GraemeS wrote:

... Island4x4's previous air-spring failures were soon after a vehicle had been on a hoist as the crimps get pulled. The ends didn't pull off and this would only occur if the shocks were removed or the shocks were too long for the springs. Vehicles are regularly lifted at 1 or both ends to fit new tyres which also fully extends the shocks.

1 of the originals developed pin-holes where the spring rolls on the cone due to a build-up of coarse gritty soil and my not spotting that the cones need regular cleaning to keep them smooth. The same happened with the fronts so I now regularly hose off all the cones with the vehicle raised. Ideally LR would have designed a boot to keep mud out of the area for both the front and the rear.

I absolutely consider that Bilstein have failed to redesign their original air-springs to adequately suit the later L322s.
Yes, Island 4x4 UK was the supplier.

waiting for a resolution, failing which I will consider going back to the originals SOLD | Tuned MY 2011.5 Range Rover Autobiography 4.4 TDV8 Orkney Grey | e-diff | ACC

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You could jack up the rear both sides together from off-road height to possibly stretch them (maybe even lower onto a block to trigger extended height then select super-extended height) then drive around locally a few times at off-road height, over some bumps if possible. Even just jacking both sides together would give you a chance to see how they look although you're unlikely to be able to determine if they were over-extended.

My leaking original doesn't retain air for more than a few minutes so after stopping multiple times on the way to town to refit the 20A fuse to get air back into it before removing the fuse again, I've changed to having my IIDTool on the Test Valve option to raise the corner as required while still driving, which also prevents the annoying 50 kph message every minute or so. I've bought some Slime to see if that seals the holes.

Edit: Slime wasn't used as the air-spring wouldn't deflate enough to remove without disconnecting the airline from the valve block under the other side liner - too much of a hassle outside on a winters day.

New BWI fronts and AMK compressor arrived yesterday, will look at the whole suspension this weekend and report back.

Any news/resolution your end Graeme? SOLD | Tuned MY 2011.5 Range Rover Autobiography 4.4 TDV8 Orkney Grey | e-diff | ACC

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GraemeS wrote:

1 of the originals developed pin-holes where the spring rolls on the cone due to a build-up of coarse gritty soil and my not spotting that the cones need regular cleaning to keep them smooth. The same happened with the fronts so I now regularly hose off all the cones with the vehicle raised. Ideally LR would have designed a boot to keep mud out of the area for both the front and the rear.

I absolutely consider that Bilstein have failed to redesign their original air-springs to adequately suit the later L322s.
Yes, Island 4x4 UK was the supplier.

How many years can we expect out of a set then? The current Bilstein's were installed roughly 5 years ago. SOLD | Tuned MY 2011.5 Range Rover Autobiography 4.4 TDV8 Orkney Grey | e-diff | ACC

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Not a clue TBH - extremes of temperature will no doubt have an effect, the Audi & Merc. bags were failing around the 6-8 year point, there was no difference in usage - i.e. those with towbars and actual mud under them didn't appear to fail before those with kerbing marks on the wheel rims...

The front dampers seem to be ok, re-sleeve as spares or move on? SOLD | Tuned MY 2011.5 Range Rover Autobiography 4.4 TDV8 Orkney Grey | e-diff | ACC

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I was shown the Bilstein rep's comment which was along the lines of they've never had them burst before and that both together is strange. However LR dealers are known for telling owners that they've never heard of this or that occurring before even though many report such problems so the Bilstein rep's comments mean nothing to me. Furthermore if Island4x4 have known springs to burst a short time after a vehicle had been on a hoist then that indicates previous burst incidents that should never have occurred.

I'll order 2 LR air-springs either from Island4x4 or Duckworths depending on Island4x4's freight cost which hopefully will be provided tonight. If I get a credit from Island4x4 then I'll use it to buy other parts as I can't wait for Bilstein to decide what they will do. I would only fit Bilstein rear air-springs again if Bilstein fix whatever is wrong with their current version. I have Bilstein front struts and rear shocks which to date have been fine.

Any progress? What does a failed Bilstein bag look like?

I have 2 working spares, if that helps you in any way SOLD | Tuned MY 2011.5 Range Rover Autobiography 4.4 TDV8 Orkney Grey | e-diff | ACC

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Last edited by ffrr14 on 23rd Jul 2022 8:30am. Edited 1 time in total

Catastrophic failure then!

I finally started refresh of other air suspension components.

Replaced rear springs and Shocks with Bilstein not so long ago, seem to be ok (have genuine springs as spares)

Today replaced fronts with BWI, AMK compressor, valve blocks etc

I was incorrectly told both the fronts were replaced @2017, original N/S/F BWI have perished after 11 years per picture. O/S/F looks newer and is still serviceable.

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You've been busy. I think that you were lucky that one didn't start leaking. I replaced just the front springs one soon after the other due to leaks with cheap versions to get me through to needing to replace the whole strut, which wasn't that much longer after so I have 2 spare springs still on the struts. The shocks aren't too bad for everyday use but useless with the van attached.

The rear springs exploded with quite a bang - none of this slow leak stuff. The blow-outs pulled the tops through the clips which fortunately were still sitting nearby both times. I was lucky to get out of the mud with the first one but I wasn't stopping as I couldn't fix it and knew that the other corners would soon also be on the bump-stops.

There might have been a slow leak to be honest, compressor run time overnight was getting longer recenlty.

All new air springs, struts, shocks, compressor, VB etc see how it goes.


My Bilstein rears look ok, will keep an eye.

Good luck with yours SOLD | Tuned MY 2011.5 Range Rover Autobiography 4.4 TDV8 Orkney Grey | e-diff | ACC

New Toy: Unimog U1550L/37
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