Dear Adam,
My Land Rover can’t get it up anymore what can I do?
Land Rover and Range Rover suspension systems are among the most troublesome in the market. The basic design is an air pump that fills rubber boots which replace the springs found in most other vehicles. The idea is you ride on a cushion of air that will absorb all of the bumps on or off the road. The reality is you have a very complex system of expensive valves,pumps,hoses and airbags. All of these fail in one way or another usually sooner rather then later. Lets talk about the causes of the failures of the Land Rover suspension and Ranger Rover suspension, and what we can do to lower the repair bills when they fail. The key is to repair the small problem before it escalates.
One scenario is you wake up , go out to your Range Rover and its sitting all the way down on its wheels. The suspension has collapsed and the truck will not stand up. In this case the pump has most likely failed. The clue is that the entire vehicle is sitting low not just one corner. The pumps usually fail from being over worked, just got burned out. This will happen when you have one or more of the air shocks that are leaking causing the pump to run continuously . For this reason it is important to address the issue if your EAS (electronic air suspension) light stays on once the truck is started or comes on while driving.
Scenario two is you are driving and you notice the truck just can’t seem to stay level. You are stopped at a light and notice the front end going up and down an inch or two every few seconds . In this case you most likely have a leaky air shock or hole in an air line coming from the air pump. More evidence of a leaky shock would be the Land Rover sitting low on one corner only. Replacing just the airbag on one corner is not that expensive (about $500) on a 96-2002 Range Rover . On a 2003-2010 Range Rover you could be looking at closer to $1300 for one as it is the complete strut assembly that we need to change. Some good news for Land Rover Discovery and LR2 owners is that the air shocks are in the rear only, the fronts use conventional springs.
OK now we know that your Land Rover has a suspension problem, what do we do next? Well there is some good news. First we always inspect the suspension components during every oil service. This way we can spot a small leak before it causes any expensive damage. You can also keep an eye on your Rover and come to the shop as soon as you notice it having trouble “getting up” in the morning. There are also some kits in the market that eliminate the air suspension all together. These Range Rover air suspension elimination kits run about $1200 installed and will replace all of the troublesome Land Rover bits with standard shocks and springs. The kits also come with some electronic patches that will trick the dashboard lights so they don’t say EAS failure all the time. We are the Land Rover professionals for South Florida and will be happy to check out your suspension anytime.
I invite your comments or questions,
Adam Yunis
Land Rover / Range Rover Expert
Shop Owner, Specialty Car Services
12930 SW 85th Ave Rd.
Miami, FL 33156
305-443-3305
