We have been getting a suspension fault for a while, think it was too many cycles?, and been leaning a bit even after having the suspension calibrated

when i was servicing the trans i noticed an air leak in extended mode at right front and if i lifted up on the body it was worse so obviously the air spring was shot, this got worse to the point that driving in normal mode you can hear an air leak whenever you hit a bump in the road driving and kept tripping the fault

well i did not see just the air spring listed on any of our sponsors sites just strut assembly so i i checked amazon, kit it $110 shipped and its fulfilled by amazon so i wont have to worry about the warranty unlike ebay whose sellers offer great warranties and refuse to honor unless u have original box and paperwork and proof a ase mechanic did instal and a bunch of other b.s. but i digress lol

the swap was easy,
pull the suspension fuse under hood,
jack up and put frame on blocks or a stand ,
pull wheel remove lower strut bolt and put jack under it so it wont fall out when u undo the top
now u can get to 2 nuts on top of the strut from wheel well, i used 2 wrenches 1 is for leverage to break loose yhen ran them off with a rachet wrench, i tried a socket but clearance was an issue yhink these were 15mm
the third bolt i had to do from inside engine compartment, remove the upper heat shield by the battery its a #2 phillips and i used a hook tool to pull the shield since its really in there , wear gloves
once sield is off use a 15mm swivel or universal socket and a 2' ? Extension and breaker bar, this was real tight
now the nuts are off the strut will drop, use the jack to set a height where u can get to the air line on top
loosen that airline , if theres a hiss let it air down before continuing to unscrew, i think it was 12 ir 13mm wrench, but once loose i found a 1/2" wrench worked best

then remove the assembly
use an impact gun to take off the big nut on top, set all parts in order how they come off
nut off , remove plastic pin at bottom of the bag, bag will lift off but u need to help it with a hammer
once off i replaced the 2 big o rings and there are small o rings and spacers at the top of the bag that get installed new except u reuse the tall spacer from the old bag
it goes oring , spacer, oring, spacer, large spacer

make sure u lube everything good all the orings, i used fluid film

pull the spring to extend it

put the bump stop on the strut rod then metal plate, i had an extra small o ring so it went next then the air bag with the orings and spacers then the big metal washer and ran the nut on with impact gun

i pushed the bottom part of the spring down best i could and used a air nozzle on the top to fill the bag and it seated itself , you need to be sure those big orings are lubed good
put that plastic pin back into the tab on bottom and reinstall

the hard part on the reinstall is getting that airline threaded into the strut, i pulled ot down best i could and fought with it using the jack to hold the strut at the height i needed

now the new spring came with new orings and spacers for the very bottom i did not use because it looked like u needed to disasemble the strut tube and i was not pushing my luck lol, i also did not use the new air fitting on the top , no leaks and the ride is back, the old one was dry rotted






P

 

Great write up. Thank you.

i am replacing my badly leaking front struts at 138k miles. I am using Arnott AS-2809 replacement struts. Picked up the new arnott struts on eBay. Got one open box for $128, the other for $200 plus $20 shipping. They come with three new top nuts and a new Voss fitting. Also changing out the front sway bar bushings. British parts utah for $20/pair delivered.

I replaced the front driver's side strut last night and am half way through the passenger front side. Got dark and late and flash light battery went dead. I just have the inside 15 mm nut and the airline to remove.

Both sides were leaking badly. You could hear the air coming out Soapy water test showed massive air leaks. The three top nuts are 15 mm. The air line Voss fitting is 12mm. The large bottom nut is a 24mm and the bolt head is a 20mm. The inside top nuts are tough to access. Even from the engine bay they are a tight angle. I liberally applied PB Blaster to the three top nuts and bottom nuts on each side the night before starting on the removal. Top nuts came loose pretty easily. Inside nut was tough to access, especially on the passenger side. (As mentioned, remove the heat shields, one Phillips head each side and pull up)

I used a jack jack to raise/hold the strut in place to attach the airline. I had to use a pry bar to position the bottom of the strut to inset the bottom bolt.

Question - Is is it necessary to change the Voss fittings? Old ones look to be in good shape.

A WORD OF CAUTION. Be careful if you are using a jack with a rubber top pad. I was jacking up the truck from the front on the front cross member. The jack slipped off the front. The top of the jack hit the oil cooler. I am now going to need to replace the oil cooler. Arrrrgh. The impact dented the cooler fins. It is now leaking coolant and a bit of oil. Thankfully nobody got hurt. Neighbors three houses down coming running to check on me. It was pretty loud.

Hopefully finish up the second strut this afternoon after work and test it out.

I am going to replace the sway bar bushings as well. They are original and seem to be banging around over driveway entrances and small bumps at low speeds. Local dealer price - $56 for the pair. British parts utah, $20. (Our local dealer, Land Rover San Diego, has gone crazy with prices, they are charging msrp plus 75 to 100%).

 

One down. One to go. Catch pan in the background for the coolant leaking from the Damaged oil cooler.

 

....is that rotor new? Looks shiny!

 

it is a few months old. I was surprised that it was so clean when I took the wheel off. good living! Phil

2005 LR3 Tonga Green, 138k miles
2006 Range Rover Sport 42k miles (currently on my naughty list.....)
2010 Range Rover Sport 61k miles

 

use the new Voss fitting. Check the install instructions with the new Arnott's.

 

Finished the install on the two front struts on our 2005 LR3. What a difference. No more worrying about burning out the compressor pump. The struts work great. Super nice ride, more tight than before, original struts had 139k miles on them. The ride is more like our 2006 Range Rover Sport. Very nice improvement. Highly recommended. Having two jacks was helpful and having another set of hand to help position the bottom of the strut was helpful too. I picked up the two struts on ebay. One for about $128, and the other for about $200. Both were open box, never been mounted, brand new. The local shop that works on the trucks on occasion wasn't too positive on the Arnotts. I believe that they were more familiar with the older Arnotts rebuilts, not the brand new struts that I got and I think might be the only ones that Arnott now sells. They do have a lifetime warranty. I happened to be out at the wrecking yard the other day getting the oil cooler mentioned above. They had a very nice looking Arnott front strut on a Range Rover Sport, sadly it was bent in the collision that put the truck in the wrecking yard. Lots of parts on a couple of LR3s. La Paz Auto Wrecking on Heritage Road in San Diego. Prices are pretty fair on oem stuff. If you are looking for aftermarket parts, you can usually get new for less than the OEM used stuff. I didn't want to risk the oil cooler with an aftermarket part.

many thanks to all that post on this forum. Could not own these trucks without your help.

Phil

 

I had a dealer tech recalibrate my height sensors after i replaced the spring

 

I didn't think recalibration was required....

 

Mine was bad for a while before we relaized the corner of the truck was low, was setting codes for suspension, maybe you caught yours in time