Your first point is the reason SLS is a good feature, standard springs which is what I have on mine aren't a patch on Air so I imagine HD springs are almost unbearable without any load on them, but being that you've lived with them so long it's the norm.

The D3 is an improvement again the ride and handling is sublime, if you drive a D3 or indeed any 4x4 like a sports car you will tip it over,. Whilst the ACE uses gravitational sensors at high and low points and a hydraulic pump via valves and actuators to level the vehicle on turns, the D3 uses a computer to monitor the loads on individual air bags and adjusts the suspension accordingly. Similar effect but different method both effective
My first point is why I went for heavy duty springs, they can take the extra compression and then become less harsh, ask any HGV driver, or at least one who used to drive HGVs back in the days before more sophisticated suspensions and they will tell you that the tractor unit becomes more comfortable with the load on it.
As far as my D1 is concerned I started with it in standard suspension format, it was ok except it rolled a lot, I took advice fitted the Gaz shocks and roll was far, far less. I then fitted the HDs to the rear and the rears to the front (perhaps should have mentioned this) as I was going to start the long distance towing. It was and still is more comfortable than my D2.
The D3 in question belonged to a mate who drove me and Wifey around around in it, together with his wife and kids on roads near us in France that are twisty A-roads, but at normal speeds, i.e. not showing off anything at all. We hadn't noticed this nausea inducing thing when he drove us around back in England where we all live, just in France. He sure as heck wasn't driving it like a sports car.
It is worth pointing out that I have a bit of a lower spine back problem and Wifey has a titanium cage in her back and takes huge amounts of pain killers i.e. morphine sulphate etc, so there is no way whatsoever she could take it if our cars were not comfortable for her.
Sorry if this goes against the grain of your thoughts that the later suspension systems must, de facto, be better. Theoretically they may be, but in practicality we find what we have suits us and i am very happy I don't have to worry about an airbag springing a leak at an inopportune moment. the only experience i have of that is when an LZ member (Dutch) had this happen to him in another part of France and he called on me to help him out in a three way conversation to get him recovered from a slight off road situation, a ditch beside a forest track, where he was stuck, and then to sort out the garage getting the part (new bag) and fitting it. It took a truck and another 4x4 with at least one winch to get him out.
As an ex- MSA recovery crew member, i know that this would not have happened to him if he had not had air. Although I am fully aware that this is not the issue we are fundamentally discussing here.
As I said in my very first post on this thread, each to his own, you pays your money and you takes your choice, but there will always be moe than one opinion on stuff. You may think i am wrong, fine that is your choice. I just know that what I have suits me and i would not change it.
no one yet has mentioned 7-seater as opposed to 5-seater. Mine is a 5-seater and maybe that is a large part of why I don't have air and am happy with it.
 
Only have so many hours in the day to read your posts, must have missed that one.

Cheers
Neilly, mate, if you comment on or ask a question about one of my posts, you could at least have the decency to read them. They ain't that long.
and if I comment on or question one of yours I certainly read them properly first.


Cheers
 
Neilly, mate, if you comment on or ask a question about one of my posts, you could at least have the decency to read them. They ain't that long.
and if I comment on or question one of yours I certainly read them properly first.


Cheers

I did read the post I was responding to, just not the novel before hand... who ever said I was decent?


Cheers
 
My first point is why I went for heavy duty springs, they can take the extra compression and then become less harsh, ask any HGV driver, or at least one who used to drive HGVs back in the days before more sophisticated suspensions and they will tell you that the tractor unit becomes more comfortable with the load on it.
As far as my D1 is concerned I started with it in standard suspension format, it was ok except it rolled a lot, I took advice fitted the Gaz shocks and roll was far, far less. I then fitted the HDs to the rear and the rears to the front (perhaps should have mentioned this) as I was going to start the long distance towing. It was and still is more comfortable than my D2.
The D3 in question belonged to a mate who drove me and Wifey around around in it, together with his wife and kids on roads near us in France that are twisty A-roads, but at normal speeds, i.e. not showing off anything at all. We hadn't noticed this nausea inducing thing when he drove us around back in England where we all live, just in France. He sure as heck wasn't driving it like a sports car.
It is worth pointing out that I have a bit of a lower spine back problem and Wifey has a titanium cage in her back and takes huge amounts of pain killers i.e. morphine sulphate etc, so there is no way whatsoever she could take it if our cars were not comfortable for her.
Sorry if this goes against the grain of your thoughts that the later suspension systems must, de facto, be better. Theoretically they may be, but in practicality we find what we have suits us and i am very happy I don't have to worry about an airbag springing a leak at an inopportune moment. the only experience i have of that is when an LZ member (Dutch) had this happen to him in another part of France and he called on me to help him out in a three way conversation to get him recovered from a slight off road situation, a ditch beside a forest track, where he was stuck, and then to sort out the garage getting the part (new bag) and fitting it. It took a truck and another 4x4 with at least one winch to get him out.
As an ex- MSA recovery crew member, i know that this would not have happened to him if he had not had air. Although I am fully aware that this is not the issue we are fundamentally discussing here.
As I said in my very first post on this thread, each to his own, you pays your money and you takes your choice, but there will always be moe than one opinion on stuff. You may think i am wrong, fine that is your choice. I just know that what I have suits me and i would not change it.
no one yet has mentioned 7-seater as opposed to 5-seater. Mine is a 5-seater and maybe that is a large part of why I don't have air and am happy with it.

Good for you.

like you say it is a personal opinion and in my opinion and LR's it seems SLS is an improvement over coils but again I don't drive the D2 anymore and have my 38 on EAS and I don't miss the D2's ride at all.

Most EAS failures are down to lack or maintenance and a complete lack of understanding on how rubber components have a limited life span..

My D2 was put on coils in 2010 and if you note the MOT history it "V937MNP" it notes the bag was leaking, the owner was none the wiser!!
the majority of all EAS failures I've encountered have been with airbags that look like this..
sad-airbags.jpg


And people wonder why it fails.

The same can be said for the people that have a "minor leak" IE the rear sags down when sat overnight and they also note the compressor never cuts off..

And when they're sat on the side of the road miles from home with the arse on the floor, they curse the system and preach it is shít where in reality it could of been easily rectified.


Talking of heavy trucks, most premium HGV's have EAS which is an improvement on standard.. ;)

If maintained the SLS is perfectly reliable.
 
Good for you.

like you say it is a personal opinion and in my opinion and LR's it seems SLS is an improvement over coils but again I don't drive the D2 anymore and have my 38 on EAS and I don't miss the D2's ride at all.

Most EAS failures are down to lack or maintenance and a complete lack of understanding on how rubber components have a limited life span..

My D2 was put on coils in 2010 and if you note the MOT history it "V937MNP" it notes the bag was leaking, the owner was none the wiser!!
the majority of all EAS failures I've encountered have been with airbags that look like this..
sad-airbags.jpg


And people wonder why it fails.

The same can be said for the people that have a "minor leak" IE the rear sags down when sat overnight and they also note the compressor never cuts off..

And when they're sat on the side of the road miles from home with the arse on the floor, they curse the system and preach it is shít where in reality it could of been easily rectified.
Talking of heavy trucks, most premium HGV's have EAS which is an improvement on standard.. ;)

If maintained the SLS is perfectly reliable.
I like those pics, if peeps tyres looked like that, they'd do summat!
As you say regular maintenance. It isn't yet in most peeps DNA to maintain their suspension components, Even leaf springs require a bit of maintenance. But most people never did that either!
When I was a rep I was given a Mk3 Cortina with at least one bust coil spring on the driver's side. How it had passed its MOT lord knows, but then it was back in 1975.
But my first rep's car was a Mk2 Cortina whose rear springs curved the opposite way to the way they should have. It came from a depot where it had been used for years to cart heavy valves and fittings around. Never seen anything like it.
In 1 1/2 years I had 4 cars and only the last one was new! One of the very last Mk3 Cortinas, the other one was a Mk1 Capri with a gear box that screamed blue murder. You could say that the company was a bit tight with its transport fleet and never seemed to worry about the impression the reps' cars left on customers. The mark 2 also had an engine that sounded like a bag of bolts, though it went ok, surprisingly!
 
My apologies in advance but i'm going crazy each time i see a topic about bastardising a D2 which was factory fitted with SLS just to keep it simple. For such owners i think that if the engine fails it's better to cut a hole in the footwell and drive it like the Flintstones rather than fix it :rolleyes:

there are modells fitted with coils from factory for lazy "bastids" who dont deserve a well enhanced D2 ...... sorry i couldnt help myself :mad:
 
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I agree with the above from Fery, and would like to also add one more comment.
Here in hungary also many people advertises LRs with removed air bags as EXTRA! and also heard from a LR independent "specialist" that he removes ACE from all cars on which he works on and can convince owners to do it:mad:
 
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I agree with the above from Fery, and would like to also add one more comment.
Here in hungary also many people advertises LRs with removed air bags as EXTRA! and also heard from a LR independent "specialist" that he removes ACE from all cars on which he works on and can convince owners to do it:mad:

I got threatened with this and the only issue was a very slightly loose compression fitting where a hose was connected to the pump pipe.

Mine is easy to describe to garage as light blue D2 with working ACE.
 

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