 | Home > Maintenance & Modifications > Anyone fitted air suspension to a Defender? |
 
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| keith Member Since: 15 Aug 2012 Location: Edinburgh Posts: 2217  
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Awesome videos and great explanation.
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17th Jul 2022 9:03pm |
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| kenzle8a Member Since: 12 Feb 2020 Location: None Posts: 1074 
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Only in Germany for the TUV regulations. There’s no approval standard for after market suspension in unit Uk. |
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17th Jul 2022 9:19pm |
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| jimbo55 Member Since: 15 Jul 2020 Location: Midlands Posts: 399 
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The vb kit is TUV and VCA (type approved) for Germany and the Uk, you can also have one and keep any Land Rover warranty you may have left
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18th Jul 2022 6:54am |
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| jimbo55 Member Since: 15 Jul 2020 Location: Midlands Posts: 399
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One other point to consider, what do you use your vehicle for? Is it an off-roader where you want a lot of suspension travel or does it spend most of its time on road?
Pretty much all of the kits available will require you to use an anti roll bar so will lose a lot of travel off road but gain a fair bit of on road handling. |
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18th Jul 2022 9:00am |
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| blackrock Member Since: 01 May 2022 Location: Hampshire Posts: 57 
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It'll be for almost 100% on road so compromising off road suspension isn't going to bother me.
The VB systems looks to be well designed and I'm not surprised that it meets the approvals. It's also fairly expensive though, to match. |
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18th Jul 2022 9:25am |
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| Def90 Member Since: 17 Jan 2015 Location: Kent Posts: 259 
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Hi
Give the guys at On Air a call, they are very helpful and have a lot of experience with Defenders and their system is the one Juice Motors fit. |
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18th Jul 2022 12:14pm |
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| blackrock Member Since: 01 May 2022 Location: Hampshire Posts: 57
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I've booked in for a VB Air suspension to be fitted. I was going to do it myself, but it turns out to not be hugely cheaper, even the inexpensive kits are pretty expensive. The reason for the VB Air kit was firstly that it looks like a well made kit, and secondly it lists one of the lowest travel, down to the bump stops. Some other kits list -60mm, I'm not sure why, the VB (and one or two others) list -110mm max and -100mm as the lowest workable height. I measured the bump stops and I think the -110mm is to the bump stop. These measurements are all at the rear, which on a 110 is my problem height.
I'm wondering if the kits that only go 60mm lower are restricted by the air springs not being able to compress that far? We'll see how it goes... |
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24th Jul 2022 10:35am |
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| andy2111 Member Since: 17 Oct 2021 Location: Kent Posts: 365 
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Would be great to hear how you get on and see some pics - when are you having it done?
Do you mind saying how much the installation is? I had a quote for OnAir installation of approx £5.5K with the self levelling module included |
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27th Jul 2022 4:01pm |
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| blackrock Member Since: 01 May 2022 Location: Hampshire Posts: 57
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I have spoken to the OnAir people, a bit later than the VB people and as their website was down the early research didn't really include them. Their docs also state a -60mm maximum drop at the rear which wasn't as good as some other people. Being a 110 it's being fitted to the starting point is higher than a 90 so every extra mm is worth it (to me).
The VB install is £6.1k, so not cheap, and obviously not as cheap as doing it yourself. This is without the optional auto levelling, which I don't need. I think its probably retro fittable. It does include height sensors so its not a pressure based system. It also has emergency valves for manual setup if the compressor breaks, for example. It's booked in for next Wednesday, and they say it's 2 days if the nuts all come undone and 3 if not. Spares are available, I've been told. I think if the controller broke I'd look at building my own, the air springs I suspect could be replaced with a suitably sized version from elsewhere. I can posted photos when it's done, no problem. |
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27th Jul 2022 5:03pm |
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| andy2111 Member Since: 17 Oct 2021 Location: Kent Posts: 365
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Who is installing it for you?
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27th Jul 2022 5:57pm |
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| blackrock Member Since: 01 May 2022 Location: Hampshire Posts: 57
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Courtside Conversions in Tiverton. They've been pretty good so far, we'll see how it goes...
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27th Jul 2022 6:03pm |
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| andy2111 Member Since: 17 Oct 2021 Location: Kent Posts: 365
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Very interested to hear how you get on, especially with ride quality and any reduction in vibration that reduces cabin noise..
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28th Jul 2022 7:12am |
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| geobloke Member Since: 06 Nov 2012 Location: Nottinghamshire Posts: 4410
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I have always been curious about fitting air suspension to a defender. Love the idea of being able to fit under parking height barriers at the press of a button
Actually I have been curious since I read an article in LRO or other mag about folks fitting bus air suspension to their defenders. Years and years ago now. Then more recently the Grizzly n bear overland couple on youtube with their 130. Looking forward to hearing how this mod goes. |
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28th Jul 2022 8:24am |
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| blackrock Member Since: 01 May 2022 Location: Hampshire Posts: 57
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Well, I picked the Defender up this morning. I dropped it off at 8:30 on Wednesday and it was done by 3pm the next day.
The installation is air springs front and rear with the front shocks moved as they used to be inside the springs. New shocks were also included. The controller was left unattached to the dash on a trailing wire, as the installers weren't sure where I wanted it. I'm not sure either at the moment, I may leave it on the cable, or I may attach it somewhere. Emergency inflation valves were also included, they have been fitted inside the engine bay. There's an air tank and a compressor fitted underneath the vehicle and height sensors on each corner that the Air ECU uses to sense the height. The Air ECU is under the passenger seat. The controller lets you select one of four presets, or one of two heights that you can program yourself. You can also manually move up and down. There's also a 'service' mode that turns the air controller off and that is designed for vehicle servicing when jacked up with dangling wheels. The height sensors will then indicate a high height and the ECU will try to counteract, continuously I suppose. First impressions are that the ride has changed, the smaller higher frequency bumps you feel when driving on a surface that isn't completely smooth are gone, and the bigger bumps are also now smaller. The medium bumps are about the same I think, if that makes sense? It's definitely more 'floaty', if that's a word. The raising and lowering works, and it drops down almost to the bumps stops on the 'park' setting that has been pre-programmed. You can lower below that, too, by a small amount. One thing that is a surprise is how often the compressor cuts in when driving. I expected it to run when moving to a new height and then stop, but it cuts in now and again. It seems that the controller is always controlling the height, occasionally when stopped at traffic lights the front of the vehicle was driven up or down and the compressor ran for 5s or so. Lowering is also non intuitive in that the front and rear lower in a see-saw fashion, I think this is due to the layout of the air manifold. The compressor only drives front or rear air springs at a time I think. It remains to be seen how well we can fit under height restrictions, it looks like it will be fine. I have photos if anyone is interested. |
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5th Aug 2022 5:06pm |
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