Still new still learning (Airbag suspension)

[brian4d]

Another question from the novice. I need to get a NC inspection done by the end of the month. I took my 02 Disco II SE to a local inspection station. The guy asked if I could turn my air suspension off. I told him my model didn't have air suspension (I'm pretty sure). He thought all models had air suspension. I know if you do you can't raise the vehical until it's off. I know that HSE models have it, and maybe some select others. I don't have any buttons on the console for air and I got under and didn't notice any airbags, just springs and schocks. Can anyone shed light on this? Thanks once again for any help.

Brian

[rovdog]

You should be able to notice big black airbags on your rear suspension if you have them. Also if you have them there should be an extra mud flap towards the front of the rear tire. But if you dont have any buttons for raising it you dont have it.

[Disco Mike]

So, did you find yoiur air bags?
Why did they want your to turn off your rear SLS??
Mike

[XtremeMarine]

Previously stated in the question. You are NOT to put an air suspension vehicle on a lift until the sensors are turned off. Otherwise it messes up the sensors, and they need to be recalibrated.

[Disco Mike]

Not on D2's SLS.
I have seen them picked up in every way possible from both style shop racks and the worse thing to happen is the truck will need to be restarted once back on the ground to reinflate, with no harm done.
Mike

[XtremeMarine]

I'm just stating from a mechanic's perspective. Due to liability, and shop insurance plans. Out of all of the tire shops I managed, and the WallyWorld TLE, I could not allow any of my techs or mechanics to lift any vehicle equipped with any type of computer controlled air leveling suspension.

[stolenheron]

that makes sense to me.

you also have 2 buttons in side the car to lift and drop the vehicle with the SLS if you have it....

[Disco Mike]

Originally Posted by XtremeMarine

I'm just stating from a mechanic's perspective. Due to liability, and shop insurance plans. Out of all of the tire shops I managed, and the WallyWorld TLE, I could not allow any of my techs or mechanics to lift any vehicle equipped with any type of computer controlled air leveling suspension.

You are loosing a lot of good business with this policy. You need to find which ones can and can't be lifted with out turning it off.
Mike

[wimp]

You can lift the disco II on a lift withour harming the SLS.

I have done it many many many many times

the only thing that can "harm" the suspension if it is lifted is the following condition...

If your pump is already messed up and the bags are holding the proper height (as they should), once you lift it, the bags will deflate. Once the vehicle is put back down, it will go all the way down to the bump stops and the already faulty pump will not re-inflate them. This is no liability to the mechanic except when the owner doesn't understand this, they will blame the mechanic and say the inevitable...."my truck was fine till you touched it!"


my .02

[Rovin4life]

actually on a range rover you can substitute an air hose for the compressor and on a d2 they will go back up,

actually, a tire shop has to learn to tell the customer to go to hell if the damn things dont come back up. its pure laziness on the customers part for not informing them that they actually have a problem. We see them come in on the ground all the time, with a quick squirt of air its back up until it leaks back down again.

tire shops shouldnt pay an ounce of money to an idiot that has an old rover that thinks its perfect.

same goes for the lugnuts too. if they get mushroomed oh well, its rust. very common.

[XtremeMarine]

Very true. But you have to remember that back when I was doing wheels/tires, suspension, and alignment; 93-98, there weren't many cars/trucks that even had this type of technology. So the insurance companies won out over common sense. I was Porsche trained, so European cars never intimidated me. But a lot of the old school guys, american techs, didn't want to even touch them.
And you also have to remember that in america, the country of the ignorance lawsuit, the payouts always go to the plaintiff. Corporate america is a litigation policy magnet. Sad, but we made it this way ourselves. If we didn't allow payouts to people spilling coffee on themselves, our trucks could be worked on confidently by even the most inexperienced of mechanics. Remember, an inexperienced tech has the ability to become the best mechanic you've ever seen, but you have to give him the experience first. lol.

[Rovin4life]

the best techs are the best students, not the ones with the most experience.

[XtremeMarine]

Rovin; you just brought up my biggest "shop" pet peeve. When I was at Porsche, we would have customers come in with their aluminum lug nuts destroyed. They'd tell us how they were filing a complaint with the shop manager, and that it should be addressed by Porsche. The shop owner I worked for would walk over to their car, reach in the glovebox, and throw their owners manual at them. He'd tell them that it was a Por-Sche, not a Honda, and if they weren't planning on knowing about their vehicle, they should trade it in before the car was damaged by their own ignorance.
He used to also tell 930 turbo owners that he wouldn't work on their cars anymore when they drove them in the rain. Funny, but we never lost any business. It's like the owners knew how stupid they were, just needed to be told.

[XtremeMarine]

Being a student, is learning, from experience. You should know that yourself. Knowledge does nothing but get forgotten if it is not used. I've had techs that took every class, every ASE cert, and everu CEU they could, but knew nothing when you actually put a car on the rack. You have to work, constantly.
That's why I don't do diagnostics, or most of the work on my own trucks anymore. I've been out of the game too long. Sure, simple bolt ons, and replacements, I'll never forget how to wrench. But trying to figure out why, after this many years outside of a garage, no thanks.

[Rovin4life]

actually its acess to rover information that will make you a better diagnostician. Not to mention reading all of it. We have all sorts of regular bits of information stashed away that isnt elaborated on by rave or other means. Its that info that is literally in volumes that has to be read to understand the systems and take better advantage and lower diag times and lower costs all around. Of course it still doesnt help when you as the tech make the mistake of using the wrong logical course and get sidetracked on a problem that exists but only because of the original problem. You have to eat alot of diag time for that cause you cant illustrate your point to LR and your boss.

Its like digging for gold, dig deep enough and you find the vein.