LR3 suspension improvments-not the usual

[zelatore]

I know most of the time when you hear LR3/4 and suspension it's somebody asking about changing to coils. That's not the case here.

I'm more interested in knowing if anybody has firmed up the ride on one of these trucks. i.e. better 'shocks'.

I know it doesn't have traditional shocks, but is there possibly an option to rebuild the air struts with firmer damping? If so, is it remotely cost effective?

People love to carry on about the ride on the LR3, and maybe it's just me, but mine certainly doesn't ride like a truck- it rides like a clapped out '75 Buick. Heck, I captain all sorts of boats for a living yet this thing is near to making me sea sick!

Of course, with 100K+ miles it's to be expected a shock/strut would be played out. My bags don't leak (though I do have a slow leak somewhere in the system I need to track down, and it's time to rebuild the pump as it's getting slow) but as I said, the damping is in dire need of improvement. I haven't driven another to compare it to, but there's no way it was this way new. It's down right dangerous in fast transitions.

And yes, I know the taller tires and lift only make it worse. Still....can't blame a guy for asking!
(fwiw, I just lowered it 10mm for my road trip to AZ in the morning, though that still has me above standard ride height)

 

[Eniam17]

when you say it's dangerous in fast transitions, might you be in need of control arms/bushings, sway bar bushings, etc, rather than having bad struts? Just a thought; i know when the bushings went on my Sport I thought there was something serious wrong, the handling was absolutely terrible - but it was just a couple sway bar bushings. It was bouncing and swaying and rocking all over the place compared to normal. Add the lift and bigger tires and..... just a thought.

 

[NSGINC]

They LR3 always had a soft ride like it is top heavy. Which only gets worst with age. When driving and you tap the brakes real fast. Do you hear a knock from your lower front suspension? They corrected the ride with the LR4. Maybe update to a LR4 shocks and control arms?

 

[unseenone]

I completely rebuilt all 4 struts and fitted Koni FSD's a while ago. Dampers do not last forever, usually about 125k or so. It's harder to notice because the air springs compensate somewhat. PM me for details if you want.

 

[zelatore]

I considered the bushings, but the lower control arms have been recently replaced and no knocking sounds indicating ARB bushes though I haven't had a crawl under to inspect. The feeling is simply that of worn out shocks on an old car, and given my miles I assume the stock units are pretty well used up. unseenone - watch that inbox for a PM.

 

[unseenone]

Send you a PM, couldn't add attachments, so let me know if you want to dig further.

Overall I'm happy with them so far, they are firm handling and nice on the rough terrain. No problems with them two years into it.

At initial blush, you'll find them a bit softer than the factory dampers in my opinion, it's been a while. But they do a nice job, and I can't complain at all. They are less harsh on the bumps, and vehicle handing is solid, I do notice a bit more lean on sharper gradual corners than the original, but I could be mistaken.

When I fit them, I also replaced all upper and lower suspension arms, arb bushes, brakes, rotors, cv joints, wheel bearings, etc. I wanted to be done with it for a while. It drives like a new truck at 133k on the clock.

 

[Jwestpro]

I have tested mine running at "standard" vs -20, -10, +10, +20, +30, +50. The best handling is actually stock to -10. -20 is actually very good for twisty single lane roads but only if the surface is in good condition or else you can actually feel it too close to bottoming out for the speed/weight transitions.

+ anything is just not a good idea for higher speeds or "quick transitions" as you are feeling the effects of as mentioned in the post above. However, since day one I've referred to mine as a "cabin cruiser". + any amount will just make it worse as you are experiencing. It's actually not safe even though riding high is fun in practice. There's basically no need to ride higher than "standard" highway height while on improved roads. This is fully doable on 32" tires and anything larger will not work at all if the air system decides to stop working.

Arnott has what looks like a nice replacement for the front struts using a Billstein damper and they are plug-n-play for someone like yourself who "is not afraid to use a spanner" What's sweet about the air strut is not having to use a spring compression tool. There's a great youtube diy on the job.

Maybe you are not using an electronic means for "lift" like the IIDtool ? (I say this because there is no such thing actually. It was always possible to induce the full potential without rods or electronic tools. Only convenience is gained by the various methods) If you really want to treat yourself to something, get the LLAMS controller. On the fly -20mm,+30mm,+50mm

 

[roverandom]

I had well over 250,000km on my 3 when I did the switch to coils and the original struts were really a long way past their best. One way or another it was time to rebuild or replace.

I was impressed by the improvement in ride quality the coil conversion gave but how much of that was down to worn out original struts vrs new ones is debatable.

I guess what I'm saying is simply renewing the factory standard struts may be all the 'improvement' you need?


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[no-pistons]

Bilstein sells new struts for the LR3. Check the catalog on their website.


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[jerdog53]

Looks like replacing the inners with the Bilstein units might go a long way to tightening things up!

 

[zelatore]

After reading the various responses here and doing a fair bit of digging 'round the web, I'm leaning toward the Koni FSBs. They're not readily available in the US, but can be had with some effort. This project will probably be pushed to later in the year as I have a few other things to look into after my AZ trip, but if the Koni's don't pan out I'll likely just go with the Arrnot complete struts with the Bilsteins as that looks to be a fast/easy way to get everything done at once.

I also may lower my 'standard' ride height by 10mm. I don't really need to be at the full Johnson rod ride height all the time (but yeah, it does look good up there) and the GAP tool makes it a mater of seconds to change things when I do get to the trail head. I did this before heading to AZ since I was going to be doing a lot of highway driving and it did make a small but noticeable improvement.

 

[A.J.M]

There have been a few threads on Disco3.co.uk about changing these parts.

I've linked a thread that was started by Australian members, they seem to have had some issues with Balistin and Koni shocks.
I do accept the thread is a few years old and hopefully things will have improved, but just for you to consider and to dig further into to see if there are lingering concerns about the long term ability of them.

http://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/topic43424.html

This is the latest thread, have a few names on it for you to consider as well.
http://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/topic113204.html

I think mine may benefit from getting all 4 replaced the ride is still good, but body roll is still there even with me overhauling the full suspension with all new genuine parts.

 

[unseenone]

I was aware of the Australia issues at the time I bought them. I believe they have their issues resolved and there has been no more complaints since. The severe duty the vehicles see over there do not compare to our use here.

Bilsteins seem to be the go to shock on the disco site for the most part. I wanted to do something different. I've been happy since. Anyone in my area is welcome to take a drive and see what they think of the Koni. As we all know, Koni has been around a long time, I have been happy, but getting them was a 2 month exercise.

There is / was also some idiot from Greece in some of those disco threads claiming to build custom dampers, don't bother, he's full of crap, I also investigated that.

There was an immediate difference in the ride, as well as snappier air suspension raising and lowering. In the course of this project you need to replace all the seals, need to have a "band" tool and should rejuvenate the rubber bladders. I'm tickled.