hello,
i am going to be replacing all four struts on 2004 xj8. my options are as follows:
new arnott c-2745 or c-3270 coil strut conversion kit, the kits cost within $150 of each other,
or four new arnott air struts, as-2888 front and as-2889 rear, for about $1000 more than the coil conversion kit. all arnott parts are life warranty to original purchaser, excluding labor. all other air system components are original, including compressor. 21,000 original miles on car.
LOOKING FOR SUGGESTIONS ON WHAT MEMBERS WOULD PREFER TO OWN IF IT WERE THERE CAR.
Thank you very much for the feedback.
Happy Easter!

 

I'm puzzled you're replacing the air springs on a car that has only done 21k miles; are they leaking or what ? Either of the options you describe means you lose the CATS variable damping. If this doesn't matter to you, then its a matter of deciding whether you like air suspension or not. You can, of course, still get the Bilstein air springs, but these are more expensive. Her's a UK supplier that ships to the US. Of course there are shipping costs to add on and also any import duty etc
https://www.berkshirejagcomponents.com/PBSCCatalog.asp

 

I just had mine replaced with the basic Arnott conversion kit. I am happy with them. I dont have to worry about it sagging anymore and the ride quality is not much different. If it was not for an extra cost though I would get the Bilsteins to keep the CATS. I also dropped down to 18" wheels from 19" so that made a difference in ride quality as well. Labor to install the coil overs was $810 plus $1100 for the kit vs about $2800 for Bilsteins plus labor.

 

Yes, the Bilsteins are expensive !!

 

hi, thanks for the reply. where did you find new bilsteins for $700 each? also did you buy the kit yourself and pay labor to install or did your shop supply both? also, how many labor hours did they charge to install or their shop labor rate per hour, if you know? thank you very much!

 

They can be found now at Rockauto for about $650 and $665 for the air shocks. The conversion kit is also at Rockauto for about $1050. I bought the conversion kit myself and had them install it but not sure how many hrs or what the rate was, does not say in the invoice. I think it was maybe 1.5hrs per strut. Living in MD the rates are a little higher than the rest of the country. I would guess about $125/hr

 

I just replaced my original Jag air shocks with Arnott Coilovers (after my left front suddenly developed a serious leak) and I am VERY happy with the result. I always thought the front end of my 2004 was a bit low, and soft for my taste, particularly on the whoop-dee-doos, and I consider the Arnotts a distinct improvement. I have about 111,000 kms, or about 65,000 miles on the car.

 

The cost so far to keep the air shocks has been worth the expense.
R M T's price to rebuild the stock ones was reasonable.
$550 included the shipping both ways for two front shocks.

 

I replaced mine with the Arnott conversion simply for the fact I did not want to deal with the aging air system as I could not afford to rebuild the complete system. I do not have to be concerned with finding any future leaks that may have developed in the system or the compressor. The ride is alright, however it is not as good as I had hoped. I installed the kit myself with no help and I spent two mornings doing it last July. I had replaced 1 air shock several years ago and it was much easier then. I still have all the shocks and may get them rebuilt someday. If you drive hard the change is not as responsive as the air suspension was. It now reminds me of an old Ford LTD.

I am now more aware of the affect of bad roads on the rest of the suspension components.

 

I have a set of Arnotts air shocks on the front of my 04, that work well.
They were sent in for rebuilding, then put on the 07.
They both work great, but the rebuilds cost a good bit less.

 

Ive just done that job on a 2004 vdp.
It turned into a hell of a project.

Front upper control arms replaced.
Front rear lower control arm replaced.
Rear toe adjusters replaced.
Front wheel bearings replaced.
Air compressor replaced.
Both rear handbrake cables replaced.
Front and rear brake rotors replaced.

Full car alignment done.
ECU flash required and you need the shop computer to do this.
Handbrake cable recalibration and set up.
Ride height sensor reset , also done via that expensive computer.

So as you can see my "changing' all four corners turned into a project, so be aware of that one.

Saying that, now the car is finished it runs like a dream, it runs like it should do.My $1000 car which is in immaculate condition is now performing more like the $100000 odd it started off as 14 years ago.That more than makes up for the hassle the job turned into.

Now to your question, I went for the RMT rebuilds and they cost me $1000 for all four. My rears were good but Im a change the lot kind of guy.
So far they have performed perfectly, and I keep the CATS. The suspension does everything it is supposed to do.

As far as how good these struts are there are a few posts on here where guys praise them, a few have had issues but RMT seem to have no problem replacing shoddy shocks, in fact I think one guy said he had one front go and RMT sent him both fronts so they could be changed as a pair...........

I don't know whether Bilstein fixed the issue they had with bags leaking, but the RMT onese seem different and more solid on the top where the leak issue was occurring....if they have fixed it , then at the moment you can get their struts for 600 odd bucks, which is still quite pricey for all four but is better than the 1700 each that they were a while ago........whether they are any better than others on the market Im not sure......they do have a bad failure rate.......a little voice in the back of my head says that Bilstein were not selling many of these and ended up with an over stock.......hense the sell off........who knows.

Good luck.....

 

Doing all four corners at the same time is desirable.
But the rears don't take near the beating that the front ones do.
Same with most cars, the front brakes wear out faster than the rears do.
But finances always are always a factor, the rears were still fine so other things come first.