Thread: Choosing the RIGHT VEHICLE for Overlanding Video - Interesting....

Clearly all springs will break if abused. ...but I have to say the simplicity of my coils at nearly 20 years old on a Defender, that has spent most of its life on northern Australia corrugations, is perfect. I'm not convinced that an airbag system would have been so trouble free.

Originally Posted by Zeros

Clearly all springs will break if abused. ...but I have to say the simplicity of my coils at nearly 20 years old on a Defender, that has spent most of its life on northern Australia corrugations, is perfect. I'm not convinced that an airbag system would have been so trouble free.

Correct. I’m not knocking coils. They’re mostly trouble free and very effective. I can’t believe the big car makers still have rear leaf springs harping back to horse & sulky era.

But EAS has some great features such as better ride, instant lift or lowering as required, and less body roll by diverting air pressure to keep the body level. While still being very reliable.

Coils vs EAS is a bit like solid steel or rubber wheels vs early pneumatic tyres. The former is simpler and less prone to breakage. But....

Ah well solid steel would go with leaf springs. Coils go with rubber. Air springs usually go with low profile rubber to improve the rock hard ride 😇.

I like the idea of magnetic resistance hover springs. Let's get with the times!

I quite like the idea of the air bag helper springs inside the coils, Best of both worlds and if the air bag carks it you still have the coils and not just the bump stops to get you home

Originally Posted by trout1105

I quite like the idea of the air bag helper springs inside the coils, Best of both worlds and if the air bag carks it you still have the coils and not just the bump stops to get you home

They definitely help the vehicle stay level, especially if loaded. You can also get some extra height. Not such a big problem if the air spring, compressor or valve block fails.

Originally Posted by rar110

They definitely help the vehicle stay level, especially if loaded. You can also get some extra height. Not such a big problem if the air spring, compressor or valve block fails.

I was hoping that the air helpers would soften the ride a bit as well, I have never had these fitted so I have no idea if this is the case or not.

Originally Posted by trout1105

I was hoping that the air helpers would soften the ride a bit as well, I have never had these fitted so I have no idea if this is the case or not.

Trout they stiffen the ride. I have 2-5psi in mine when unladen. Here's my bet that my Dobinson springs last as long as I want. My stock springs were 12 years old when removed to enable a lift. They were fine despite towing a 2 tonn boat often and doing a lot of offroading and exposing them to salt and sand regularly at the beach.

Cheers