Adding Upgrades to My 2012 LR4 -

[djkaosone]

OK - I'm sold on adding armor!! What was the cause of your suspension failure. I am going to tap into the air line on all four corners and splice in a schrader valve to fill the air suspension in the event of mishap.

My front LCA snapped at the poly bushing, pulled the axle out of the cv joint, and pinched the air strut.




HD ratchet strap tied down to limp out of the trail.


I always carry tools, but will be adding some more. Luckily, there was an O'Reillys a mile away for me to do this at our AirBnB. Not sure if you can see, but the air strut is bent and yhe LCA broke.

 

[ktm525]

What brand LCA? Do you think the poly contributed to the failure? That is a hefty field repair. They had an air spring at an O Reilly's?

 

[djkaosone]

What brand LCA? Do you think the poly contributed to the failure? That is a hefty field repair. They had an air spring at an O Reilly's?

It was the Lucky8 HD LCA. I'm 100% sure it was the poly that caused it. The polys don't flex too much or at all, and diverts the stress points to somewhere else. Which happens to be the LCA bushing bracket. I've put my truck through a lot of harsh trails, but I don't abuse it. It finally gave out on the easiest trail (Soldier's Pass) in Sedona, AZ.

As for the parts, I reached out to a buddy in San Diego and he started a chat with some AZ locals. A buddy sourced the parts (Arnott air strut, Duralast Axle, and Duralast LCA) that night, and another buddy drove 2 hours up from Phoenix, AZ the next morning at 6:30 am. I took 2 hours to rip most of it out at night in 40°F pitch darknest except for a headlamp. Next morning it was 33°F and it took 3-4 hours to get everything in right before we had to check out of our AirBnB. The key was to mark your alignment prior to dismantling, it was straight enough to drive 1000 miles to finish the rest of the trip.

 

[mbw]

this ^^ is why many of us recommend the Meyle HD lower control arms. They have rubber bushings that are soft and similar to the OE hydro bushes, but they are tougher than the hydro bushes and won't leak their fluid after a couple days on the trail. (riding trail with the bushing knock sucks.. haha)

I've beat the snot out of my Meyle arms and they are great. I wasn't able to tell any difference from the OE ones.

 

[San Moritz LR4]

Holy Cow! That is a serious field repair! Bushing failure, eh? I'm not sure how you plan for that? Ratchet straps. I'm going to add that to my recovery bag.

 

[San Moritz LR4]

Just got my 2012 LR4 a four wheel alignment. I was speaking with the owner and asked him to scrutinize the suspension and steering components and to check out all the bushings. He reported back to me saying everything looked ship shape considering the age and mileage. Looks like we have the green light to hit the trails.

 

[djkaosone]

Had them for about 2 years, all mileage was driving to the trails and off road trails. I don't daily it. Less than 10k miles.

 

[San Moritz LR4]

Hmm. I’m almost inclined to say that was a premature failure. I have over 178,000 miles on my 2012 with the original LCA.

 

[djkaosone]

So, what would you do to "plan" for unforseen failures? That should be on the top of anyones list. @avslash and I share similar mentalities, from all the unforseen failures we've been through we try to plan for everything.

 

[San Moritz LR4]

Well, that is the question du jour.

First and foremost, I’m here to learn from people, like you, who have “been there, done that”.

Second. Coming from a manufacturing standpoint, my plan would center around PM. Preventive maintenance. For example. I have noticed that my compressor is running seemingly all the time and I'm beginning to get the occasional suspension fault that seems to be happening with greater regularity. My solution is threefold. 1) Replace the compressor before it decides to give up the ghost. 2) Replace both valve blocks. 3) I’ll be following your advice and installing a manual bypass airline that can inflate the air suspension.

I suppose I would trying to R&R components that have reached expected lifespan. I am a real stickler when it comes to maintenance. Especially fluids.

In the end, I guess we just do our best to prevent and be prepared for the unexpected.