Thread: Dampers to suit Rear air spring conversion.

Tod, the open and closed lengths of standard suspension height shocks for defender rear and rangr rover classic with eas are almost identical. i would try a set of rear bilsteins to suit range rover classic with air suspension. they should be valved pretty much right for your application, as i feel they are a little harsh on a rrc, so should be good on a defender.


jc

I've got Airbagman air springs on the rear of my single cab 130 with Koni Raid's. I've had no problems on or off road however I do play with the air pressures to try and maintain a stable rear ride height regardless of the load. I initially measured the bump stop clearance with a light load and have based the ride height on this.

Greg

HI Rimmer, I am having the same problem with my recent air bag conversion. The Bilsteins appear to be reaching their maximum length in a way that didn't seem to happen with the heavy duty coils. I have been considering longer shockies to allow the bags to extend further before hitting the limits of the shockies. I will be interested to see how your solution goes. Cheers, 130man.

certainly the billies are only capable to standard factory spring lengths/ ride heights, perhaps fitting lower upper mounts and extending bump stops by the same amount will then allow you to retain the correctly valved off the shelf dampers...i did this on a d2 rear with factory air springs by modifying the upper mounts and it works very well.

jc

Originally Posted by Rimmer

Went ahead and made the conversion the other month. Defender 110.

All went well and happy with the result.
My only concern is the effect on the dampers. As an example, going over a speed bump or dropping down off something, even when traversing slowly. The damper feels and sounds like it isn't up to the task. Tested them out at Bungabee SF the other weekend too.
Like it's not offering much if any resistance to the bag when coming off compression. Air bags must perform differently to coils?

So the dampers are still factory on a 130,000k Fender, probably seen better times. Now the bags are in, time for new dampers.

Any and all advice appreciated.

Tod.

Looks like you have your answer. I'd check any LR model that comes with coil springs or air suspension and see if there is a different part number for the socks accordingly.