Friends, there IS life after EAS !

[v8kenny]

After much thought and research, I decided to change over to coil spring set up - at the risk of starting yet ANOTHER coils-v-air debate, here are my findings :-
RIDE :- this appears to be ever so slightly stiffer than air, but not much in it
HANDLING :- this seems to have improved dramatically,steering is far more precise and the car doesn't dive about under braking like it used to - definately more of a driver's car now
The car seems to be coping well on the standard RR dampers that are fitted so will leave them alone for now as they don't need replaced yet
DOWNSIDES :-Apart from the obvious lack of height adjustment and self leveling, I do notice a bit more road noise from the tyres, although my tyres do have a quite aggressive tread pattern - it's not noisy to the point of being a problem though - I reckon it just adds to the enhanced "feel" for driving the car that is obvious now
Next evaluation will be to tow with the new set up and see how it performs - so far, so good though

Big thanks to Iainargyll for his help this weekend and the use of his shed - poor bugger had to do his water pump in the rain while I took up all the room inside

 

[47p2]

I fitted a set of springs to my 94 LSE last week and I have to say I am very happy with them. There is very little difference in the ride quality and where reliabillity and piece of mind are of importance, it is well worth the conversion

The beauty of this set up is I won't ever have to drive from Fort William to Glasgow on the bump stops........ever again

 

[v8kenny]

Peace of mind was the clincher for me - to be fair to the car I have never had any faults logged on the system in the 18 months or so I have had it
Recently though I have been chasing leaks from front to back and it has been going down quicker and quicker when left for a few days - guess I just got fed up waiting for the damn system to rise when I wanted to use the thing - that and knowing a hard fault was just around the corner !

 

[47p2]

I bought 4 new airbags for mine and fitted them 2 weeks ago, went to Fort William last weekend and on Monday it was on the bump stops. Yes I would have liked to keep it on air but at the end of the day reliabillity is my top priority

Anyone want to buy 4 brand new airbags from my 94 LSE? They have only done 120 miles......

 

[Sirus]

give yur a quid

 

[rick071155]

give yur a quid

a quid !!! ya tight bugger pmsl .

 

[rick071155]

v8 kenny what have you done with the bit you took of for the air suspension air they for sale ????.
rick.

 

[v8kenny]

v8 kenny what have you done with the bit you took of for the air suspension air they for sale ????.
rick.

I have a fair collection of EAS stuff that will be for sale shortly - Wills has first dibs on some parts but I will have extras left over including
2 x front airbags - done about 500 miles
15m of 6mm air line
4 x height sensors
A compressed air tank
An eas ecu
An unused O ring kit for the valve block
and maybe some others if Wills doesn't want them
PM me if you want any bits and I'll let you know what I have left

 

[rick071155]

I have a fair collection of EAS stuff that will be for sale shortly - Wills has first dibs on some parts but I will have extras left over including
2 x front airbags - done about 500 miles
15m of 6mm air line
4 x height sensors
A compressed air tank
An eas ecu
An unused O ring kit for the valve block
and maybe some others if Wills doesn't want them
PM me if you want any bits and I'll let you know what I have left

oh bugger lol i was after a valve block really just in case .
rick.

 

[v8kenny]

Well I have two of them so you never know !

 

[Sirus]

a quid !!! ya tight bugger pmsl .

I meant a quid each.....see I'm flash me

 

[BigJock2005]

Kenny,

Reading your story has made up my mind. After doing 20mls on bump stops somewhere between Birmingham and Dumfries, and having had 3 soft faults in the last four months - different faults, all intermittent and were reset - I am sick of not having enough faith in the motor to use it on one of my frequent Scotland runs.

Can I ask which kit you went for? And of course a quick summary of the trials and tribs of fitting it? I was thinking about the kit below:
Range Rover P38 coil spring conversion kit

I believe it comes with a connector-plug for the EAS which just makes it think everything is fine, so you dont have to remove anything if you can't be @rsed to!

Jock

 

[v8kenny]

Hi Jock
After much research I decided to use this kit :-
Range Rover 1995 - 2002 Coil Spring Conversion Kit

My reasons for this are basically down to spring rates/height - I wanted slightly stiffer than the air ride without an increase in car height from standard, I also wanted progressive rear springs so the rangie was still capable of towing a trailer without sagging too much, but remaining not too stiff in normal use
Some kits use the Bearmach blue springs which increase ride height by about 1.5 " over standard air height and are quite stiff to the point of being harsh in normal road use
Others use Britpart yellow springs - terrible on a rangie (completely wrong poundage ), fine on a lifted 90/110 but prone to sagging quickly
The black springs are either standard disco 1 springs or heavy duty defender ones which again are a wee bit stiff for me
The springs supplied in the MM kit are grey, with the rears being progressive and I must say I am very pleased with them so far - I measured the height from centre of wheels to highest part of the wheel arch with the car set at normal height prior to swapping them over and once done the measurements were exactly the same !
Obviously I don't know what you intend to do with your rangie so maybe my set up won't be right for you - so have a look at the different set up's for youself so you will be happy with the finished result

As for fitting - pretty straight forward and fairly easy if you take your time
Although all kits come with instuctions if I was going to do another one I would do it this way :-
Jack up the front using the cross member just behind the bumper - get it as high as you can then put an axle stand under each end of the cross member, using two trolley jacks jack up each front wheel and remove the wheels, then drop each jack down as far as you can without stretching the flexy brake pipes (there is a bracket holding each pipe on the top of the hub you can remove to give a bit more stretch) - then remove air bags and replace as per instruction sheet, by doing both at once it gives plenty of room to fit the new springs without needing spring compressors, or having to remove any suspension/steering components to give enough clearance
Do the rears the same way
The module supplied fits unto the BeCm under the drivers seat and you also have to unplug the EAS ecu under the passenger seat - TBH, I found the electrical part more of a PITA than the mechanical part !
Only problem I found on reconnecting the battery and starting up is that the warning light for high suspension is permanently on - fixed this tonight by removing the bulb and shifting it along to the blown bulb on my message centre display that I have been meaning to change for ages !
You will find that message centre displays "EAS Manual" on start up but then goes out
Top Tips :-
Check your parcel when it arrives to make sure you have all the bits - I did, only to find two spring seats missing although to be fair to MM, I told them at 4.20 on Friday they were missing and they got to me Sat. morning !

If you are not sure that your bottom air spring retaining pins will come out in one piece (front and back) then order new ones cos you will need them

If you want to go over any part of the procedure then PM me your phone no. and I will go through it with you
Cheers
Kenny

PS - is there a prize for the longest posting ?

 

[Trewey]

PS - is there a prize for the longest posting ?

Yea, but you aint a patch on CharlesY

 

[mikeateves]

For many years most cars have been fitted with height adjustable headlights to avoid dazzling oncoming vehicles when the backend is loaded down (not that anyone every uses this). Vehicles with self-levelling suspension don't need adjustable headlights. Going to springs means you lose the self-levelling facility. Does this mean you should have height adjustable headlights? Or do you just dazzle everyone coming the other way when loaded at the back?
Just curious.
mikeateves

 

[v8kenny]

Well Mike, I've been driving for over thirty years now and God knows how many different cars and land rover's I've had in that time, but guess what ? - not once have I ever adjusted the headlights when carrying a load in the back.






Reckon I'll manage just fine .................

 

[BigJock2005]

Thanks for the tips Kenny - you may just get a call sometime in the next few weeks. I've decided not to sell the motor, but put a bit of cash into it. I now have a sh*t load of stuff to do:

- Brake pads all round
- Front shocks totally shot (nose is bouncing like a pogo stick)
- Spring kit conversion
- Exhaust is popping in two parts

But I also need to renew my trolley jack, invest in some axle stands, and replace a few missing sockets first.

I reckon I'll do the pads, shock and spring on each wheel in turn, and have a good gander at the exhaust while I'm under there.

Anyone know of a 3rd party exhaust that'll give me a bit nicer sound out of that V8? The stock pipe is just too quiet compared to the classic for example.

BTW - were the instructions with your spring kit good? I'm a bit nervous about discharging the air out, and then shorting out the EAS control unit properly.

Jock

 

[v8kenny]

Thanks for the tips Kenny - you may just get a call sometime in the next few weeks. I've decided not to sell the motor, but put a bit of cash into it. I now have a sh*t load of stuff to do:

- Brake pads all round
- Front shocks totally shot (nose is bouncing like a pogo stick)
- Spring kit conversion
- Exhaust is popping in two parts

But I also need to renew my trolley jack, invest in some axle stands, and replace a few missing sockets first.

I reckon I'll do the pads, shock and spring on each wheel in turn, and have a good gander at the exhaust while I'm under there.

Anyone know of a 3rd party exhaust that'll give me a bit nicer sound out of that V8? The stock pipe is just too quiet compared to the classic for example.

BTW - were the instructions with your spring kit good? I'm a bit nervous about discharging the air out, and then shorting out the EAS control unit properly.

Jock

Jock,
Discharging the air is easy if you do the job axle at a time - jack up the front from the middle of the crossmember behind the bumper, put the axle stands in either end of the crossmember then support each end of the axle with the two trolley jacks
All you have to do then is pull out the pipes from the front air bags to release the pressure - car can't drop cos it's supported both sides
Do the same for the rear
When you get near the time to do it I will point you in the direction of better instructions (not for this kit, but very similar) - have a good read before doing the job
Fooling the ECU is the easy bit, if a bit fiddly if you have like mine !
Remember to order new R clips for the bottom of the front and rear springs in case yours are buggered - they aint dear and you will need them to fit the coils
Do the shocks at the same time as you may have to remove the bottom mounts anyway for clearance to get the springs in (soak the bottom nuts on the shocks with WD40 for a few days before trying to get them off - they can be awfy ticht !