Bushbuck,

I just went out and measured my stock 05 VDP for you -

Avg was 15.125" or 384mm for the front
14.875" or 378mm back

So you're about .9 inches taller in the front and .375 higher in the rear.

From my miata racing days, they always tried to set up the rear to be higher, the 'rake'; I recall there was some suspension setup reason for this, but it also looks better

Has it settled down any? An inch higher in front is a decent sized jump.

 

Hi Ross, I suspect it will take a couple years for it to drop. It really does not bother me and I think it looks fine. I have to say it really is a nice ride and I am very happy with the suspension.

 

I just rechecked my 2005 Jaguar XJ8L.

The front was: 15.625" (396.87mm)
The rear was: 15.1875" (385.76mm)

 

Does it make a difference with the air suspension if the car is running or if it has been sitting overnight? I used to hear my Jag (pass gas) a couple hours after it was parked in the garage. I am sure you have all heard your car release air..

 

That's probably true, I hear/see mine cycle sometimes just sitting there.
I believe there is a variable in the ride height on the air suspension. I recall the ecu checks the ride height sensor and adjusts if it's out of spec.

anyone know what the range is? (just out of curiosity)

And bushbuck, it should settle in a matter of days, not years Unless you load the suspension arms when you install often the bushings will get torqued/twisted; the weight of the car when it comes back down usually settles them back (or at least that's the theory).

 

Bushbuck: That is really a beautiful car that you have, and I know that you will be more than happy with the Arnott coil/spring conversion. Moreover, I know that I didn't miss the air suspension faults either. If I get a chance, I'll post a few pictures of my Jag that now has the Arnott coil/spring conversion.

 

Here are a couple of pictures of my 2005 Jaguar XJ8L with the Arnott coil/spring conversion.

 

Looks slightly higher but not too much. How would you judge the ride before and after? And if it's not too gauche to ask, did you have someone else do the work and if so, how much did it cost?

 

Before the Arnott coil/spring conversion, the air suspension was nice, but the suspension seemed to bottom out (thud!)sometimes whenever I went over some bumps on the road. After the Arnott coil/spring conversion, the ride was simply pleasant, comfortable, smooth and never bottomed out. In fact, it was the best riding vehicle that I had ever drove. Trust me, you'll never be disappointed with the conversion. That I can guarantee.

It cost me a little over $1600 for the Arnott coil/springs, and a little over $1100 for Goodyear to do the conversion. It took one (the manager assisted at times) of their mechanics 8.5 hours to do the job that day, but they also had to do an alignment and test drive. The job that the Goodyear mechanics had done was professional every step of the way.

 

Here is a couple of other photos of the 2005 Jaguar XJ8L after the Arnott coil/spring conversion.

 

Looks great Rickkk.

 

Looks good Rickkk. Interesting on the ride - did you notice if the shocks said Arnott or Bilstein on them? I wrote up the super thread on coil over conversions but there was conflicting info if Arnott was still using Bilsteins or they were making their own shocks.

How does it do on small bumps?

My complaint (and I have it with most Bilsteins) on the stock suspension is that the small bumps are too rough - it makes my car get the slight shakes, I can feel them too much, whereas it takes big bumps like they're almost not there.

 

Hi Ross: I didn't notice the manufacturer as the Goodyear manager was the one who actually ordered those coil/springs from Arnott Industries. As to the ride, the car just floats and glides over any of the small bumps, and it takes the larger bumps exceedingly well. As I mentioned earlier, the previous air suspension on the Jag would sometimes bottom out when the car went over the larger bumps. Whenever that happened, I would hear and feel a big 'thump'! That was certainly not what I would have expected from a premium luxury car.

Incidentally, to the best of my knowledge, Jaguar is no longer equipping their new vehicles with air suspension on all fours as it opted to use coil/springs on the front.

When I visited Goodyear the last couple of times, I got the impression that Jaguar owners were deserting the local dealership in droves as I seen several Jaguars parked at the Goodyear service center. I know that one of them stopped over for an alignment (as he just finished installing the Arnott coil/springs himself). Another Jag owner had some other work done, but I can't recall what it was. Moreover, one of the other Jag owners stopped at the Goodyear service center late in the afternoon on that day to check on how my coil/spring conversion was going.

After the coil/spring conversion was completed, the Goodyear manager took my Jag out for a spin. He later commented to me that the ride was one of the best that he had seen. I concur.

 

I hope my experience is as positive as yours, Rick. I have the Strutmasters set on order. My air suspension also feels like it 'bottoms out' at times. I'll post results once it's done.

 

The struts are here already! Unfortunately I won't be able to put them on until this weekend. I want to play with my new toys now!

In case anyone was wondering, the Strutmasters use Bilstein shocks with Eibach springs:

 

Awesome. Thank you so much for the detailed sharing of your experience doing this. I can't say in looking forward to pouring another $2,700 into Shaguar after just shelling out $3,800 for new brakes and steering components, but I'm glad that the Arnott conversion seems to be a superior upgrade. 8-)

 

scooternva: Don't feel too bad. Shortly after I received my Jag from an eBay purchase in early February, I wasted $1300 at the dealer for a new air compressor that unfortunately didn't take care of the air suspension faults. Moreover, the dealer mentioned that the air suspension shock on the front passenger side was recently replaced with Jaguar OEM so the former owner (a Florida woman) threw out $2500 out the window for that. It was probably at that time that she decided to trade the vehicle in.

Well, after shelling out something like $2774 for the Arnott coil/spring conversion, I also had to fork over $1330 for four new speed rated tires.

In total, I spent something like $5400 to get the vehicle in top running and operating condition.

 

The things we do for our rolling art!