p38 coil conversion

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R

roddy4

New Member
Posts
664
Location
banbury,oxfordshire
my p38 has decided that for christmas it would like a set of bearmach coils.
and new shocks,medium coils at the front and uprated for the back.
might give santa a hernia,but i think it deserves it.
 
the air suspension on this one is a money pit,it is a 1995 model and everything has come to the end,the solution is to bring it back to a vehicle i can use everyday without the air suspension having an off day.
 
My latest acquisition 1995 P38 with a head gasket problem, I have nearly got the engine back together but the weather this weekend was not the best for working on a car sitting on your drive.
Any way it has a coil conversion. I'm hoping in the near future to test the components that of the air suspension and if they are ok or can be cheaply sorted then I will be re-instating the air suspension as for me that is one of the nice things about having a Range Rover.
 
what's broken in ur EAS? everything is not working?i have a 95 also,the only thing i have done in the EAS was replacing the worn old compressor,and a couple of front air bags,costed me 150$ for the compressor,200$ for airbags.
if ur compressor is worn u can repair its components unless the motor is gone.
if the valve block is leaking it can be fixed by replacing the o rings,
unfortunatly airbags if worn must be replaced all.
and broken airlines can be fixed without paying alot.
if u come to my advice (my opinion) just prioritize in repairing the EAS,check how much u will pay for coil conversion and compare it to repairing ur EAS,i read alot about handling problems of p38 with coils,and i have seen converted rangies they normaly stand higher than normal EAS rangies,thus higher center of gravity=danger on higher speeds,unless the ones i saw were badly converted.guess it is ur choice to make.
 
Mine's on coils - it was like that when I bought it - I'd like to go back to EAS when I can afford it (everything but the springs are still in place) but meanwhile it drives fine, on and off road. It is rock steady on the highway. The only criticism is that it hits the bump stops too often for my liking when going over potholes and the like; I understand that airbags would be better in this respect.

1995 4.6 HSE
 
Essentials for good EAS. Four good airbags, four good sensors with linier output (easy to test), good compressor.
Contrary to popular belief ECU rarely fails.
Same with driver pack.
Valve block easy to repair.
Very good supply of second hand bits available.
Any EAS can be sorted for far less than a spring convertion.
IF you know what your doing.
 
Last edited:
wammers said:
Essentials for good EAS. Four good airbags, four good sensors with linier output (easy to test), good compressor.
Contrary to popular belief ECU rarely fails.
Same with driver pack.
Valve block easy to repair.
Very good suppy of second hand bits available.
Any EAS can be sorted for far less than a spring convertion.
IF you know what your doing.
Click to expand...
:amen: The EAS might sound frightening if you're not familiar with it, but there's plenty of reading on the subject around, and any reasonably compentent person should be able to sort it without resorting to returning to the stone age:behindsofa:;):D
 
Great the coils, highly recommended, stable and reliable, you might need to change them every few years but no more electronics to f*ck up and no bowl moving moments when overtaking and finding yourself on the bumpstops. By the way my son is a VAG mechanic and he told me that they think the allroad air suspension is an over complicated piece of crap aswell.
All the best on your decision
Davie
 
Funny that this forum is littered with EAS problems, wonder why ? ever wondered why there are so many aftermarket kits out there- Strutmaster, Bearmach, **itpart and others. Cos the system is so reliable! brilliant when working-money pit and unreliable when wrong. Anyway we have all gone over this before, I have coils fitted and think its an improvement, stop being so defensive, if the guy wants coils thats up to him, jeez you would think it was a sin to remove the holy grail EAS, I know people who have got rid of a perfectly good RR because they knew nothing about the suspension and the garage they put it to did not know much more, coils on and thats it for a few years.
See if you can try one on coils first, it would settle your mind.
Davie
 
Davie F said:
Funny that this forum is littered with EAS problems, wonder why ? ever wondered why there are so many aftermarket kits out there- Strutmaster, Bearmach, **itpart and others. Cos the system is so reliable! brilliant when working-money pit and unreliable when wrong. Anyway we have all gone over this before, I have coils fitted and think its an improvement, stop being so defensive, if the guy wants coils thats up to him, jeez you would think it was a sin to remove the holy grail EAS, I know people who have got rid of a perfectly good RR because they knew nothing about the suspension and the garage they put it to did not know much more, coils on and thats it for a few years.
See if you can try one on coils first, it would settle your mind.
Davie
Click to expand...

Sounds like we're all actually agreeing. The EAS works well and has done so very reliably until age eventually caught up. The youngest P38s are 8 years old. Mine's 13 and only had EAS problems at around 11. That's not bad. Its the same with the brake accumulator. Just because we know it will lose pressure in 8 years does that mean we're going to go back to chucking grappling hooks out the back when we want to stop? What gets me the most though, why buy a rangie if not for the refinement? Why not just get a Disco of a Defender? And half the refinement in the rangie is the ride so chopping it out... :doh:
 
Yeah but it seems that when problems start its never ending, suppose one of the major problems is the lack of knowlege with some of the indies and that is one of the reasons coils are so appealing. Put them to a main dealer and in some cases would cost more than the car is worth, but believe me that the ride does not suffer much with a decent conversion and is more cost effective if you are willing to do the work yourself and again believe me its not rocket science to do. For me its really a tool for towing the boat or taking the family snowboarding, its just a nice comftorable place to be as the seats are the best iv'e ever sat in, and with it sitting a little higher on coils you get great vision. I'm only trying to put accross my experience with coils so that the guy makes an informed choice, by the way my next car will most likely be a Disco.
Cheers Davie
 
Davie F said:
Yeah but it seems that when problems start its never ending, suppose one of the major problems is the lack of knowlege with some of the indies and that is one of the reasons coils are so appealing. Put them to a main dealer and in some cases would cost more than the car is worth, but believe me that the ride does not suffer much with a decent conversion and is more cost effective if you are willing to do the work yourself and again believe me its not rocket science to do. For me its really a tool for towing the boat or taking the family snowboarding, its just a nice comftorable place to be as the seats are the best iv'e ever sat in, and with it sitting a little higher on coils you get great vision. I'm only trying to put accross my experience with coils so that the guy makes an informed choice, by the way my next car will most likely be a Disco.
Cheers Davie
Click to expand...

If you are capable of fitting a spring convertion you are also capable of repairing EAS. Get a copy of the free software and a lap top that is all you need. There is nothing on the EAS that is difficult to do. It is very simple if you follow the correct path.
 
Davie F said:
by the way my next car will most likely be a Disco.
Click to expand...

lucky you. mine will be an opel (vauxhall) meriva if 'er indoors gets her way and if i don't find a nice classic first. :( that said the new meriva is not totally horrible. good for taking the baby in with all her gear thanks to the claphand doors and all.

i'll take your word for it on the ride davie, guess i should try being in one that's on coils before i knock it. you try one still on air though and tell us what you think!
 
Oh god a Meriva, lucky lucky you, thats what the girlfriends got. I converted my RR myself and yes it was good, no excellant ride on EAS, but when you want to pull a boat in and out of the water simplicity is best. Too much went wrong for me and the last owner, ok I know you say it defeats the purpose of owning one but I like the style, it runs superbly (touch wood) and has much better pulling power than the pajero (just sold) and I must admit I was surprised how good it was on coils but I had the advantage of being in my mates one. Downside is that you lose that ability to lower the car for people to get in and out. I do think that those who choose to keep thiers original should do and more power to them. Mine was originaly bought to be a work horse as the pajero was just too under powered but I find myself running around in it more and more that is why i am considering selling it and the Alfa in the spring and getting a Disco 3 but we will see when the time comes.
Cheers
Davie
 
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