Thread: Coil and airbag combos

I would love to claim a few things on warranty right now.

I'm curious what driving you have done in the lead-up to the chassis bending? Hard off-roading, or just highway?

Also, I agree with the article above. I'm not looking to use the airbags for a way to overload the vehicle. Less weight is always better and I intend to get over a weight bridge at some time to make sure I'm not out of control.

A couple of weeks ago I installed Firestone Coilrites in my 130, complete with outer kevlar sleeves. This will allow pressures up to 60 psi

I am experimenting with tyre pressures and bag pressures at the moment so no definitive opinion one way or the other. As the vehicle is a camper and loaded with most of it's stuff all of the time, bag pressures around 25 to 35 will probably suffice.

Thanks for article Deejay. The issue with Tojos bending to me is also the fact that they have leaf springs on the rear. If you install airbags in that situation
You have created another load point on the chassis that it wasn't designed for. Defenders are coil sprung, so the airbag is acting on the the same point on the chassis as the spring it is replacing, shouldn't be a problem if, as the article says, you keep within your vehicles GVM. My problem is, I was well and truly below the GVM.
The LR "assistance" line refused warranty from my first call stating that it must have been the result of an impact. There is no damage to the vehicle other than a bent chassis.
This conversation went on for 3 days while I was "stuck" at l
Lawn Hill NP ( not a bad spot to be stuck ) when finally the operator said " you probably need to talk to Land Rover". I said that I thought I was and he said, no this is just a call centre. I nearly fell over.
Really long story short, in the absence of a clear reason the dealer told me it must have been overloaded. They had the vehicle delivered to them from Cloncurry with everything I had been carrying and they didn't weigh it. Their reasoning now is only I know how it failed and I must be keeping something from them, so again, it's my fault.

Has anyone been through something similar.
My Tojo owning mates say go insurance and get it written off and buy something better. Typical.
I really want my Defender back, without the fold in the chassis. Sad thing is, I haven't had the chance to really test it off-road.

The chassis bent right behind the cab. Where the chassis transitions from about 180mm to 140mm and the the rear shock mount is.

Originally Posted by steveG

Just be aware that they aren't an air spring and you don't load the vehicle up and then pump up the bags to raise it. You either need to pump them up before loading, or load, pump, and drive a bit so everything settles.

Steve

I installed my Airbag Man (Firestone) airbags today with the high pressure sleeve as well. The high pressure sleeve is a royal PITA to install although I didn't dislocate the spring. (Would recommend that next time!)

As for your comment on height adjustment Steve - no idea what you mean! Connect the compressor to the valve, pull the trigger and up she goes at light speed! Add or remove air and up and down the vehicle goes...

I've got the RTT on and a decent amount of gear still (maybe 1/2 our camping gear?) and 15psi makes it pretty level, maybe even slightly high in the rear.

Short test drive and definitely less body roll with height up top now. Feeling good about it so far. Will give them a proper test in a few weeks.

Also, found a sticker on my rear springs - King Springs. I reckon 17mm and 8 turns. Yellow. Now I just need to find a data sheet for them...

Few topics in this thread ....
First inner Spring assist bags, in my experience these transform a 130. Remove the inner coil and run 110 bags inside the main coil. Honestly meh to the whole only air them up when unloaded ... They just work. My old 130 with empty tray I ran zero ish to 5psi and it handled less harshly than the inner Spring setup. With a couple of 44s in the tray plus 500kg of miscellaneous stuff and 30psi ie GVM all is well with the world.

Now with a newer 130 it's my first and likely only suspension mod...

Regarding holmsey bent chassis ... That's a can o worms!

As mentioned above how is the tray fixed to chassis. If it is hard mounted plus 170kg ball weight levering on tow hitch ... The only flex in the system is the point of bending ....

130 tray mounting it is critical to allow chassis flex...

S

I changed my profile picture for your viewing pleasure.

Went away for a few days from Tamworth to the coast (Indian Head) last week.

Not sure what the 130 weighs, but under 3 tonne anyway. Seemed to ride quite nicely with 45psi in rear tyres and 30 psi in the bags on mainly bitumen roads.

Might go and get the vehicle weighed and I'll do some more experimenting in coming weeks.

Perry.