After having my first air suspension blowout three weeks ago on the front right shock, one my back shocks spontaneously blew shortly after parking today. I heard a 'bang' as I walked into the grocery store, didn't think much of it... upon coming out, my rear end is sitting low and the suspension fault light is on.

I can't believe it. Three whole weeks between failures. Is it possible that the pump is somehow overinflating the shocks, thus causing two failures so close together? Or is it more likely just horrible coincidence?

I'm kicking myself for letting my mechanic talk me out of doing a coilover conversion. Now I really regret it.

Just how hard is replacing a rear air shock? Could a reasonably intelligent guy with a floor jack and a socket set do the job? I can't afford recurring Jag bills every month, as I'm vacationing in England in October... I'll be sure to stop by in Coventry to give the engineers a piece of my mind (and maybe scrounge for parts!)

 

You can do it with a floor jack, I havr with no problem

Visit the arnott site they have video and a pdf manual....the printed manual will come with one of their shocks

 

I know a few who've gone to coilovers, some are fine with the ride, some hate it...

If you didn't replace both front shocks when one blew out, I'd go ahead and replace the other. At least you can drive with abrear blowout

 

Rears are easier then fronts. Go for it - you can do it.

 

Thank you, guys. I watched the Arnott video on YouTube and am confident I can do it. The only thing I was worried about is whether a floor jack would give me the clearance necessary to do it, and I thank HhisIII above for putting that fear to rest. It looks very straightforward.

My Jag repair guy talked me out of switching over the coilovers because it supposedly causes problems with the CATS system or the CAN network or something (I wish I could remember exactly what he said). Any thoughts on this?

I'd hate to make the switchover just three weeks after sinking money into a new air shock, but if the future of my ownership of this car is going to be a periodic replacement of blown air shocks, I'd rather go with good ol' fashioned springs if I can be convinced that there's a minimum of downsides.

Is there any possibility that some specific situation caused both front and rears to fail so closely together, like too much air pressure?

 

Yeah floor jack is fine, just jack at the point forward of the well....don't need any significant height, just get the wheel off the ground.

Honestly, the hardest part is getting the top of the new shock lined up on install, helps to have a second pair of eyes looking into the trunk to help you guide it in

 

Honestly the shocks just fail......it's the nature of the best.....be glad it was a blowout rather than a slow leak that took the compressor out with it

 

What sort of miles on the car ? And what shocks came out on the first replacement - Jaguar originals, (including Bilstein the original supplier), or aftermarket ?

My local Jaguar specialist here in the UK says they have never replaced an air shock.

 

Just hit 60,000 miles. I did not see the first one that burst after it was removed. I assume it was OEM because the service records didn't mention shocks being replaced.

I find it hard to believe that they've never replaced an air shock, considering how often it happens on this board.

 

If your specialist has never changed a shock, I hope it's because they specialize in old jags......these things fail

60k seems about average.....with the exception of a recent rash of mid 2012 runs, it seems the arnott remans last longer....

Mine were replaced at 74k all around when the dealer I bought it from first got it......I'm at 137k now and have one rear left to replace that I'll probably go ahead and do as PM in the next month or so

 

Not at all, in fact their chief mechanic is most knowledgeable on the current models, (F-type excepted as it's so new). They maintain my car, and many other X350s, and also some X351s as they are trusted more than the local main agent. I think our very damp and mostly cold weather has a lot to do with it. Anyway, knock on wood, as I'm now on 71k miles !!

 

I did mine at around 100,000km

I think that’s about normal for here on OZ due to the rougher roads and climate

Not sure from the posts but Its sounds like you just replaced the one failed unit at a time

When mine went it was only one but I replace the lots as I knew the others would not be far behind. Sounds like this is what you are seeing, progressive failure of the units that have not been replaced as yet.

On a side note the drivers front is most likely the last one to fail.
Most drivers tend to avoid more things on that wheel which often makes the other wheels cop more.

Cheers
34by151

 

That may very well play a role. I'm in South Florida during the hottest time of the year. Two blowouts in three weeks and my headliner has decided to sag on the back corners and sunroof. Maybe these cars don't prefer sun and heat.

 

My front right one just blew last week. Its pretty annoying to say the least.
I cant get a new shock for a while so shes just sitting collecting dust.

 

Well, I got the new shock in today and put it in myself. Saved myself loads of money. It's really not hard. Pictured is the old vs. new.

You will need a 13mm deep socket or wrench for the four bolts inside the trunk. My socket was too shallow to fit around the bolts so I had to wrench it by hand. Annoying but not too difficult.

You will also need a 21MM socket or wrench for the lower connection point of the shock. I used a 4-way tire iron for this; one of the ends matched. There is also a control arm you will need to disconnect just to move it out of the way and give clearance for the shock to come in/out (it's not actually connected to the shock). I believe this was 13 millimeters as well.

The hard part is definitely putting it back in, as you really do need a second set of eyes in the trunk to help guide it back in correctly.

Honestly, if you're able-bodied, moderately clever and have a basic set of tools, I wouldn't bother taking this sort of work to a mechanic as it will cost $$$ for something you can accomplish yourself. I wish I had tried doing my own front shock when it blew, but I've heard it's a bit more difficult.

I got a remanufactured Arnott from their site. I found a coupon code on this site which actually saved me $39.90! Search this site for 'arnott coupon code' or 'discount'.

One last tip - I recommend calling Arnott to find out where their distribution warehouses are before you pay for overnight shipping. I wanted my part to come the next day, and almost selected the overnight shipping option when making my purchase, which would have cost quite a bit more. I decided to ring them up just before checking out my purchase... turns out the part was shipping from just a few hours away in Florida, and everything shipped via UPS within Florida arrives next-day, regardless of shipping option. Therefore I received it the following morning for only around $11 in shipping. I know they have a few warehouses around the country they ship from so you might be able to save money by not needing to pay for expedited shipping.

Arnott also included a prepaid shipping label for me to use to ship the old shock back in order to get my core charge refunded, so that's nice.

It might be my imagination, but after replacing the part, the rear wheels seem to go easier over speed bumps than they did before the thing blew, though that could just be all in my head.

We shall see if the Arnott part lasts longer than the original. At the very least, it looks nicer! And these things have a lifetime warranty, do they not...

Now to start making a plan for my headliner!

 

I recently had to replace my right front air shock and like many others my XJ8 was just a bit over 62,000 miles (100,000 KM's) when it blew. I decided after some thought that I'd stay with the air shocks for two reasons. First, that's what the car was designed for and built for. Second, after considering that Arnott gives the buyer a lifetime warranty on their rebuilt factory shocks I figured that even if they were only good for another 60,000 miles I'd still be years longer driving that many more miles and if they didn't last that long then I'd only be out the simple installation cost since they'd be covered. With our 10% discount we could replace all 4 for about $1400.00 plus the labor. A pretty good deal I think.

 

I converted to the Arnott coilovers last week. The ride is improved compared to the air suspension. Even my wife said it was smoother and more stable.The instructions were easy to follow and I get none of the low vehicle or air suspension fault after the change. I did it in my driveway with a jack and some metric sockets with a 1/2 inch drive. I did not have to remove the bottom seat on my 2005 VDP. I could get to the straps by feeling between the back and bottom seat right in the middle. Good shock and support alignment is the key to a smooth reinstall. No more worries with blown shocks.

 

Your words wound me, for now I wish I had done the conversion straightaway. Instead I've replaced two shocks in 30 days and will probably have to replace the other 2 within the next year or so.

But I'm glad it worked out for you! How'd it feel going over speed bumps? Do you have any pictures that show the new ride height? Have you taken it into a parking lot to experiment with hard cornering?

 

I'm not knocking the coilover conversion, I think it's a great option to have, but if you feel it as notably smoother than the air suspension, there was something wrong with your air suspension.

With the system working properly, I can tell the difference in an x350 vs x351 with it's coilover fronts.

 

Probably why he did it...