then pull the EAS fuse to prevent those solenoids from opening. Someone else can chime in on this one, I’ve not had to do this before.