We discussed it here on the forum some time back, how nice it would be to have some manual control over the ride height in the X350. As it is now if you lower the car using one of the methods discussed here https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ur-x350-75369/ it's more or less fixed at that height.

Well there may be a good solution to give us manual control over the ride height.

The LLAMS Height Controller Kit (www.llams.com.au) has been available for various Land Rover models with Air Suspension for quite some time, this provides various ride height settings, in addition to the LR programmed heights.

I have been in discussion with the gentleman who developed the LLAMS controller, and the coming weeks I will be testing a customised version in my XJR, to see how effective it is in a vehicle with only 3x height sensors, and also to work out the special calibration needed for the different ride heights (the standard Land Rover calibration won't work)

In the X350 this would give us four ride height options;

Super Low
Low
Standard
Raised

I'm yet to decide exactly what the heights should be. Since my XJR is currently pretty much 15-20mm lower all round than stock, that would be my choice for the "Low" setting.

Super Low would be as low as possible.

Standard is standard, that's 386mm at the front, 371mm at the rear.

Raised, well I think a 30mm or increase over standard ride height should be enough to get down a steep driveway or clear a kerb.

Selection of the ride height is via a rotary dial switch, which could be mounted on the steering column, perhaps on the opposite side from where the pedals/wheel adjustment knob is. Indication of the height mode is via an LED, which as standard is on the switch, but could also be remote mounted.

The first hurdle to getting a custom LLAMS controller is the wiring. It must be plug-and-play with no cutting of existing wiring. I have managed to source the required connectors from a wrecked vehicle to conduct the initial tests, and a source for new connectors has been found. But of course there are minimum quantities to order these connectors in order to keep the cost to a realistic level...

So what does this kit cost?

The Land Rover Discovery LLAMS kit retails for $595 AUD including our local 10% sales tax. This works out at around $400 USD without taxes. If enough people get on board to get the cost of the electronic connectors down I'd expect the price of the finished product to be around that level, perhaps a little higher.

Installation of the kit would require removal of the back seat in the X350 to access the Air Suspension Module. Two electrical connectors need to be unplugged, and the kit is plug & play between those connectors and the Air Suspension Module. The only complication is where to mount the switch, some trim would have to be removed to fit the switch, although it does not have to go on the steering column, it could be in the center console or the ashtray.

So, that's basically it. Who would be interested in having FULL MANUAL RIDE HEIGHT CONTROL in their X350???

EDITED 24th August

1. Cambo
2. 34by151
3. Alec Escolme
4. Partick the Cat
5. Dodsy
6. SimonXJ
7. BlackKat
8. XJ8JR
9. Davey
10. MarcB
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Maybes:
trosty
tomfurie
rosskuhns

If you have any questions about the kit please ask and I will do my best to get you the answers...

 

Hmmmm, intriguing.
Not sure at the moment but will be watching this thread.

 

Nice! I would be interested but wouldn't be until next year though.
I First have to replace a front shock, trans pan and flush and other maintenance items.😩

 

I think it's a great idea and the price is reasonable. Having the ability to lower it is too cool and being able to raise it in the snow would be highly functional. And frankly, a long overdue option. Too bad I have a long list of repairs that are more urgent, including suspension issues (hyperextended front shocks), coolant leak, flickering headlights, etc....

 

This would be great so that I'm not constantly scraping my undercarriage on my stupidly steep garage driveway.

 

If I hadn't gotten frustrated and converted my car to coils I'd be all over this. I'd settle for an adjustable coilover kit too if someone would make them specifically for the XJ.

 

1. Cambo
2. 34by151
3. Davey
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1. Cambo
2. 34by151
3. Davey
4. MarcB
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Sounds ideal and I'm certainly interested at this time. However, the XKR is starting to do some weird things and I'm not sure how much it's going to cost to get sorted, so I need to target a maximum spend of 500.00 USD.

 

I'd be possibly interested. One data point Cambo, I lowered mine after putting using your great thread after I did a full Arnott new air suspension; think it was like 15-20mm and it looked great but every once in a while a big bump would bottom it out, or I would scrape on something turning in somewhere.
After a while I felt I had to watch it all the time so I raised it back up. Arnott uses just one set up for both comfort and sport suspension, that they said was between the two.

 

Thanks for the interest gents.

Yes as much as I love the look of the car 15-20mm lower, it's not exactly practical. By having a controllable ride height we can have it as we like, when we like.

EDIT

Well between the various forums there is enough interest in the controller to justify a quantity order of the connectors.

So the next step is the testing, i'll keep you updated!

 

Will we be able to do this ;-) :

 

LOL no... the factory air suspension does not respond that fast. It takes ~5 seconds or so for the car to respond to the height change inputs.

 

Hello Cambo ,
If you need a second test car or one at standard height , mine is at your disposal .

Sid

 

I'm a maybe as well. It does sound interesting.

 

OK guys, time for an update.

I've finished the testing of the signals from the height sensors, so we are getting close to programming the prototype and starting the real tests.

The question at the moment is where to set the ride heights.

My proposal would be as follows;

356mm Front, 343mm Rear = Super Low (-30mm, about as low as you want to go)
371mm Front, 358mm Rear = Low (-15mm, the factory "Speed Lowering" height)
386mm Front, 373mm Rear = Off (factory height)
401mm Front, 388mm Rear = Raised (+15mm, the factory "Transport Mode" height)

You will have to be careful with the Super Low setting, if you go over 100mph then this could see the car drop to 341mm front, 328mm rear (speed lowering), which is getting very close to bottoming out.

I know from testing that the rears are 305mm at the deflated position, which is basically the bump-stops. Fronts I don't have a firm number but would be similar.

The measurements are taken as below;



Those height variations would be pre-programmed into the module, so if you've already adjusted your ride height using IDS/SDD then it'll be necessary to set it back to the factory heights, or else you will get the +15mm, -15mm, -30mm from your existing ride height instead.

If you have access to IDS/SDD then it would also be possible to change the pre-programmed heights to whatever you like, the LLAMS can accept actual values as setpoints too.

Hoping to have the prototype in the car within a couple of weeks.

 

Excellent news, watching and waiting..

 

Interested party here

 

Interested!

 

Interested as well

 

I also would like one, be great to have it on the deck in the works car park :-) and also be able to raise it for speed bumps!