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What is the consensus guys, are Arnott Air Springs like OEM?

15K views 24 replies 11 participants last post by  03rangiemark 
#1 ·
Hi all, cold temps just revealed that I have a slow leak in my passenger front strut. It was 18 Fahrenheit yesterday and the car was very much leaning right. There was may an inch of gap between the tire and the fender. My 2011 VDC Supercharged has 76500 or so miles by now.
I have been reading up quite a few new and old threads trying to decide if the Arnott air springs are the right way to go? For financial reasons, I would like to only replace the air springs/bags and keep my shocks.

I am not trying to start a redundant thread here but I was wondering there was fresh information on them as a solution.

Thank you in advance for your feedback.
 
#2 ·
Look elsewhere, because the experience that I had was horrific, and I've heard many others have issues with Arnott as well.

I bought a 2004 with new Arnott complete air struts, one of them failed at highway speeds and almost caused me to lose control as the front left corner had collapsed. They denied warranty, though the bag was less than 2 years old, because I was not the original owner. When I removed the strut and disassembled it, I found a damaged o ring from the installation process. THEIR installation.

I don't care what their "lifetime warranty" includes, when someone almost loses their and their loved one's lives due to shoddy quality control, something should be done. But no, I got a generic response and nothing else, not even an apology for damage, and a $600 lighter wallet to purchase new struts.

I can't comment on anything else, I got fed up with dealing with crappy parts and started having either my dealer (Land Rover Lake Bluff), or my local Indy (Euro Shop) do the work.

Sorry for the rant.
 
#15 ·
I got fed up with dealing with crappy parts and started having either my dealer (Land Rover Lake Bluff), or my local Indy (Euro Shop) do the work.

Sorry for the rant.
No need for an apology. A lot of folks got stiffed by Arnott spray paint jobs. Apparently their "new" struts are not fairing much better. A few folks have reported leaks around the collets... not leaking Orings the actual fitting is not be properly sealed in the top of the strut. I know I will never purchase an Arnott product thanks to the dozens I have replaced with proper parts.
 
#4 ·
Thank you for the replies guys. I actually just found out that Land Rover has its own Air Spring Service Kit. I found the following part numbers.

LR051700
LR051702

I just need to make sure that they will do my Supercharged VDC version of struts.

Island 4x4 says Air suspension spring service kit RH which fits all Range Rover L322 models 2002 to 2012.

https://www.island-4x4.co.uk/spring-front-repair-l322-0212-lr051700g-p-30687.html

I don't want to chance it so I emailed them.
 
#5 ·
The only different between a variable dampening unit is the actual strut. The bag rebuild portion is the same from 2002-2013, essentially all of the L322s.

Don’t worry about 2002 and 2013 parts, they may be different as we did not get those years in the NAS market. If it says it fits for through those years, it will work.


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#6 ·
Hi, thank you for the feedback. I agree with you the bag has no change the shock is different.

By the way. I disconnected the battery overnight and the car did not drop in the front right. I measured all the sides and they remained identical.
I proceeded to connect the battery and in only four hours now the front right has lost one inch of height. What does this mean? Did I miss diagnose my leaking bag?

Thank you all.
 
#7 ·
My 2005 was the same way, it did not leak unless the battery was connected. I replaced the front struts and it did not drop anymore.

I hope others can comment.


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#8 ·
Thanks for the comment Keralis. Looking forward to others feedback.

Meanwhile, I took my IIDTool out and did a re-calibration. I thought I'd rule that out.

I got the left and the right side within a quarter of an inch... It took a while to get it to balance.
For some reason, my left side kept creeping up half an inch or so. I kind of cheated it by taking it down half an inch, when done is settled to quarter inch difference for side to side.
The rear was way easy to get it right.
 
#9 ·
Just took my 101k+ miles 2011 RR 5.0 V8 HSE to my trusted euro mechanic to replace the both front suspension due to a leak at left air bag. I should have confirmed that I wanted new parts because they used Arnott A-2933, A-2934 Air Spring Kits replacing the air bags. I am a bit concerned after reading about all of the defects and issues forum members have experienced here. Between my mechanic being solid and the Arnott warranty, hopefully I will be protected to some degree from added expensive.

Original quote was $920.00, ended-up paying $1,091.56 for diagnosis (confirmation of what I suspected), removal of old air bags, and installation of new.

Guess I am a guinea pig now. Will review how they perform.
 
#10 ·
I bought my L322 used with "new" Arnott bags. After about six months one leaked and I ran into the warranty issue also. I replaced the leaker with a Suncore and solved the issue (plus got rid of an unknown rattle as a bonus).

Doc5339 as you are the original owner you will not have warranty issues - plus your mechanic will stand behind the product. So move on and enjoy the ride.
 
#12 ·
Quick update. I ended up requesting an RA for the Arnott bags that I purchased. Also yesterday I placed an order with Island 4x4 for the OEM bags or as the sales guy Sam Martin put it,

"Original parts BWI (they make them for Land Rover)BWI also own Delphi".

To my surprise, they shipped them the same day and are scheduled to deliver this Thursday. I am very impressed.
Oh yeah purchasing them from the UK was cheaper than buying the Arnott parts in the US.
 
#14 ·
Total agreement the struts wear out as well no sense putting new rubber on a worn out strut. Remember that is what Arnott did. They painted used struts to look new slapped a new bladder on it.. thus the assembly was "rebuilt"...seriously? That's repainting an engine and calling it rebuilt.
 
#17 ·
Now I am seriously worried. I have just replaced both front air struts with Arnott. I might contact them about understanding the limited lifetime warranty. My fingers are crossed. Struts I purchased AS-2795
 
#18 ·
I wouldn't worry too much about it... when I got my first l322 I fit a pair of their remain struts and they were perfectly fine for 100,000 miles. IMO with the costs where they are now, new struts make more sense, but if you fit a pair that are working, chances are they'll continue to work
 
#19 ·
Arnott offers a Limited Lifetime Warranty in North American and a Limited Two Year Warranty elsewhere. The key "Limitation" is it is that the warranty applies to the original purchaser. (also can't be modified and other conditions apply to Arnott's compressor warranty). While those who buy used vehicles with Arnott struts or bags may not agree with that limitation - the warranty is still better than the dealer's and off-shore produced products and I don't recall any parts vendor who allows the warranty to "follow" the vehicle to the next owner. Feel free to email us if you know of a vendor who offers a better warranty on air struts or air springs. Remember - these struts and springs are made with rubber air bladders. Like rubber hoses, tires, belts and wipers - rubber eventually degrades.
 
#24 ·
Jag community stopped using Arnott's a while ago. Poor reliability, and lost the CATS damping system. Even the dealers are staying away from them on Jags and LR. They used to install quite a few, but reliability issues halted that. If you have a pair and are still working, your good to go. Seemed like they were go/no go.
 
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