Thread: Softer luxury ride,- coils or air-springs ?

RangeRovers.net • View topic - Replacing airsprings. which ones?

etc...need to read the full page...there's apparently a design flaw in the air suspension which brings about the harsh ride...

A recent nightmare ride over the corrugations on the Peninsular Dev road to Cape York really got me revising my thoughts about EAS...

cheers

I can recall from road tests from long ago that journalists reported on the fact that they thought that small bump "harshness" was greater with air on the 38A than coils on a RRC.

My only experience was driving a mate's 95 4.0SE? and finding the small bump harshness more than my coil RRC. In part maybe because the tyres are lower profile, but it sort of goes against logic that air will be harsher.

IMHO the best ride combination is springs equivalent to Land Rover HD , that is about 150Lb per inch front ( fit 92 rears-green stripe+2inches ) and 180Lb per inch rear (LRA orange +2 inches) or about 10-15% stiffer than standard on a coil RRC. I found the 133Lb standard front too soft with a lot of bottoming on Aussie roads.

To get a good ride the shocks must be oil filled OEM type such as Boge.

I now have Bilstien , and even valved for "Comfort" they are significantly harsher than my Boges, however they last longer than Boges on corrugations . Stay away from shocks with poly bushes as they will cause a lot of harshness.

I have found that rear ( Polyair)air bags introduce a lot of harshness even at 3-4 PSI that I run them unloaded and without spacers even though I have a 2inch lift. they are juuuust touching unladen ., but there you go.

This leaves you with a problem as you do not have a Nivomat , or bracketry for. I do not know whether the mount is still on the chassis but I think not. If you go with 180 lb rear springs , the arse will drag with a load, so you will have to go with say 220Lb from a Disco, or fit airbags , both of which will cause the ride to be worse. So for you ther eis no going back to a RRC with coils and Nivomat.( without a lot of hassle)

If I were buying now , I would probably go EAS, but 11 years ago when I bought my car it was phenomenally expensive to repair. However I would fit a "rescue kit" and make sure I had the pump, sensors, bags , and manifold in top nick.

Regards Philip A

Not the factory EAS and not RR, however:

I recently did the canning stock route after converting the rear (only) of my 110 to air springs.
Also on the trip was an almost identical 110, loaded about the same, with (standard height soft) king springs coils and firestone airbag inserts.

My 110 was significantly smoother over the corrugations. That difference alone made the change worthwhile IMHO.

I have heard a few people mention something about design faults with the RR EAS system.

Gentlemen, Thanks for the input (and reasoning). For the time being the Prince of Darkness has distracted me, (shrted alternator) but I suspect my new tyres are maybe not helping as much as they should. - They're a new Ying-Tong brand, very round and inherently balanced... but perhaps not as soft riding as Scorpions are, the tyres the 'comparison-Classic'[ had on,,, the one I'm comparing mine with...

Before anyone bites my head off... these tyres are/were going onto my old Pajero, but what the heck, - maybe I'd try them out on my Rangie first!!!

Will have them balanced...and try running them closer to "book" pressures and see how it goes then.

Or run the EH at a higher 'normal' height to make use of the Gen III's softer ride when lifted up.

Cheers,
James in Perth

I think my old RRC was softer over small bumps than my P38A (with 16" or 18" rims).

When I bought my 94 soft-dash classic, the previous owner had had a cheapy coil conversion done rather than properly diagnose and repair the EAS. The coils in it were like bricks and gave an appalling ride, coupled with Monroe dampers. I bought a set of OEM airbags, rebuilt the compressor and valve body and got the EAS fully operational, along with a manual electronic controller for if the ECU dies.
The ride is somewhat disappointing with the EAS. It is harsher than my old 88RR with 2" lifted coils, and much harsher than my first RR, 84 2-door with stock suspension.
I posted a question about this ages ago, and was advised that the ride would be improved with altered ride height as well as some better dampers. Just have not got around to trying this yet, still riding the monroe rubbish and nondescript tyres.
I love the 'gadget' nature of the EAS, even though the ride is certainly not as good as it should be for such a high-end luxury vehicle of it's day. The soft-dash is strictly not an off-roader for me, I have another RR for that, but on a recent touring holiday, being able to go from the kerb height of a sedan for letting my wife in & out, to a respectable ground clearance when required for brief exploring forays, I have certainly never regretted refitting the EAS.

The ride quality on my 94 LSE is nothing special thus far. However, I can't pass final judgement on the EAS' inherent ride qualities just yet, as the previous owner fitted heavy duty old man emu shockers to the rear and garden variety pedders shockers to the front which are all totally shagged, so it may that with better quality dampers the thing will exhibit a better ride. Bring on the konis. EAS'll cost you though. The beast has consumed two compressors and 4 new air springs in the 100,000k's I've had it. That's in addition to 3 new height sensors and the cost of an EAS kicker to reset the regular computer fault messages and thus avoid the $80 tariff at the dealer. The front LHS side is particularly fond of sending a spurious fault message. Common problem I'm told. Probably an intermittent resistance in the wiring harness. However, must be said that any level of EAS function is preferable to a ride home on the bump stops, as any EAS classic veteran who's done those miserable hard yards will agree... that's one low ride. Still, love 'em or leave em eh...

After just picking up my new toy 94 soft dash vogue se with a full working air system i must admit my old 88 vm classic drove a hole lot better it road the bumps like a rangie should soft and smooth where my new truck handles like a race car it feels everything not sure iam ready to take it in the rough stuff all right on the beach but getting there its a differant story so when i get some money its back to coils