davie1 Posted March 26, 2010 Share Posted March 26, 2010 Hi Guys, OK got the coil springs fitted today, straight forward job. One air bag came out in 2 pieces (the bonding on the cap to the bladder had unstuck) so will replace that & repair the compressor for storage incase I change it back. Anyway the RR drives quite nicely & as no motorways in the north of scotland should not be a problem with high speed cruising. The only thing is it looks a touch high so was thinking of fitting 18 x 255 x 60 instead of the 55s to see if it fills the arch a bit better, I know its minimal but would only need very little to change the look. Oh by the way the air bag that failed was an aftermarket item the other three are genuine LR Dunlop bags that show no sign of degradation. So would be thinking hard about fitting critical aftermarket items. The switch panel for the Electric windows is goosed so getting one from a breaker for £80 delivered and with 3 month warranty. OK rambled on enough. Cheers Davie 2.5TD 97 RR 2.5 TD LWB 92 Pajero Alfa GT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted March 28, 2010 Share Posted March 28, 2010 Sorry to throw the cat amongst the pigeons so to speak, but aren't any air sprung vehicle that has been converted to coils illegal? Removing the self levelling means that the headlights can not be adjusted for varying loads. I was under the impression that this was illegal! Any comments? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davie1 Posted March 29, 2010 Author Share Posted March 29, 2010 Hi Clive, lots of company's doing the kits so I cannot imagine why it would be illegal, just about every other 4 x 4 I know uses coils so they would be hit by the same problem. I know they are designed this way but the market is there cause once fitted no more air leaks or EAS ECU problems. Just makes life simple I suppose, spoke to a mate who just got home today & he changed his to coils, his insurance did not change as they were happy as he fitted a recognised kit. When ordering from Paddock they told me that they sell a lot of kits even though they do compressors & air suspension parts aswell. Also spoke to a local mechanic who does MOTs & he thought I would be mad to keep the EAS so wont have a problem at the MOT. Lastly it is personnel preferance & I fully understand why some want to retain the EAS as it gives them a superior ride but for me I just want to keep it simple especially as it wont be doing high speed dashes down motorways. Happy motoring Davie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotal Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 Sorry to throw the cat amongst the pigeons so to speak, but aren't any air sprung vehicle that has been converted to coils illegal? Removing the self levelling means that the headlights can not be adjusted for varying loads. I was under the impression that this was illegal! Any comments? It's a bit of a grey area - but technically yes it probably is illegal to drive them with coil springs as you say the headlights will be all over the place. It's also a tricky area for insurance as it was never type approved with springs, so it has to be declared as a major modification and they can if they want get an engineer to inspect it before allowing it to be insured. Having said that many people have done it and haven't had any problems - you'd have to get caught by someone who really knows what they're looking for. The worst case is probably having a serious accident and then being responsible especially if you have haven't told the insurance. Personally I wouldn't bother - it's a downgrade for reliability on springs which have probably lasted 10 years already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meathumper Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 Sorry to throw the cat amongst the pigeons so to speak, but aren't any air sprung vehicle that has been converted to coils illegal? Removing the self levelling means that the headlights can not be adjusted for varying loads. I was under the impression that this was illegal! Any comments? HA, keep your cat thats rubbish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orange Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 lots of company's doing the kits so I cannot imagine why it would be illegal Never for a second assume that a company selling something means it's legal to use/fit... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted April 2, 2010 Share Posted April 2, 2010 In the late 1980s some legislation was passed that required all vehicles to be able to adjust the headlights for varying loads. Most manufacturers put a little knurled knob for the driver to twiddle with! Range Rovers did not need to fit these as they have self levelling suspension (coils and air). However, when you replace the air springs with coils you lose this ability and, due to the different chassis, you can't fit the Boge self levelling device. I was just trying to let Davie know that he could possibly get nicked, especially if he was towing a trailer, which is what the Highway Authority seem to be a bit hot on at the moment. If Davie never tows, it is unlikely anyone will ever know. In the end it don't matter what your vehicle is suspended on, as long as we can keep them going ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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