Yes, just to clarify, shocks are wear and tear items but we wouldn't consider them to be consumables that are routinely and frequently changed. In our local context here in Singapore, on an average Japanese car, they'll last 7-10 years as our annual mileage is typically fairly low (less than 20,000 km / year) as the country is really small.

Generally speaking our cars are also terminated at 10 years (either scrapped or exported from the country) due to our tax rebate structure that gives a significant payout at 10 years or earlier if the car is disposed of and absolutely nothing back if the car is kept for 10 years + 1 day. As such, there are very few cars that are more than 10 years old, so in our context, shock absorbers may not even be changed in the course of typical ownership / life of a car and are hence not really considered consumable items over here.

Only the air-shocks seem to give the short life span problem (and I don't just mean Jaguars) and I've been told that for some of the other luxury makes, 3-3.5 years is the usual lifespan, so I suppose should be happy since my XJR's shocks managed to last 5.5 years before giving problems.

Sigh.... the problems of a car enthusiast in a country with the world's highest car taxes...

 

Yeah, Bad Boy. Nothing like getting almost zero support from a small aftermarket company that has designed a system to replace a complex air suspension system to point out my complete lack of facts.

I have been following these developments since before the coilover system was released by Arnott. Let's wonder out loud for a moment if you were to have an accident as a result of a poorly designed Arnott system and you insurance company found out this information. They would vociferously deny the claim. Meanwhile, you would be dealing with reps on the phone completely clueless about the products and systems they've been hired to support. Arnott and you the consumer got real lucky that their defects in materials and workmanship didn't result in damage or injury, because it's highly doubtful that Arnott or you would have the resources to withstand the resulting legal onslaught.

 

I think everybody needs to agree to differ on this one, and let this thread close out

 

I'm curious about long term feedback and results from people who have made the conversion. We don't need anyone else bashing the company or product. Is the revised shock/spring resolving issues?

Please keep us updated.

 

All that needs to be explained is why would someone replace the system with costly OEM replacement air struts when there is a cost efficient solution. Unless you have cash to just throw around of coarse. My coilover conversion went great I did have the faulty front struts but they took care of it. Arnott got m in touch with their engineers and as they worked through why the struts they were distributing were faulty, they kept me in a very tight loop. I can tell you, they do, and always have had bump stops. They just needed stiffer springs. I've had my share of involvement with this whole anti Arnott arguement with some of these guys. Ive yet to of heard a good arguement. The best, one CHARACTER said people buy the x350 because of its suspension. Idiot I think. I can care less whether or not a vehicle of any sort has air ride. Todays world comes to cost efficiency, agreed? For parts that have such a vast supply and demand, the price is out of this world. Unless your are rich, and actually care about the air, there is no logical reason to replace the units with OEM parts anymore. I will say thank you Arnott.. Bravo. They may have had an issue or two but so does every other company. And on that whole accident with injuries due to the failure of an Arnott unit, it probay would have happened by now and through the grapevine we all who have the product would know of it. Can I get some follwers? Lol

 

Can you post some pictures?

I'm curious about the ride height. My air suspension seems to keep the front slightly higher than the rear.

Is the handling any more responsive than stock?

 

I will say, I feel as if the ride quality has changed. The air ride had features that the conversion cannot have. Braking and acceleration changed the most. Before conversion, when braking, the air suspension would keep the car level-ish instead of bowing in the front. Now it does. Also before the conversion, when taking off, the car would stay level instead of the sagging. Now, it sags under acceleration. The ride height is good. I am a little higher in the front than the rear. I blame it on the revised front struts since they are stiffer. never the less. I am satisfied. On my profile, there are photos, not of the converted suspension but of the car, post conversion. Check.em out. Ill post some on here if this doesnt meet the request.

 

One more thing, I agree with what im seeing on this thread, lets get this back on track okay. The bashing of arnott and air suspensions is illegitimate. Lets bring this thread to discussion and advise for the COIL-OVER conversion. Deal?

 

If the spring is so stiff that the front is too high does that not mean the spring rate between the front and rear is not correct? - unless the front springs are to long. It does sound to me as something is still unresolved from Arnott.

 

Sorry to go off topic here, maybe you could answer with a new thread Brutal. What exactly happened when you fed the wrong measurements into the IDS? Like 04XJ8's car, my XJR is sitting too high at the front & I intended to try lowering it this way. What does "didn't work well" mean exactly? Thanks.

 

They are not that stiff. They seem stiffer but not rediculously. The difference in my ride hight between front and rear is about a quarter of an inch. I have not complained about this. Alsi, looking back on the info I got from, arnott,, they also found a clearance issue on the front, causing the shocks to collide with the bump stops prematurely. That was there major finding. I blame my ride hight difference on that change of clearance. The conversion to me, no matter the past imperfections and the loss of CATS features in the suspension, is just about the same ride as the air suspension. They did a great job with the valving. The main differences in the two are the fact that now they are coils and not air struts. Coils have different characteristics that air suspensions. You can try to mimic the same ride, but the reality of it its they are different. Differences aside, it is a wonderful product and a great buy.

 

Thanks for clarifying usmc1213.

 

Lol. No problem. Here to help.

 

Just wanted to let you know Brutal, that I successfully lowered my XJR using an IDS. Dropped it 20mm at the front and 10mm at the rear. All you need to do is add the amount to lower to the actual measurements. i.e. measure 395, so enter 415. Then when you do the 2nd round of measurements be sure to add the same amount again, i.e. measure 375, enter 395. And then it accepts and your car is magically lower by 20mm.

BTW you would need to lengthen the rods, or put shims under the mounting brackets of the sensors, if you wanted to do it mechanically.

I'm so happy I just had to share!

 

The "bashing" of Arnott is something I never did. I am however highly critical at their lack of completing the engineering job before product release. This kit is not fully sorted. There's another kit, From Motor Cars Ltd., that another member has had installed and has posted a thread regarding such. This kit, according to the member, is virtually indistinguishable from the air suspension in ride and handling, and seems fully sorted.

Personal attacks aside, I don't really care if people want to vilify me for being appropriately skeptical. I think Arnott makes fine air suspension components. I also believe they've released a marginal coil-over kit, that at best needs additional engineering work to be a suitable air-suspension replacement. and that is 100% on topic.

 

Thanks again for your feedback. Arnott Inc. takes the safety of its products and customers very seriously. Every Arnott product, including the Jaguar Coil Over replacements, go through literally years of design and testing before we will release a product to support a new make or model. In the case of the Jag it was over 3 years.

Our designers strive to not only match the performance of the original product but pride themselves in trying to enhance the ride, safety and functionality of the Arnott replacement product. In the case of the Jaguar Coil Spring Conversion Kit, Bilstein Ride Engineers even helped test and valve the shocks produced for the final production design.

Arnott Inc. tests the manufacturing, installation and ride of every new product on cars the company purchases. Typically, Arnott has over 30 test vehicles at our facility at any given time. We test the parts for tens of thousands of miles on highways, city streets, rough roads and on purpose built courses designed to stress the vehicle's suspension and our parts. Throughout the testing phase, and the life of the product, we are constantly monitoring the installation for ware and ride quality.

In the case of the Jag coil conversion a couple of months ago a defective part was found to have been delivered to us and used during manufacturing. The problem was a reduced clearance that caused the front shock to bottom out on the bump stop prematurely. Once we learned of the problem we immediately investigated and worked around the clock to identify the problem and find a solution. We were able to come up with a solution to this issue in less than two days and are continuing to test the production kit on cars that are putting in at least 120 miles per day.

We are thankful that our loyal customers immediately notified us of this issue and are proud that we were able to rectify the situation in a timely manner. Our parts are serialized and code dated for quality control and thus we were able to immediately identify those customers and kits affected. Only a handful of these defective units were sold and they did not pose a threat to safety. We have worked openly and honestly with each customer that was affected and believe that this issue is has been resolved to the satisfaction of those valued customers.

If there are any outstanding issues with this or any Arnott part please contact our customer support team at 1-800-251-8993 (1-321-868-3016) or email them info@arnottinc.com

 

Does anyone know if the Arnott coil converstion (or perhaps one of the others) will fit the 2006 Vanden Plas model? I'm just starting to get some leakage and I want to dump the air suspension if possible. Thanks.

 

Hi Doug,

Will your kit work on my 2006 Vanden Plas? Also, will this conversion cause the computer to send messages? Definitely interested in getting rid of the air suspension.

Thanks,

John

 

Hi. I'm seriously thinking about converting my '06 VDP to the Arnott coil system. The only concern that I have is regarding the computer sending error messages with the air suspension gone. How is that situation resolved? Thanks in advance...

 

[quote=XJJohnF;542417]Hi Doug,

Will your kit work on my 2006 Vanden Plas? Also, will this conversion cause the computer to send messages? Definitely interested in getting rid of the air suspension.




It should install on the Vandan Plas. The kit is fairly simple to install. Main thing is to have both sides (meaning both sides on front or rear during installation) jacked up off the ground. This will allow the control arms to hang freely and give you enough room to install the coilovers. Be very careful in following the instructions for disabling the system it's actually the 1st step on our instruction manual. It's a very straight forward </SPAN>
installation. Just in case you run into any problems you can contact our tech support line between the hours of 8:30AM to 7PM EST on Mon-Fri. Please feel free to let me know if you have any additional questions or concerns and I'll be more than happy to help.

Thanks,

Marvin Noel
http://www.arnottindustries.com/
http://www.arnottairride.com/
1-800-251-8993 Ext.100
(M-F 8:30am - 6:30pm EST)