Way too much body roll to the point it's dangerous

[Drew888]

Wife wanted an LR3 (2008 HSE), we've only been off road a couple of times. My son came of driving age and the wife bought a c-class for herself (wanted better mileage) and let the boy stay safe driving the LR to school.

I haven't driven it in a couple of years and just this past weekend spent some time in it (we used to use it for road trips all the time). I was shocked that the suspension was as soft as it was. It was clear that it was not as I remembered it. My initial thought was the air springs have to be shot.

Last Friday I put it in extended height and pulled the fuse and just waited to see if it drops. Two days later still at the same height. It has 109k miles on it so this also was surprising.

This truck isn't safe and I'm worried about letting him drive it again. In trying to describe it... imagine in your car/truck (not LR/RR) that the next time you drove it that someone had removed the swaybars. Kind of like that. I can no longer avoid an obstacle for fear of rolling the truck.

It's had it's 110k or whatever, service recently and no codes and otherwise running great.

I don't know where to go from here. I was entertaining the idea of Arnott springs and a new compressor.

Any ideas?

Drew

 

[Houm_WA]

...saw your other post and responded there as well. One thing a few of us have experienced is a worn air shock allowing contact between the upper control arm and the cannister (on that shock) surrounding the air bag and strut. If you jack up either side of the vehicle (up front) you can check for that.

When mine failed (on a trail) there was enough contact to make a dent in the shock, and my swaybar end link snapped.

 

[Drew888]

Thanks again and sorry for the multiple posts. I wouldn't have thought that many would be checking all of the more popular sites.

 

[Houm_WA]

These two are my favorite sites (the two I replied on)....and no need to say sorry; when I have an urgent need I double-dip as well.

 

[dthomp87]

Sounds to me like the struts are bad, not the springs or the air bags.

 

[PaulLR3]

At about 80K miles I needed a new front hub. While taking the front end apart, the dealer suggested I put about $1500 worth of new suspension parts in. (I would save some labor cost since it was already apart to get at the hubs) New control arms & bushings, new ball joints, new tie rods, and some steering link part were installed. I was amazed at how it handled after the repair. The handling got sloppy so gradually over time. But what a difference once repaired. You probably need to do the same.

 

[roverman]

Sounds to me like the struts are bad, not the springs or the air bags.

This confuses me, struts are the shocks and springs together. and the springs ARE the airbags.

 

[dthomp87]

This confuses me, struts are the shocks and springs together. and the springs ARE the airbags.

the terms strut and shock are the same thing.. THey are the gas or oil filled tube that resists movement. if they are blown, there is nothing resisting the spring movement, this could induce excessive body roll. I'm pretty confident there are springs in the suspension in addition to the airbags that control the height.

Excessive body roll, if its super excessive, could be a broken swaybar link or swaybar issue. Im not sure if just a dead bushing could induce excessive roll (it would add sloppyness to the suspension) but not sure about major body roll.

I'm pretty confident I am giving you accurate information, but Im not a mechanic and could be wrong.

 

[Houm_WA]

Well a broken swaybar end link is SO easy to check that we shouldn't be talking about that as a possible cause three days after the original post.

....c'mon Drew, get under there! How about an update?

 

[roverman]

the terms strut and shock are the same thing.. THey are the gas or oil filled tube that resists movement. if they are blown, there is nothing resisting the spring movement, this could induce excessive body roll. I'm pretty confident there are springs in the suspension in addition to the airbags that control the height.

Excessive body roll, if its super excessive, could be a broken swaybar link or swaybar issue. Im not sure if just a dead bushing could induce excessive roll (it would add sloppyness to the suspension) but not sure about major body roll.

I'm pretty confident I am giving you accurate information, but Im not a mechanic and could be wrong.

I guess what they call it for the LR is a 'strut assembly' the 'assembly' part means with the airbag. Agreed that the strut or shock part is what does the damping. The airbags are the springs though.