In the next couple of months I'm going to replace my suspension. at 135k, the rear shocks are knocking badly and overall, the ride has exponentially deteriorated over the last 6 months. All bushes have been checked, a couple replaced etc.

Looking into shocks, I'm liking the look of B6 Bilsteins. My D3 works hard, 15k a year pulling 3 tonnes of trailer with a lot of it off road as well as a lot of offroad trips around Europe.

Is it worth replacing the air bags too? When I replaced a leaking airbag on my old D2, the old bag looked terrible compared to the new; stretched and brittle. I can only imagine the same for the D3. Looking up the strut, the bags look like dried up tar on an old telegraph pole, but does this actually matter as long as its holding air?

Looking into parts, it would seem it would be cheaper to buy the entire OEM strut assembly and removing and selling the OEM shocks vs buying the airbags on their own (go figure). Doing it this way would I still need to buy the LR016412 damper seal kit?

If this is the route I take, I might have 4 OEM shocks available. Will post in relevant section if so.

Cheers

The air bags hold up much than the D2 items. It's quite common to see original bags on D3s with 200K miles on the clock. The rear bags last very well, as those have dust covers. The shocks do go off, which causes bouncing and body instability. However the D3 is very heavy on the bushes, and worn or soft bushes seriously affect the way the vehicle behaves over bumps and ruts.

So if you're wanting to revitalise the suspension properly, it makes sense to replace all the bushes with quality (Lemforder) replacements, having correct 4 wheel alignment done afterwards.

I replaced all wishbones on my D3 when I got it as a mater of course. It makes such a huge difference to the way the vehicle rides, it's definitely better for it.

If changing the shocks/bags, then I'd stick with OE, as LR did masses of testing, so you don't have to.

Wish I could try before I buy. Its hard to diagnose what the issue is with the rough ride, maybe a bit of everything. Rear shocks are definitely gone... beyond that i'm not sure. Can feel every bump on all 4 corners. Might just try wishbones on one "axle" first and see how things go. Think I'll leave the bags then.

I get LR components from these guys. Quality is top notch, as they only sell components that they'd fit to there own LRs.
https://www.advancedfactors.co.uk/steering--suspension-12-c.asp

You wont go far wrong with Bilstein shocks. Used them on various cars.