Suspension noise (possibly lower control arm)

[Jimmy Brooks]

What brand air struts have you gone through in the front?

I’ve used arnott struts in the front for the past 60k miles. I will give credit where it’s due, they’ve been great for matching up the OEM ride quality but clearly they didn’t stand the test of time. I haven’t been easy on these. I’ve done a fair amount of rough off-roading on these and I don’t slow down for some bumps that others would but there really is no excuse for the original rear struts out lasting these. I know the front struts take more of a beating than the rears but still.

are the air struts rebuildable to replace the shock portion but not the air spring portion?

I assume that it could be worth it but if it’s $300 per absorber and $450 - $500 for the whole assembly I think it’s worth it to replace the entire assembly to avoid the rebuild complications and not risk the airbag leaking in the next 20k miles.

 

[powershift]

A shop quoted $7,100 to replace all 4 with Land Rover brand struts. Silly asf. The rears cost more I think because they are higher capacity, $1,125 each vs $1,082 each for the front, both Land Rover brand.

 

[gsxr]

The shock absorber portion can be replaced separately from the air spring. I did not know this. See Microcat screenshot below.

However, the pricing doesn't make this cost effective. The new air spring assemblies complete are about $1350/$1600 MSRP front/rear, respectively, for Genuine LR at the dealership... or about $1000/$1200 from discount dealers. Aftermarket assemblies from BWI, allegedly OEM, are only about $450/$550 for front/rear, respectively.

@powershift, your shop quote for OE/Genuine air springs was reasonable, but IMO the $2.5k labor was not. Ten hours at $250/hr? Nope. Google claims 4-6 hours for all four is typical, times a reasonable local labor rate.

The shocks separately are about $450/$400 MSRP for Genuine, $375/$325 from discount dealers, maybe $250/$350 for allegedly OEM (hard to find OEM bare shocks - lots of places are showing complete air springs super cheap from no-name junk brands).

So, $250 for the bare shock vs $450 for a complete front OEM BWI air spring? Seems the full assembly would make more sense most of the time, like for my rig with 167kmi on the originals. Pretty likely if I installed new shocks, the air spring would fail shortly afterwards.

On the plus side, the lower bushing definitely appears to be replaceable. The trick is finding a suitable aftermarket bushing to press in. And, all the labor to swap it out. This assumes the lower bushing is the root cause of the noise, and that the clunking is not internal to the air spring/shock assembly.

 

[powershift]

I wonder if there would be a difference in ride from just replacing the shocks vs the whole assembly. On my bags if its left in 4X4 height it will creep down to normal ride height after a few days. The shop that quoted me air struts wanted $525 in labor for remove/replace each assembly.

 

[ftillier]

Koni make a frequency sensitive damper for the LR4, but other than knowing it exists I have not found any reviews.

 

[ftillier]

Koni part numbers
Front: 9905-1003
Rear: 9905-1004

 

[gsxr]

9905-1003

KONI is the world leader in adjustable shock absorber technology with over 50 years of worldwide racing success.

shop.koni-na.com

 

[powershift]

Adjustable rebound it says. I wonder how its adjusted?

 

[gsxr]

Adjustable rebound it says. I wonder how its adjusted?

I have KONI dampers on other vehicles. When the top of the strut is accessible, there is a tab that protrudes from the center of the shaft and this can be rotated to adjust.

For dampers that have both ends attached to something (like a typical shock absorber, separate from a coil spring/strut assembly) the damper must be fully collapsed and then the shaft rotated to adjust. This requires removing it, adjusting, and reinstalling. I assume this is what would be needed for the LR4.

 

[Rover Range]

Either way, not something you would be doing on a regular basis.

Adjustment Style

KONI is the world leader in adjustable shock absorber technology with over 50 years of worldwide racing success.

shop.koni-na.com