Thread: Rear end EAS droop, with pics

Its got worms and an itchy bum

As part answer. Yes it should self level itself. Mine had a slow leak, so when parked it was fine. But most mornings it would be down near bump stops . Never took long to pump up. Just never got around to fixing it. Usually had a fault which I cleared with BBS EAS Kicker. Was a lot better if driven every day but my driving patern was only about once a week.

Maybe stuck valves in valve block. Had mine apart a few times. Even with new "o" rings sometimes they can be crimped on reassembly. As I found out

Gary

Yesterday I pulled both rear airsprings out (wow, what an easy and fast job! - 3 mins each to remove and 4 minutes each to reinstall!).

I took the bellows of at the bottom where they were leaking and cleaned the bead and the piston surface which had a lot of crud. The result??!? - nothing, they still leak. Damn.

Looks like I am up for new bellows, which begs the age old question, go new bellows from airbagman, or go GenIII on the rear?

Pic one shows curd in airbag bead,the cleaning of which did not help things. Pic number two shows the air leaking from the lower bead. Pic 3 is the sad state of affairs this morning after being on high setting at 5pm last night.

If they're leaking at the bag/top hat joint, you might be able to seal them with tyre bead sealant.
I haven't had to resort to this myself but I have seen it done a few times over the years.

How old are they?

In my personal view it looks odd that they appear to be leaking all around and not in one or two spots.

Mine are just starting to go on the p38, the bags are 10 years and 150,000 k's old. But mine are starting to leak at cracks and not the sealing bead, the same place the only non replaced bag on my classic leaks. Holds air fine if I put it in high height for a few weeks, but leaks to bumpstop in half an hour in standard height.

Might take mine out and give them an armarol bath I have been told this can "plump" up the rubber and seal aging bags to get another few years out of them. My issue now is the P38 is lucky to be driven once a month.

If I still had mine I'd be going for the GENIII. Just my thought tho

Gary

Seems you've done the Hard Yards and positively identified the bags as the only (?) source of leaking...

I replaced all of my LR Originals with ARNOTTS on the '95 Classic, not leaking, but had cracks you'd fall into and never - ever be found. - Which gives me the option of spending $100 or so each and re-rubbering them to use as emergency spares. ARNOTSS are crimped on each end, at least on the Classic.

China is correct, replacing the O rings inside the valves is a Black Art, and yes, one of mine is leaking (LH rear). - I've got in-line taps to each bag as well as the Schraeders spliced in. - Just turn off the LH rear at night...

Seeing that they're so easy to R/R, try all of the above suggestions... got nothing to lose!

Self-levelling does'nt hapen on mine, otherwise the system all works as the handbook says

I put Arnotts on my hse some time back.
Firmer ride on highway setting and definitely softer on off road setting.
Somewhat longer so gives the option of using computer to reset with a cable and series to usb adaptor from Paul at Hardrange.
Don't seem to have any downside except that you have to spend your hardearned.