Hi folks,

Today my wife cut a corner and ran the right rear tire of her '05 XJ8L up on the curb and thumped it back down again. As a result, the right rear corner is sitting about 2 inches higher than the left (at the wheel well) and she said it rides rough. I took a quick look underneath and don't see any obvious damage, but the shock looks "hyper-extended". It is the factory original air shock. Does this sound like something any of you have dealt with?? Any chance of breaking it loose? I hate to have to get new shocks but I'm not sure what else it could be. Any advice appreciated.

Thanks.

 

Larry,

That's a really weird issue. It certainly does seem possible that the shock somehow jammed in the extended position. I assume if any of the suspension arms were bent you would have noticed.

Here's a crazy thought: I don't know if the jointed arm of the air suspension height sensor is strong enough to hold the suspension in an extended position, but if it somehow was overextended and the articulated joint flipped around past vertical so the section of arm on the sensor body is aiming the wrong direction, perhaps it is keeping the suspension from relaxing to its normal height. Crazy, I know, but it doesn't sound like you're dealing with something typical.

Please keep us informed.

Cheers,

Don

 

You should check the ride height sensor. The mounting bracket for the ride height sensor may have moved causing a missaligned centering of the sensor. There is a ride height sensor on each rear side attached to the suspension arm so you can look at the left side to then compare that to what you see on the right side to see if the right side has moved. Below is a picture of the ride height sensor, it has two rubber ends and one side is attached to the suspension arm and the other to the plastic ride hight sensor.

 

Thanks, guys. I'll go take a look at ride height sensors in the morning. The unaffected side should give me an idea of what it should look like. I also think I'll jack the weight off of that wheel and wiggle things around a bit. If the shock is jammed internally, that may free it up. We'll see.

Cheers,

 

So I tore into this puppy today and it was clearly the shock. I removed it and it is like it is welded in the fully extended position. Tried yanking and pulling on it with no success. Guess it's time to call the guys at Arnott.

Cheers.

 

Not necessarily the shock. There is a valve in the air spring that retains pressure even if you remove the air line to it. This is to prevent the possibility of the air spring diaphragm getting twisted and damaged.

My copy of the 2003 Technical Notes states that the pressure retaining valve maintains a pressure of 3 Bar to maintain the air spring components in their correct orientation, and to prevent the diaphragm from creasing. Normal operating pressure is 7-9 bar depending on car load. Full bump pressure can be up to 20 Bar.

I think if you unscrew the brass valve, it will deflate, but be careful ! If it has retained the residual pressure it is OK and not leaking. Of course it may still be damaged, but if it were me, I'd look at the height detectors first.