OK - first time post coming up hot! Hello LR community. I'm a recent acquirer of a 2011 LR4 and have 2 specific question areas that I want to dive into. The first concerns suspension. The second (for a later post) will be tires. I'm mostly interested in general overlanding with my ride. Nothing crazy like competitive rock-climbing.

So, let's get in it! Quite simply put....do I go for coil springs? I'm interested in ppls' opinions. What are the merits of coil springs? What are ppls' experience doing the air-coil conversion? Any tips/guidance/suggestions would be really appreciated for a newbie.

Thanks!

 

The EAS (electronic air suspension) is probably one of the best things about the L319 platform. The on road comfort is fantastic and yet you can adjust the height as needed off road. It is very tough to get the best of both situations with a coil setup. The cross linking and self leveling and other features are pretty nice too.

EAS isn't all that difficult to maintain, but I get that it scares a lot of people into wanting coils. Get an IID tool and that is about all you need to troubleshoot or fix most issues on the trail (bad sensor, calibration, codes, etc).

 

It really depends on a lot of factors specific to your situation. I plan on holding onto my 2011 Discovery 4 for a long time so my long term plan is to switch to coils when I can source one of those EAS disarm modules that Dunlop makes and sells with the air to coil kits at Atlantic British. If I'm putting money into a swap, I want to be sure I can get a lifted profile, even if that means some sort of custom setup that I can couple to the EAS disarm module from Dunlop. Sure the EAS is relatively easy to maintain and the on-road handling is pretty awesome, but if you blow a bag or have a significant leak, you are screwed, the GAP tool will do nothing for you. If you regularly check for leaks in the blocks/pipes and service the compressor air drier the system will work perfectly for a decent amount of time, however, if the pump fails, that's a $1k replacement, if an airbag needs to be replaced, that is a $500 part for each, valve blocks are like $150 each and the truck has 3 of them, and finally those airbags are rubber, they will eventually crack and start leaking requiring replacement.

If you don't do anything hardcore offroad or overnights out in the wild, I don't see the issue with keeping your EAS and just being meticulous about monitoring for compressor performance and system leaks.

For me personally, after having serviced my EAS to maintain it and swapping my compressor after it failed, I never want to have to deal with this system while Overlanding. Plus I want to run bigger tires all the time, not just when I'm in off-road mode. This means I need a lifted profile that maintains the off-road height all the time. Before you say well the GAP tool will do that, running in Off-road height is dangerous at high speeds because of the increased pressure in the airbag. The air spring will be at HUGE risk for blowing out if you hit bumps at high speed. The speed limitation for running in off-road height is not just to prevent rollover, but also to make sure the airbag operates within the correct specifications and does not burst.

Just look at the new Defender and what a lot of people in the Overlanding community say with reviews- The EAS on the new Defender is that vehicles Achilles heel and not offering a coil version on the 110 was a huge mistake. That system is pretty much the same operating principle as the EAS on the L319 with similar components.

 

I believe there is more air volume not more pressure. A few inches height is not stressing the system.

 

Sorry, you are right. I meant that when driving at high speed with a larger mass of air- if you hit a bump and it compresses the air bag to absorb the shock, that larger mass of air will be compressed into a much higher pressure to occupy a smaller air spring volume during compression. It is at higher speeds where you will wear components down because of increased pressure during air spring compression.

Sorry, I'm trying to articulate physics unsuccessfully haha

 

Umm... bags blowing out at speed? Thats not how they work. And really, airbags are used in massive commercial vehicles all the time, long before they made it into consumer vehicles. Actually if anything coils can snap if compressed all the way.

I will just say that like any system on the truck, there is maintenance and a cost in doing so. A typical air-ride system can last 10 years without an issue. Then like any wearable part in a vehicle, the compressor probably needs to be swapped for a new one. And not some cheap copy-cat that only causes issues. OEM only. At 12 years the struts are probably due for replacement, but they can last longer. Overall there is not much to the system. Four struts, compressor, air lines and three valve blocks that control where the air goes. By now all the issues are known so maintenance unknowns don't exist.

I think in the forums I know of one case where a strut was damaged by a random chunk of wood while off-roading. Other than that, I know of no cases were a strut blew out from rock crawling or otherwise. So I dont see how that is a founded issue. As for ride height, there is no difference if you lift via coils. You still increase your center of gravity. Rover had to maintain its crash rating, hence the automatic lowering at speed. Also when the speed is at anything other than normal, you ARE driving with a now out of spec alignment. This is why if you do change your "stock" height you MUST have a proper alignment done with all the bushing being reset. Not a typical loosen and adjust as is normally done, they have to really loose the bolts all the way. This includes ALL the bushings that are also not touched during an alignment normally.

I overland and I dabble in some fun rock crawling form time to time. I certainly DO beat up the suspension on corrugated roads at high speed and my struts have 160k miles and are factory (2006 LR3). First plus is comfort, nothing rides like air ride. Second, the cross-linking is phenomenal, you can REALLY tuck a wheel up one side and it will substantially drop on the other, mimicking a solid axel but with the added clearance IRS/IFS offers for the diffs. There is also the nice ability to raise or lower on command. When camping, I lower the truck so my stove and such are easier to use. When doing a water crossings, its nice that the system detects a strut is "hanging" when a wheel slips and will actually raise that strut to gain traction. Saved my butt a couple times just when I thought I may float a little. I would not trade air ride for coils any day. Sure you need to maintain it like anything else, but in theory if you replaced the entire setup at once you should be good for many, many years.

 

Nope.

 

Really? Airbags don't develop leaks or cracks at all, is that what you are saying?

Regardless, I never said bags get damaged easier on the trail, I'm talking about using lift rods and being over-inflated and driving on the highway. Likely, this exposes the air suspension to increased wear on the CV joints and the suspension components. The situation I am talking about is choosing between lift rods and ditching air suspension for lifted profile coils. There are reasons why the truck is designed to not let you drive over the preset speed limits in off-road height without tricking the system. If you put more air in the bag to lift the vehicle with rods and trick the system and you driving 80 mph and compress the system to something close to full bounce, something could get damaged.

When is the last time you heard someone snap a coil?
When is the last time you heard someone have a leak in there air suspension?

 

Wow, your understating of air suspension and suspension in general is very flawed. Ignorance is bliss I guess, enjoy whatever you do!

 

For what it's worth, the restriction on offroad height at speed is related to stability in the first instance; i.e. the change in center of gravity that results when the vehicle height is changed, and the increased risk of rollover that results.

As for broken coils, whilst I don't know anyone who has suffered this with LR (and to be fair I don't know anyone that's made the conversion), they're sadly a pretty frequent occurrence these days in many cars as the quality and thickness of the steel springs has been reduced to reduce cost. Many people will be driving around on broken coils blissfully unaware. (If you want to see the difference in quality and thickness, take a look at springs on road cars from the 60s and look at them now).

I would agree with the points made above about not downgrading the quality of the vehicle by moving to springs. The air suspension is excellent and relatively easy to maintain in the scheme of things. Don't forget that all you'll read on LR forums are posts about people with problems.