Thread: P38 Coil Suspension Conversion

Vids say "currently unavailable" on YouTube!

Originally Posted by Keithy P38

Vids say "currently unavailable" on YouTube!

I just tested the link now and had no problems in watching them.

Originally Posted by RR P38

Im not sure how it can be said that the airbags are not as good off road-(rocky ledges).
Being able to adjust your ride height is a big positive especially if you are on a high speed twisty rd, either on or off road. Lowering your center of gravity at will is a major + in my books.
Load leveling is another thing to consider, when i do a trip away i load up pretty well and i always look to my suspension with confidence when it comes time to drive away all trim.
Heavy trailer with coils looks shocking on coils air bags rule here as well.
Using my rangie most weekends off road still only accounts for a very small percentage of my vehicles time in motion and dont see any advantage in coils off rd.
Sure maintenance is an issue and coils win out here, having said that i dont mind changing out air bags 15 minutes a corner is all it takes......er and $120 a side.
EAS is a great system and i love it.

I agree that air bags have a lot going for them in the areas you note above particularly with keeping trailers level.
As for the maintenance issue changing an air bag is no big deal. Where the problem becomes annoying is when the system shuts down and you have a long trip home on the bump rubbers followed by another trip to the dealers for recalibrating.

An alternative is to disconnect the BC computer and wire it up manually with a number of jump wires. The instructions are on the web. I did this 6 years and 80,00kms ago and have had no trouble with this latter problem. I have 8 switches - one for each wheel, one for the compressor an up and a down and a power switch. It works surprisingly well both on and off road. I jack it up or let it down to suit the conditions. At the moment one air bag looks like it is on the way out and I am able to keep it up manually without overburdening the compressor (about 6 mins is enough ) until I find a new one at a good price. Hopefully I will be able to plug the computer back in and go to a dealer for recalibrating before I sell it.

Has anyone else tried this - I would love to hear of your experience.

I have toyed with the idea of installing an eas ecu bypass switch and an up/down toggle for each bag... Would come in handy if the need to bypass the ecu arises!

Provided there are no major leaks in the system it would prove very valuable!

Keithy

Originally Posted by nothofagus

I agree that air bags have a lot going for them in the areas you note above particularly with keeping trailers level.
As for the maintenance issue changing an air bag is no big deal. Where the problem becomes annoying is when the system shuts down and you have a long trip home on the bump rubbers followed by another trip to the dealers for recalibrating.

An alternative is to disconnect the BC computer and wire it up manually with a number of jump wires. The instructions are on the web. I did this 6 years and 80,00kms ago and have had no trouble with this latter problem. I have 8 switches - one for each wheel, one for the compressor an up and a down and a power switch. It works surprisingly well both on and off road. I jack it up or let it down to suit the conditions. At the moment one air bag looks like it is on the way out and I am able to keep it up manually without overburdening the compressor (about 6 mins is enough ) until I find a new one at a good price. Hopefully I will be able to plug the computer back in and go to a dealer for recalibrating before I sell it.

Has anyone else tried this - I would love to hear of your experience.

I have not gone to the level of complexity that you have. But i do run an inhibit switch that interrupts the power to the EAS ECU.
This reduces the compressor run time to a bare minimum as i only level the RR as required ie at start up.

Originally Posted by RR P38

I have not gone to the level of complexity that you have. But i do run an inhibit switch that interrupts the power to the EAS ECU.
This reduces the compressor run time to a bare minimum as i only level the RR as required ie at start up.

Where did you wire in the inhibit switch? Did you have to unplug the EAS ECU to get at the correct wire?

I would like to include an automatic cut out device on mine but it looks too tricky. One of the plugs (no 17 I think) goes to 12 volts when the tank is full of air and cuts out the compressor. This would only be useful for when you forget to switch the compressor off - I have a bright red light to warn me when it is on but I forgot once and the springs jacked up the vehicle like it was ready for the Camel Darian Gap Challenge. I just let it down and it didn't seem to do any harm. Maybe the airbags have some pressure valve that stops them exploding. An inline timer might also do the job - 6 mins seems to be all you need to get enough air for most things like trailer levelling.

I would be surprised if there is no aftermarket device that does all this which plugs into the socket when you pull it out of the ECU. It would have to contain a row of switches and lights similar to mine but finished neatly where your fingers replace the computer. You would think it could be cheaper than the other gadgets - schroeder valve kits, etc.
Anyone heard of this?

The EAS ECU is under the left front seat.
I just interrupted the power to the ECU ad mounted a switch in the dash where the diesel glow plug switch would be mounted.
From memory it was the purple/red wire.

Once again the Technocrats want to take over i am a basic four wheel driver i love to go bush i chose to buy a Range Rover and intend to use it to the fullest, the fact i have coil suspension or not is not the issue going bush is. If people choose to have a technically perfect vehicle does not bother me but at the end of the day i drive mine as i believe it should be, the fact it does not have an air bag suspension is of no concern the fact it goes where i want and the fact it does what i require a four wheel drive does if some people want to espouse the virtues as built is fine but do they get them dirty or is it in their mind ? i don't care i drive it like i stole it and it is great