Air strut questions

Just had the disco into Pedders bendigo and they changed the front LCAs, sway bar bushes and links and the rear radius arm lower bushes. They also did a four wheel alignment and wheel balance.

Man what a difference in ride quality. They did test and note that the shocks need to be replaced as the car is close to 200k on originals and their test rig showed damping below standards, but im going to hold off a while and get used to this new ride before making a call on that.

Yet to take it Bush but just driving over potholes and bumps is so much smoother. And driving down the freeway I can just lightly touch the steering wheel now whereas before I had to steer it mindfully.

Happy camper.

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Originally Posted by Eric SDV6SE

Have you changed/checked sway bar bushes? They affect ride comfort almost as much as the shocks. I just changed mine out after having poly back to oem rubber. I reckon if the shocks were buggered the sway bars (plus upper and lower control arm bushes) would have taken a fair bit of the load.

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Thanks Eric. Sway bar bushes were replaced with genuine a couple of years ago around when i did the LCA rear bushes. [emoji106]

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Originally Posted by Tombie;[URL="tel:2931668"

2931668[/URL]]Not quite correct. Shocks do not need the gas, some have it, some don’t.

The gas is to reduce foaming but some won’t have it as they have a different design. You can often tell simply by if the shock self extends - usually a result of the gas trying to equalise pressure.

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Fair enough. Learn something new all the time

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Originally Posted by SeanC

I got Delphi struts from Duckworths. I was looking at genuine but got this reply from Dan at Duckworths

“Do you want Genuine LR or OEM I only ever tend to sell the Delphi OEM units to be honest as half the cost of Gen LR and the same product”.

As Delphi developed the air suspension for LR (Delphi Air Suspension Helps On And Off-Road Performance For Land Rover Discovery 3)
you would think they would be the same product. The struts were unbranded so you have to trust that you are getting Delphi.

No complaints after 35,000kms.

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I had the same story from Duckworths and got the 'Delphi' units. I am not convinced I got Delphi units - nor was the installer. I wish I got the factory units - price from Duckworths for factory were not the best FYG

Update on ride quality.

I think its fine.

Either the shocks settled down or I settled down (the latter is more likely!) but after another drive on the weekend the front feels much more damped across bumps - it was particularly noted over speed bumps. Over patches of very broken road the suspension felt "busy" - i think this, plus the extra stiffness from a new damper, gave my initial impression of poor valving in the shock.

Provided these last about 100k km I would buy them again. Thats about half of what i got out of the originals (which were buggered) and they were half the price.

I don't know if I will replace the rears sooner or later. They appear to be performing OK still, and I'd rather spend the money on other things, such as new sliders or my series 3! It is good to know that, if they do give problems, I can have new ones installed within a week. (I will probably replace them before a big trip or the like, just for peace of mind.)

Anyway, i hope my limited opinion helps out!

Cheers

Dan

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Originally Posted by Graeme

My 2 cents...

The original shocks on my MY10 D4 were much firmer than those of a MY09 that we test drove, to the extent that at 30K kms I replaced the originals with genuine D3 shocks and the ride was much more to my liking, albeit a little soft. When the D3 shocks wore out I fitted a set of non-genuine shocks which initially were better than the worn-out D3 shocks but they wore out in 40K kms compared with 80K for the genuine D3. I replaced them with the MY12 updated genuine shocks which I found a good compromise between the original D4 and the genuine D3.

I subsequently replaced the D4 with a late L322 to get CVDs (ecu-controlled dampers) and have re-calibrated them to my liking.

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Graeme, what was the ride like with the non-genuine shocks? Ive been driving it a bunch over the weekend and while the ride is stiffer but ok, i have noticed the front wheels are unsettled by rough roads to the point where I get noticeable understeer over rough roads, which I didn't experience before. The steering also follows irregularites in the road and the steering wheel shakes a little over rough roads.

Prior to replacing the shocks the wheel was unperturbed over anything and I only ever understeered due to high speed, not road roughness.

I did get the front right tie rod replaced with a TRW version and a wheel alignment done about 10 days before i fitted the new struts, but on the short drives that i had before the old strut failed it felt perfect.

Your input would be appreciated!

Cheers

Dan

Just changed all 4 corners on my D4 with advanced concepts struts, my struts has BWI land Rover stickers on them and advanced factors sell BWI struts. Mine we're well over due and from factory as far as I know. 220,000ks. The ride is obviously better. The wife commented on that from the passenger seat. But the steering on country and back roads is amazing again. I didn't realise how much effort I was putting into keeping the car on the road

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Originally Posted by josh.huber

Just changed all 4 corners on my D4 with advanced concepts struts, my struts has BWI land Rover stickers on them and advanced factors sell BWI struts. Mine we're well over due and from factory as far as I know. 220,000ks. The ride is obviously better. The wife commented on that from the passenger seat. But the steering on country and back roads is amazing again. I didn't realise how much effort I was putting into keeping the car on the road

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Dang, i wish i saw these earlier!

I went out to the shed to check the old struts and noticed the old shocks still have some "push back" to them. I'm seriously contemplating swapping the old shocks over to the new struts to compare. Then i might try and find some better shocks later...

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Originally Posted by Disco-tastic

Dang, i wish i saw these earlier!

I went out to the shed to check the old struts and noticed the old shocks still have some "push back" to them. I'm seriously contemplating swapping the old shocks over to the new struts to compare. Then i might try and find some better shocks later...

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Push back just shows some gas volume. It’s not an indicator of damping capability.

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Originally Posted by josh.huber

Just changed all 4 corners on my D4 with advanced concepts struts, my struts has BWI land Rover stickers on them and advanced factors sell BWI struts. Mine we're well over due and from factory as far as I know. 220,000ks. The ride is obviously better. The wife commented on that from the passenger seat. But the steering on country and back roads is amazing again. I didn't realise how much effort I was putting into keeping the car on the road

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BWI bought out Delphi a while back (2009) and are the OEM manufacturers now.