Murphy's Law, catastrophic failure in a very bad place

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Originally Posted by ariddell

We did the Gibb River Rd at the beginning of June and it was pretty nasty, especially just after Mt Barnett, so not surprised a a shocker went bang if it got worse than that up past Drysdale.

It has always been the airbags on our L322 that I have been concerned about popping, so have been reading with interest the risks of overheating too. Although I don't think our 08 S/C has CVD.

We were admittedly doing the Gibb in a $500 1981 2wd Mercedes 280SE sedan as part of a charity rally so didn't really have to worry about popping airbags, but certainly not a trip I'd be brave enough to take our L322 on on its 20" wheels and rubber band tyres.

Shame your trip was cut short and you didn't make it further south, Galvan's Gorge and Tunnel Crk will stay in my memory for a long time, truly stunning.

Incidentally the Merc made the trip without popping a single shock or tyre, and waded the Pentecost without drowning, so perhaps the worlds best off roader is actually a clapped out ****box... :)

Glad LRA sorted you out without a fight, always surprising when it doesn't turn into a legal wrangling match with these things.

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Not making it further south wasn't such a biggie for us as we've been to all those places during our last trip, and I've spent years going up that way for work, did a lot of fixed wing and choppering over it. We were pretty disappointed not to get to Mitchell Falls though, as we'd only ever choppered over it, on the way to meet our cruise boat three years ago.

As I've said in that article, just about anything will go anywhere up there, as long as you drive to the conditions. We were just unlucky I think, there were plenty of other vehicles of all makes suffering horrendous suspension failures.

Evening all,

Very informative thread to read. Good to learn from other people's experiences. Great to hear of how Land Rover did support you.

A few questions:

> So….what is the 'best' speed????
> How hot can you let your shocks get? Even if you can check the temp, what's too hot?

I travel with four kids under 6. We stop about every hour. Makes for long journeys, but by the sound of it it gives the car a chance to recover.

I'd only been travelling for half an hour when mine overheated and gave up the ghost. It seems 25-30kmh over really bad, constant corrugations is the 'speed of death'.
Knowing what I know now, I'd bee stopping every ten minutes if those conditions persisted, and checking shock temps by hand. I guess if it's hot enough to burn your hand, it's too hot. Let it cool down for a while, have a cuppa, and move on.

Shock failure is not unique to a modern rangie. Mine fell in half and dumped all the oil on the way back from the Mitchell plateau in the County.

I'm impressed that Land Rover are picking up the (not insignificant) tab. Good on them, and I'm glad to hear that a decent outcome came out of a terrible situation. Your patience and attitude throughout the ordeal is to be admired :)

I can't think of another manufacturer that would do that - least of all for something that they could easily point at the fine print in the owners manual which calls a shock a "serviceable item", or even could state that it failed due to misuse (even if it wasn't, I've seen other car companies do that).


Regarding the failure, I think its all well and good for us to stand on our hypothetical soapbox after the failure and say what should/would/could be done to avoid it, but unless I missed it, we don't know why it failed - heat is a probability, but in those conditions just as easily could have been some sand/small rocks that scored the shaft of the shock making it leak. Either way, I've been through enough shock failures to know that short of spending some very serious money on shock absorbers (and to be frankly honest, they can't be fitted on a Range Rover anyway), it, like a number of other things, can happen, you could spend time worrying about all of those, packing a spare vehicle worth of parts, and trying to find out fixes for every potential problem, or you can enjoy the scenery, deal with the issues when they come up - and maybe one of them will end up being a good story that after its all over you can have a good laugh with some friends about the **** you got in.

This doesn't sound like a trip that will be forgotten soon.

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Originally Posted by BigF350

I'm impressed that Land Rover are picking up the (not insignificant) tab. Good on them, and I'm glad to hear that a decent outcome came out of a terrible situation. Your patience and attitude throughout the ordeal is to be admired :)

I can't think of another manufacturer that would do that - least of all for something that they could easily point at the fine print in the owners manual which calls a shock a "serviceable item", or even could state that it failed due to misuse (even if it wasn't, I've seen other car companies do that).

Regarding the failure, I think its all well and good for us to stand on our hypothetical soapbox after the failure and say what should/would/could be done to avoid it, but unless I missed it, we don't know why it failed - heat is a probability, but in those conditions just as easily could have been some sand/small rocks that scored the shaft of the shock making it leak. Either way, I've been through enough shock failures to know that short of spending some very serious money on shock absorbers (and to be frankly honest, they can't be fitted on a Range Rover anyway), it, like a number of other things, can happen, you could spend time worrying about all of those, packing a spare vehicle worth of parts, and trying to find out fixes for every potential problem, or you can enjoy the scenery, deal with the issues when they come up - and maybe one of them will end up being a good story that after its all over you can have a good laugh with some friends about the **** you got in.

This doesn't sound like a trip that will be forgotten soon.

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No, it certainly won't be forgotten:-) Land Rover were excellent throughout. I've always found that if you ask, instead of jumping up and down and demanding, people tend to want to help you out. They could have stuck to the letter of the roadside assistance agreement, but they went far beyond that, and looked after us to the nth degree.

*Something a bit interesting: I just saw a new Range Rover Sport parked in the street, it had 20inch wheels but shod with 55 profile tyres. Wish I'd been able to fit those to my car:-(

actually you can - Cooper Discoverer AT 275/55/20 will fit the RRV even in MY12 guise.


A member on here in Qld did a big trip on these but DID experience minor rim cracks across the Plenty I recall and has now converted to 18inch wheels (as he owns a 2009 TDV8, which fit the GOE 18's). The 55 series tyres will rub rear drivers wheel well unless minor mods made; and wont fit in the spare wheel well; I ended up with 285/50/20 Cooper Zeon LTZ with no mods at all.

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Originally Posted by CSBrisie

actually you can - Cooper Discoverer AT 275/55/20 will fit the RRV even in MY12 guise.


A member on here in Qld did a big trip on these but DID experience minor rim cracks across the Plenty I recall and has now converted to 18inch wheels (as he owns a 2009 TDV8, which fit the GOE 18's). The 55 series tyres will rub rear drivers wheel well unless minor mods made; and wont fit in the spare wheel well; I ended up with 285/50/20 Cooper Zeon LTZ with no mods at all.

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Mine are the LTZ 275/45s Chris, so I guess about the same sidewall height as yours, maybe a shade shorter.

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Originally Posted by GregMilner

Graeme, I get what you're talking about. I have noticed the CVD canisters attached to the shocks, didn't know what they were for. Now I understand. I learn a little bit more each day.
Either way, this stuff is way more advanced than 99.9% of LR buyers will ever have to consider. Perhaps this exercise is an opportunity for LR to sell a normal 'suburban' full fat and a more detailed, hard-edged 'off-road' full fat?

FOOTNOTE: has any full fat ever been put through the same exercise in Australia as I've just put mine through?

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Hi Greg, thanks for this very informative thread! I have not put mine thru exactly what yours has done but mine does go to mine sites as part of it's job and it does travel constantly on rutted mine roads at varying speeds, but mostly higher than the 25-35k's you were doing. My FF TDV8 has never let me down with any mechanical issue other than book servicing and some premature brake pad wear after one particularly dusty red dirt road trip in Qld.
Rgds
Grant

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Originally Posted by RR44TDV8

Hi Greg, thanks for this very informative thread! I have not put mine thru exactly what yours has done but mine does go to mine sites as part of it's job and it does travel constantly on rutted mine roads at varying speeds, but mostly higher than the 25-35k's you were doing. My FF TDV8 has never let me down with any mechanical issue other than book servicing and some premature brake pad wear after one particularly dusty red dirt road trip in Qld.
Rgds
Grant

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We'll Grant I guess you're using yours for its proper purpose....luxury long distance travel on less than perfect roads. Mine has given me no trouble either, except that which I've inflicted upon it:)