Hello everyone:
I was wondering how many have had the conversion and how many still have the air suspension? The 05 VP I am rebuilding has the conversion. BUT I remember the cush ride the air suspension has. I owned a 04 VP some time ago with the air suspension. I want a soft ride. Arnott has only one conversion that is listed as soft and sporty. Does anyone have Arnott conversion and how is the ride? I don't want to feel every bump in the road like a Mercedes. How much is the maintenance hassle with the air suspension? Thanks

JDog

 

The Arnotts air shocks, & rebuilt the compressors on both of mine.
Been happy with the results

 

2008 with 108k mi. New OEM blistien front shocks at 70K 7 yrs ago (previous owner). Rear are still original. Last summer I rebuilt the compressor main seal. And air is much better than springs

 

I dumped my air suspension for coilovers from Arnott shortly after I bought the car. When I took the compressor out to rebuild it there was so much water in it that I lost all hope of getting the system working. The dryer section was actually a water tank! (I don't really understand why the dryer is not external to the compressor to make it an easily serviceable item...)

The ride was not good when I bought it, as bad a condition as the system was in and was much improved after the conversion, and I couldn't be happier. I've never been in one with working air struts so I can't compare to that, only to my failing system.

I have of the firm belief that if the system is more than ten years old (which these are,) and you don't have absolute proof from previous owners of periodic maintenance, like compressor replacement once in a while at least, then abandon hope, all ye who enter here. Water through the system will rust valves everywhere, collect in the air bladders of the struts, collect in the reservoir, and without replaceing everything you just can't fix it reliably. That expense is well beyond the value of the car.

 

"I was wondering how many have had the conversion and how many still have the air suspension?"

Coil conversion seems very popular on this (mostly) DIY forum. Not surprising given the difficulty of diagnosis and/or expense.
Statistics from a wider community are not available I assume.
My own '08 at 92km (57k miles) is on original stuff and I like it that way. Can go down overnight which so far just means extra compressor use.

JDog, you were recommended to change some/all shocks, but there was no actual info posted on why your mechanic thought so. Bear in mind that if it's going down, could also be the valve block (who can tell?). Also, there are 2 parts to the shocks, CATS and Air Suspension bladders. The most problem is air leaking, but we don't know in your case what the problem was.

I'd probably be willing to spend 1/3 the cost of the car to retain air suspension, when necessary. But I tremble at the prospect of the money spent and not fixed, which is a danger of reading these forums.

Incidentally, if you want a soft ride why the low profile tyres? Those young of today, they just don't know about the 60's or 70's...
Jaguar was trying to appeal to the younger generation who still have good teeth, is why.

 

Ok the 05 VP that I purchased has the conversion with the strutmaster shocks. The first mechanic told me that he did not like strutmaster and the shock needed to be changed. I don't know why. I was thinking about going back to the air suspension. But I don't want to shell out 6K for a new suspension. Everyone tells of a good ride with the conversion but I know the air suspension is a softer ride unless someone can suggest a conversion kit that is as soft ride as the air suspension.

JDog

 

mechanic told me that he did not like strutmaster and the shock needed to be changed. I don't know why.


Ask to see his checking account. The answer is probably in there.

 

Hi JDog,

I have converted over a dozen X350s to the Arnott coilover kit, and one X350 to the Suncore coilover kit. All the owners have been happy with the ride, but none were sporty drivers. I find the coilover ride to be comfortable, with a little more body roll while cornering agressively, and of course the auto-leveling is lost, as is the ECATS adaptive damping, which helps prevent squat and dive, adjusts the damping rates of the fronts and rears to reduce transient understeer and oversteer, etc.

When working properly, with new Bilstein air spring/shock absorbers, a healthy compressor and valve block, no leaks, and no moisture in the system, the X350/X358 air suspension offers one of the best rides ever, easily the equal of many new luxury cars (and nothing like most Mercedes). But even if you can restore the system yourself, the Bilsteins are very expensive and not always available. And before you even consider returning the vehicle to air suspension, you'll have to confirm the air hoses are undamaged and the compressor, valve block and reservoir are still present. Sometimes the air hoses are clipped or the removable components are sold on eBay when the car is converted to coils. No one expects a converted car to ever run on air again.

Cheers,

Don

 

Hi Don,
I am currently in the middle of converting my 2008 XJ8 to the Arnott coilovers, along with replacement control arms, tie rod ends, etc. My car has 79,000 miles. Two front air struts were replaced by previous owner 3000 miles ago. Rear were original. Drove the family from Nashville to Washington D.C. for a wedding beginning of May. Somewhere in East Tennessee the right rear strut blew and completely deflated. Wonderful. Drove all the way to D.C. and then later back to Tennessee like that. I drove my Jag about 1000 miles with the right rear on the bump stops. Thank God for smooth roads between Nashville and D.C. Ordered the full Arnott conversion from Rock Auto when I got home. For me the thing of primary importance is reliability, safety, and elimination of absurd suspension repair costs in the future. I think it all depends on how you use the car. If it was something I drove on the weekends or for special occasions I would probably keep the air suspension. But this is my primary daily driver. I use it for work and will often be driving distances. So the likely prospect of having suspension failures in the future is high concerning the age of all the components, general design of the struts (really not that robust of a design), and the likely failures to come for all the other air suspension complexities. I need reliability and peace of mind. I'll keep all the air suspension equipment, lines, electrical on the car in case a future owner wants to go back to the air suspension. I'll remove the air compressor and sell it. It will just go bad if left on the car without being cycled. I'll have two very nearly new Arnott front struts and one original rear strut for sale very soon along with the compressor. Let me know if you are interested. Low price for you considering your help on these pages and you live minutes from me!
John

 

Hi John!

Thank you for the very kind offer, but I have more X350 air springs/dampers, compressors, reservoirs and valve blocks than I have room to store. I actually have some air springs/dampers sitting out on my back porch right now because I had so many in the garage already. One of these days I'll go through and test them for leaks and toss the leaky ones.

Let us know how your conversion goes. I'll be doing yet another one and several control arms on an '04 later this week.

Cheers,

Don

 

Final question: If you have Strutmasters all around. Do you switch to Arnotts for a softer ride. I am old and want the soft air shock ride with the conversion shock. Is there a better shock brand to use for a softer ride for your conversion?

Thanks

JDog

 

Hi JDog,

I do not have any experience with the Strutmasters coil conversion units, so I can't offer any thoughts on how they compare to the Arnott coil units. However, I have just completed another conversion from air suspension to the Arnotts coil suspension with the latest generation with Eibach springs and shock absorbers, and I thought the ride was very comfortable and the handling was the best yet for any coil conversion kit I have installed. Whether or not you would be happier with the Arnotts than the Strutmasters, or whether it would be worth the expense and trouble of changing them, I cannot say.

What are your specific complaints about the current Strutmasters?

Cheers,

Don

 

I have no complaints. I purchased the car with strutmasters on it. So I really don't know if this is good or bad. It is just I have not read about anyone with Strutmasters shocks. I will probably just go with it and change them if I need too.


JDog

 

My advice is if something doesn't bother you and isn't a safety issue, just enjoy your beautiful luxury performance car. With a Jaguar, there will always be something else to spend time and money on down the road.



Cheers,

Don

 

When I purchased my 2005 VP, it had air suspension warnings, so I knew I would possibly be doing a conversion.

A conversation with my Jaguar mechanic, after inspecting the problem, indicated that the conversion was pretty much a no-brainer.

Having had the conversion done, I couldn't be happier. Is it as pristine as the air suspension? Hard to say. I'm not a high performance driver. But I will say that I am more than happy with the ride the conversion has given me, and several passengers have made unsolicited comments regarding the smoothness of the ride.

Given the expense of the air suspension replacement, and the possibility of air suspension issues in the future, I feel I made the proper choice for me, and would do the same thing again in a heartbeat.

 

We need to remember these are 14 - 18 year old vehicles. If original suspension ; bushings, ball joints, air strut, coil overs, all of it is near end of life.
I gave a 2013 Lexus to my daughter and one of those struts had failed and was cupping the tire. Toyota did not design those to ever be replaced. The Jag struts are easy to replace in comparison. The back seat and other items have to be pulled to get to the top of the rear struts.
The Lexus is seven years newer than my XJR. And it had a Lexus (KYB) damper failure in seven or eight years.
If There were upgraded anti roll bars I would consider the coil over conversion. The lowered air suspension in the XJR drives and LOOKS great. It also helps control body roll and transient steering. The system is a long way from perfect, but works great. Just does not hold up well.
I will not drive my A8 or XJR from Houston to New Orleans, Dallas, San Antonio, or the Rio Grand Valley. For fear of air strut failure. And the fact that no one I know can work on these cars in those cities. Breakdown is a trailer haul.
BTW, that strut that ran 1000 miles deflated should not be rebuilt. The pounding it absorbed has damaged the bumper and damper. That is why rebuilt air struts are such a crap shoot. A rebuilt strut that was run deflated will be a clunker after rebuild. It will clunk and bang and drive you nuts trying to find the issue. Never suspect a (new) strut to do that.

 

Hey JDog! Against my father's (who is a master Jaguar mechanic) advice we have done the coil conversion kit and in his humble opinion the ride is just not the same as the air suspension. I know the air suspension parts are expensive but it rides like a Jaguar should. It's really a personal preference-our customer was a little upset with the ride afterwards but absolutely saved himself a few thousand dollars in the long run. We have had great success with the Arnott brand air spring assemblies. Which is way cheaper than what Jaguar wants which last I checked was over $1600 for the OE. Hope this helps!

 

Thanks everyone. I do value your opinion. Panelhead did answer one of my questions. It does not matter how low of mileage you have on our car or what year it is, you still have to do the "old age" suspension maintenance. I bought this 2005 VDP for my wife. She loves this car but it was not in very good shape. I would consider it a good fair. It looked like it had been sitting in someone's garage for awhile. It needed some TLC. It had to have all the suspension maintenance work done as well as a few replaceable broken parts. My Jag mechanic quoted me 12K for the mechanical work. So I could not decide if I just needed to sell it and buy a newer year VDP or just keep this one and fix it. I passed up on a 2007 VDP out of Florida for 14K, 57K miles, pristine. BUT, I still would have to service the car and do the suspension maintenance even if it was pristine. I finally found a great place that is going to fix the suspension mechanical work and detail the car inside and out. He will just charge me labor for the suspension and I will buy the parts. Maybe 5K total. I ordered all the parts and will deliver it to the mechanic. Can't wait to see the results after it is finished. I will post on that later. Once again thanks everyone.


JDog

 

used coilover shocks from a 5.0 XF are cheap, easy and drive very well

if you have the money to drop on bilsteins buy them, otherwise you can get better results much cheaper

 

Keeping the air suspension means committing to that expensive repair or replacement again sometime in the next few years. Steel springs are forever, even if it's just a tiny bit off from the ride quality. I can't speak for the ride quality because I've never been in one that was working...