Suspension Woes!

[enak]

My air bags leak, but I'll come back to that...

I replaced the shocks 3 months ago with a Bilstein set.  Off road is excellent.  However my car is on road most of the time and I find the ride hard... road surface, potholes, speed bumps, all are uncomfortable.

1. I've seen Koni's are adjustable so I could at least set them to a soft setting if they ride too hard.  Has anyone any experience with the Koni's?

2. Has anyone else found the ride with the Bilstein shocks hard?

Anyway, the airbags.  I've seen you can get the bladders quite cheeply but can anyone recommend where from?

[Range Rover Blues]

Err, the ride just is that hard :roll:

What tyres have you got on? and do you drive it like you stole it?

If you are still on 205 and/or you drive sedately then I'd suggest going back to the OEM ones, be careful though as the front ones often turn out to be 2 inches longer than they should be :?

If you are a more demanding driver then I suggest DeCarbon or ProComp, both of which settle down into a nice comfortable ride, but any new shock will make it's presence fealt.

More importantly you need to check the ride height is set correctly as too low and the ride will be blooming awful.

Standard height should be 790mm floor to eyebrow on each corner, low and high profiles as per your handbook.

[enak]

Tyres are 235/70/R16 Goodyear Eagle GT+4.

I don't know if that is OEM or what, but they seem good grip and have lasted well.

I'm not sure what to do with the dampers... They are too harsh for everyday on road driving especially with the lack of maintenence we are seeing round here.  I can't send them back... Or refit the OEM ones as I had to cut them off they were rusted that bad!

The Koni's seem like the best bet as they are adjustable, but if you are suggesting DeCarbon or Procomp maybe I'll look at those too.

I'll check the ride height, although it doesn't seem to make a difference whether it's in low profile or standard height to the bumps.

Thanks for the advise.

[Range Rover Blues]

I've not tried Koni so I can't comment, I've used Spax before on lighter cars, TBH I wouldn't bother.

My sister's TDi has Billies I think and that handles great on EAS, very pleased with it.

But you are having the same problems I've had, it's very frustrating.

I was getting the "death shake" and steering kickback, I've tried all sorts and in the end I put Pro-Comp on to cover up the shaking as I couldn't cure it.

I fitted Deflex and they made it worse.

I have tried 4 defferent sets of wheels/tyres.  I had GT4s on, they weren't the best or the worst.  Michelin Synchrome were the worst.  General Ameris were good, they are soft but with loads of grip.  BFG A/T made a small improvement, but the car was eating them.  I bought some S/H  wranglers before Christmas and they have been brilliant :roll:

I spent a fortune in balancing.  I bought new air prings from the 'states', I messed around with ride heights.

then someone said "tracking, no seriously" so I tried it.  It doesn't stop the shaking, but it's better and the kickback has almost gone, though I think I'm a bit toe-out now (was 5mm toe in) and the steering feels dead.  At the end of the day it's a 2 tonne 4x4 and I drive it like a sports car.

205 tyres were original, even on the 4.2.  Personally I think 235 are a little too wide for a 7 inch rim and the extra weight of the tyre makes a difference, I fitted 235/70 GT4 to the TDi and that's started bouncing now too, it's on standard dampers at the moment, and coils.  I do have more problems with ABS style axles, the swivel preload doesn't cure things so I think the top bush has lateral play and it won't adjust out.

LR themselves are aware of problems with wider tyres, Discos with steel wheels always have problems with 235s on, so much so that dealers were giving free alloys to customers who complained of the shaking when they fitted wider tyres to the steel rims.  But 205s do sometimes run out of grip I'm told, though I suspect that's on cheaper ones.

I found with mine that there were loads of things I found that needed attention, steering box loose (probably shaken loose), tracking out, swivel preload loose but as I fixed things I also found someone had been there before me, so it's not a recent problem.

[enak]

Your experience is very helpfull!!!

Tyres are due to be changed (hopefully will last till Billing) so I may go for 205s...

I think you a very right about driving it like a sports car  :D

I think one of the biggest problems is that you can't have the best of both worlds... just somewhere between them.

I may look for some OE shocks later this year.  But I need to change the bags first.  Oh and of course there is the diff I need to fix now  :lol:

[bullfrog]

235s are what LR should have fitted from day one.
I would suggest Old Man Emu (OME) as they ride like an oil shock yet are gas so should give you the offroad performance you are after yet give you the road manners as well.
The are a little pricey at aprx double that of Pro-comp. Dont rate decarbon as finish is poor on ones I have seen.
Really dont rate pro-comps due to build quality.
Try LLAMM4x4 as he (David) sells Rough-country shocks . I really rate these. Tell him I told you and you may get a deal.
Check my site for specs etc. :arrow:  :arrow:

[Range Rover Blues]

See if you can borrow some 205s before you go and buy them (I had some 'till last week :roll: ).

Went out in my sister's new TDi last night and I was reminded just how nicley an air sprung car can drive.  It's a TDi and the extra weight may have something to do with it but it's on EAS, lowered 1 inch (so it tows well) 235/70 General Ameri and what look like Billies (they are yellow).  Little or no steering kickback even at 100,000miles.  It drives as well as any of my coilers and has less kickback than Julie's TDi.

So it is possible for an EAS car to drive nicley, it's as close as I've seen to the magic carpet ride I was lead to expect from air.


Before you go chucking money at it, check things like the steering preload and front tracking, both made small imrovements to mine.  Like you I think the biggest problem I have is the quality of the roads, there is one in particular between here and the caravn yard that is so bad I used to go along the motorway to avoid it, now I've got the car well under control but I find that just makes me drive faster.

If you were closer I'd say pop over, then we could put things in perspective (and I could lend you some parts).

[enak]

Thanks for the offer!

I swapped the rear suspension bushes out last night (deflex) to the bilstein rubbers... feel much better!  Its not floaty, but I've still got the front radius arm bushes to change over.

[Range Rover Blues]

The rad arm bushes make a lot of difference, I'm still not sure whether to put rubber back into mine, at the moment I've still got all the things I've suggested you get rid of, big tyres and Deflex bushes but these tyres have made a difference as have the Pro-Comp, wghich I think are softening nicley now they have been on for 6 months.

[enak]

Well I'm gonna push this back till after I get the transfer box changed.

Once I've got the radius arm bushes changed I'll see how it rides... as I said, the Bilstein are excellent off road, it's just the ride on road is bumpy and if I can cure that I can have the best of both worlds!