Thread: Suspension lifetime

Originally Posted by twr7cx

Yes, 13 years would be pushing your luck. If I recall my D2 airbags failed around the 12 and 13 year marks (silly me at the time replaced one at a time only when failed).
End of the day the air bags are made out of rubber. Most tyre manufacturers recommend no more than 8 years old for tyres - maybe you can argue the air bags are tucked up under out of direct sunlight and therefore are safe for an extra 20% pushing them up to 10 years for reliable use.

I managed 480,000k's and no failures from my 2007 D3 suspension legs.
Changed all suspension legs in 2019 with none having failed, BUT the shock absorbers were not functioning like they should.
Something which became apparent after I swapped out all the legs. (The ride improved greatly.)
Car went through all manner of remote/extremely hot environments, and other pundits tell that most likely component to fail is the pump (had 2 of them, with upgrade pump appearing to continue to work without issue) or the connecting lines.
If you live in city then you are not far froma service repair option, but in remote Australia or travelling outback then pre-planning (and changing out before failure), means you get to arrive where you were heading. Do you feel lucky?

Bit the bullet and she has gone in today to change the intake manifold (x2) as well as changing out the air springs.

Ended up ordering the springs online for ~$1800 shipped.

Not a cheap month...!

let see how she rides when i get her back tomorrow

I had front done a few months ago after I mistakenly tried to climb a tree stump. Front left bag let go so had front done. Then had rear done just before xmas just in case. Car is just off 200,000k and 10 years old. Strangely seems a bit softer now especially the rear. Cost total of $2400 for front and back.

Originally Posted by veebs

Bit the bullet and she has gone in today to change the intake manifold (x2) as well as changing out the air springs.

Ended up ordering the springs online for ~$1800 shipped.

Not a cheap month...!

let see how she rides when i get her back tomorrow

Will be well worth it. Mines had the same done, feels like a new car. Gave it a full clean and detail, scrubs up nicely. Not too bad at all for a 10yo car, confidence restored.

Mine still feel ok at 198k and 13 years but they will be the next big ticket items to be replaced starting with the fronts then the rears a few months later to lessen the shock - no pun intended

Originally Posted by loanrangie

Mine still feel ok at 198k and 13 years but they will be the next big ticket items to be replaced starting with the fronts then the rears a few months later to lessen the shock - no pun intended

Bet they aren’t though. It’s like our old bodies - gradual degradation isn’t noticed and we adapt.

I've read reports of this being quite a simple thing to change - certainly compared to swapping the LCAs out. The problem is, i have no idea how handy the people are that write this stuff up, or how complete their tool kit is etc.

Still, if you're handy or brave (or both), and order the parts ex UK, it's not the most expensive thing on the car to fix. Certainly seems quite reasonable when comparing to some of the suspension or 'lift kit' prices you see the Nis-yota crowd forking out for!

Originally Posted by Tombie

Bet they aren’t though. It’s like our old bodies - gradual degradation isn’t noticed and we adapt.

Speak for yourself I'm noticing the degradation