Boge (up) ?

[g&t]

Although I've had my '87 Vogue for over two years yesterday was the first time it's carried more than just driver & front passenger. Loading up at the local supermarket & adding three adults in the back seat plus a boot full of shopping bags I noticed that the gap 'tween the top of the tyres & the rear wheel arches was significantly less than the front, despite being well within the manuf. max payload. On the way home I hit a speed bump that I hadn't seen, due to the snow covering, & suspect the bump stops hit the chassis. The car has only covered a genuine 45k & had little use by the previous owner, so is it possible that the Boge needs work to pump it'self up or am I looking at a replacement, even at this low mileage?

[David Sparkes]

Yes, the Boge unit does need to cycle to progressively get back to its 'standard' length, so immediately after loading the car it's natural for the 'gap 'tween the top of the tyres & the rear wheel arches (to be) significantly less than the front'.

There used to be several online articles about how people had tested and proved their unit was operational, but it was 10 or more years ago that I recall seeing them. Try the Classic section of Rangerovers.net. There might be a process in the Workshop Manual.

IIRC the process was to measure the height of the rear wheel arch from the hub centre. Load the vehicle, measure the same height again. Drive round the block, without doing anything extravagant, and measure the same height again, when it should equal the first measurement.

Unless you know when it was replaced, the Boge unit is 23 years old.

Springs and shock absorbers could well be as old. To get 'as new' performance you may have to spend some money replacing these parts.

HTH

[emmerson]

Although I've had my '87 Vogue for over two years yesterday was the first time it's carried more than just driver & front passenger. Loading up at the local supermarket & adding three adults in the back seat plus a boot full of shopping bags I noticed that the gap 'tween the top of the tyres & the rear wheel arches was significantly less than the front, despite being well within the manuf. max payload. On the way home I hit a speed bump that I hadn't seen, due to the snow covering, & suspect the bump stops hit the chassis. The car has only covered a genuine 45k & had little use by the previous owner, so is it possible that the Boge needs work to pump it'self up or am I looking at a replacement, even at this low mileage?

I replaced the eas on my LSE with coils, and this did not have a self-leveling strut. I experimented with different springs to get the ride right, and found that yellow police-spec coils and Monroe gas shocks did the job. My car was used extensively for towing, and was generally quite well laden, so I'm not really sure that the Boge is really neccesary.

[g&t]

Yes, the Boge unit does need to cycle to progressively get back to its 'standard' length,

Unless you know when it was replaced, the Boge unit is 23 years old.

Springs and shock absorbers could well be as old. To get 'as new' performance you may have to spend some money replacing these parts.

HTH

Thanks for the advice David, I'll look on that website. I forgot to mention that the coils & dampers (both axles) have been replaced with genuine LR components within the last 3000 miles.

[g&t]

As a purely domestic animal my RR needs the Boge unit to retain the vehicle's original spec. & ride character. Thanks for the reply though Emmerson.

[Range Rover Blues]

Your about right with the test there David. The manual specifies how much to load the car and you measure it, load it, drive it over an undulating raod and measure it again.

As said the unit is 23 years old and uses pressuriesed gas held back by a rubber diaphragm, not a recipe for everlasting performance!

An alternative is a pair of Disco springs, the D1 didn't have the SLU and had a heavier rear axle load, although it dips under load the car doesn't roll as much on a corner.