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Home > My Range Rover > London (UK) To Jammu (India): RR HSE 2003 Suspension Woes

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cooldudesunny

Member Since: 14 Dec 2013
Location: Chicago
Posts: 33

London (UK) To Jammu (India): RR HSE 2003 Suspension Woes

Ever since we left London we had the privilege of driving on butter smooth roads of Europe with one or two rough patches. Russia did not disappoint us either, with smooth multi-lane highways in the cities to single-lane clean roads through villages we were pretty happy with what we had treaded on till now.

We did read few horror stories of roads in Kazakhstan but we were very confident that RR would be able to eat it all and it was time to put that to test.
We finally (getting into Kazakhstan was quite dramatic) managed to cross Russia-Kazakhstan border. The moment we crossed the border, driving was more kind of a video game where you have to manoeuvre your car on an obstacle course. The road dint have potholes but dried out ponds!

Click image to enlarge

RR was handling the so called road pretty well, we were feeling proud of the choice we had made when everyone that we know was calling us fools. Some idiotic thought in my mind asked me to raise the suspension so that i could drive RR on the side of the road and what a mistake that was!

Driving the car through whole of Europe, Turkey and Russia had worn out the suspension (not to forget that RR was a 2003 model with original suspension). The moment i pressed the control to raise the suspension, there was a hiss and full front part just dropped dead. I tried resetting the electronics and try raising it again but just a hiss and that’s all.

My initial guess was that maybe the pump failed as it is prone to failure and luckily i was carrying the repair kit (smart move eh). We got back into the car hoping to find a repair station nearby and started moving with a broken front suspension. We had a winch mounted in the front and it was not very high (the mechanic who did the setup was doing it for the first time and same applies to me as well), almost at the same level as the bumper. Now with the front down, the frame on which the winch was mounted started scraping against the uneven road, it added salt to RR’s wounds. We started moving very slowly looking out for any service station we could find. After covering quite a few miles, we found one workshop and got the winch frame cut out as the bolts that we holding it had deformed.

Click image to enlarge

An important thing that we did not knew about Kazakhstan was that it does not have SUV’s … I know, it is sad and meant we would not be able to get the front suspension repaired. And only option we had was to cross whole of Kazakhstan with the front suspension down on those roads (i don’t know if can call them roads), and if that was not enough we had to do this in one day as we would not be able to enter Turkmenistan if we take more than a day!

We started driving RR at 80+ miles speed on tracks full of uneven tarmac with holes big enough to break any heavy duty suspension to pieces. RR took all in her stride and we were shockingly impressed. Even without the suspension, RR was not rattling our bones and appeared as if only the suspension was stiff. However it was good enough to get us tired, we found a room in some hotel in Kulsary and called it a day.

We woke up a little early, tried resetting the electronics to try our luck once again but no magic happened

Left with no choice we continued our journey, the road now was quite better with odd stretch of bad road till Beyneu.

The road from Beyneu towards the Uzbekistan border (90+ KMs) was non-existent, we had to relying heavily on the GPS we were using and and it just showed a straight line towards the border. The road was made of sand, mud, stones and since there were no road marking, we did wander off few times but thanks to helpful locals we were back on track.

We finally reached Uzbekistan border, it took a while for us to unload all the stuff, get them scanned, complete legal formalities. In 3-4 hours we were back on road, we checked with one taxi driver and he confirmed we would find a mechanic in Khiva, bad news was that for the first 100 KMs or so, roads were not that welcoming. So, plan was to reach Khiva and get the suspension fixed as Uzbekistan had SUV’s and workshops to fix them.

After driving whole night we reached Nukus, we tried finding a hotel to stretch out legs for few hours but surprisingly none of the hotels had a room to spare! With no choice left, we continued towards Khiva. Thankfully son of the hotel owner in Khiva was both well conversant in English and knew a good mechanic too. He took me to this guy, and the way he started the diagnosis, it made me confident that he would do something about it. Hotel owner’s son translated it to me that the mechanic had recently fixed another RR recently also with suspension issue.

Once his inspection was over, he told us there was a big hole in the left front suspension. He removed the suspension and started checking within his circle if it could be mended because finding a replacement had lesser chances then winning a lottery!

Click image to enlarge

With the puncture expert giving up, only way out was to remove the rubber bladder and replace it with a coil. Luckily the mechanic had coil from a passenger vehicle lying around, unfortunately it was not strong enough so he combined two together and the final product kind of held the RR perfectly. He blocked the air inlet for the damaged side, i gave RR a reset, plugged the key in, switched it on and RR was back up with the front held high .. Woo Hoo

Click image to enlarge

At that instance thought of replacing the right suspension with a coil did occur to me but i dint want to fix what ain’t broken and moreover the mechanic did not have another pair of coils and we were running out of time to cross Uzbekistan and enter Turkmenistan.

Click image to enlarge

29th Mar 2015 10:03pm

Joe90

Member Since: 29 Apr 2010
Location: Hampshire
Posts: 6408

simply....amazing .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
Volvo V70 P2 2006 2.4 Petrol 170bhp Estate SE
MG Midget Mk1 1962

Previous: L322 Range Rover TDV8 3.6 2008; L322 Range Rover TD6 3.0 2002; P38A Range Rover V8 1999

29th Mar 2015 10:15pm

Cam-Tech-Craig

Member Since: 03 Aug 2011
Location: Gloucestershire
Posts: 16284

2015 Range Rover SVAutobiography SDV8 Loire Blue

Wow, i wanna do it too

30th Mar 2015 12:06am

cooldudesunny

Member Since: 14 Dec 2013
Location: Chicago
Posts: 33

Joe90 wrote:
simply....amazing

Cam-Tech-Craig wrote:
Wow, i wanna do it too Mr. Green Mr. Green Mr. Green

Thank you for the kind word guys

Nothing is IMPOSSIBLE - The word itself says I M POSSIBLE.

Roadtrip - London 2 Jammu [Facebook] [Instagram] [Twitter] [Website]

30th Mar 2015 6:05am

wealy

Member Since: 29 Jul 2013
Location: Kings Bromley
Posts: 1020

Fantastic😀

Good luck guys

30th Mar 2015 6:56am

Haylands

Member Since: 04 Mar 2014
Location: East Yorkshire
Posts: 8190

2014 Range Rover Autobiography SDV8 Loire Blue

Great to see the spirit of adventure alive and well.... read loads of articles about people doing similar things and "having" to take a Toyota because nothing else would do it !!!! they spend months rebuilding it and take spares for everything and still break down.... good old Rangie.... soldiers on with a broken leg and takes it in it's stride...

Good luck to you chaps and keep us posted on how you get on....

If the other side pops and you can't find springs and if the split is at one end, and it usually is, then you could make the airbag shorter with a large jubilee clip, or several joined together....

Failing that you can get some height with a lump of wood wedged in the suspension to get it off the bump stops.... Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

30th Mar 2015 8:07am

KurtVerbose

Member Since: 08 Aug 2010
Location: Les Arses
Posts: 5848

2007 Range Rover Vogue TDV8 Stornoway Grey

I felt very proud of my TD6 when reading this.

30th Mar 2015 8:38am

J90

Member Since: 02 Jul 2013
Location: Somewhere south of Bergerac
Posts: 651

Keep it up Sunny just curious what tyres are you running on? Travelling around in circles again.

30th Mar 2015 8:48am

cooldudesunny

Member Since: 14 Dec 2013
Location: Chicago
Posts: 33

wealy wrote:
Fantastic😀
Good luck guys

Thanks wealy

Haylands wrote:
Great to see the spirit of adventure alive and well.... read loads of articles about people doing similar things and "having" to take a Toyota because nothing else would do it !!!! they spend months rebuilding it and take spares for everything and still break down.... good old Rangie.... soldiers on with a broken leg and takes it in it's stride...

Thank Haylands, everyone was pushing Toyota to us as well! My wife had a slight back pain and only thing the doctor ordered was a RR

KurtVerbose wrote:
I felt very proud of my TD6 when reading this.

Indeed, we had the same feeling after the end of the trip and we are so glad we did not listen to anyone and everyone. We did face issues (i will be covering more of them soon), but the was RR came out of it, it was actually impressive.

J90 wrote:
Keep it up Sunny Thumbs Up just curious what tyres are you running on?

Thanks J90, they are Michelin Latitude Alpin LA2 235/65 R18 110H XL. Not even 1 puncture during the whole trip, i am now a Michelin fan for life

Nothing is IMPOSSIBLE - The word itself says I M POSSIBLE.

Roadtrip - London 2 Jammu [Facebook] [Instagram] [Twitter] [Website]

30th Mar 2015 4:15pm

Chillb

Member Since: 25 Jul 2012
Location: Portsmouth
Posts: 142

Unbelievable. What an adventure. I think all would agree that really is one for the Bucket List.
Would love to do something like that Porsche 993 Targa, Buick Skylark Convertable 1968

30th Mar 2015 4:53pm

ebajema

Member Since: 24 Mar 2011
Location: New Plymouth
Posts: 4782

2010 Range Rover Autobiography 5.0 SC V8 Galway Green

Brilliant trip and big compliments for doing it in the best vehicle for such a trip, a FFRR.

A trip like that is on my to do list as well, after "the Long Way Down in a FFRR" of course

You do know that suspension struts can be bought from Island 4x4 and they courier them anywhere in days. I had mine for the 4.2 delivered in Nigeria in under a week . Granted, it was in Lagos . MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

31st Mar 2015 11:44am

duckworthparts
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31st Mar 2015 12:02pm

n1cktdv8

Member Since: 19 Aug 2013
Location: Cheshire
Posts: 1754

2008 Range Rover Vogue TDV8 Stornoway Grey

Great adventure...keep the diary entries coming....or we'll start bickering about suspension faults Is this where I put the car details and a bit about myself ?........

31st Mar 2015 12:10pm

ebajema

Member Since: 24 Mar 2011
Location: New Plymouth
Posts: 4782

I agree, more on the trip less on the faults (we have enough of that on the forum) and plenty piccies please MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

31st Mar 2015 12:19pm

cooldudesunny

Member Since: 14 Dec 2013
Location: Chicago
Posts: 33

Chillb wrote:
Unbelievable. What an adventure. I think all would agree that really is one for the Bucket List.
Would love to do something like that

Thanks Chillb. It definitely was one of the most amazing things we have every done, and would love to do something similar again

ebajema wrote:
Brilliant trip and big compliments for doing it in the best vehicle for such a trip, a FFRR.

A trip like that is on my to do list as well, after "the Long Way Down in a FFRR" of course

Thanks ebajema. FFRR is indeed the best out there, we bought another one once we came back to Chicago. We did not have more than a day to get it fixed otherwise would have ordered.

duckworthparts wrote:

Thanks duckworthparts

n1cktdv8 wrote:
Great adventure...keep the diary entries coming....or we'll start bickering about suspension faults

Thanks n1cktdv8. Blog is there already but i will be creating a thread in the forum as well.

ebajema wrote:
I agree, more on the trip less on the faults (we have enough of that on the forum) and plenty piccies please :Wink:

Surething

Nothing is IMPOSSIBLE - The word itself says I M POSSIBLE.

Roadtrip - London 2 Jammu [Facebook] [Instagram] [Twitter] [Website]

3rd Apr 2015 8:59pm

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