How to Replace a Land Rover Lr3 Front Air Strut

How to Replace a Land Rover Lr3 Front Air Strut

If your vehicle's front air strut is leaking or the strut is not rising as it should be or you feel a bumping of your car over small imperfections on the road or the rear of your vehicle has sagged more than the front then it is time to replace it.lr3 front air strut The lr3 front air strut is an important part of your suspension and can affect ride comfort, handling, stability when turning or stopping and wheel alignment. It also bears the bulk of the load placed on your suspension so the struts should be replaced with new ones when they are worn or have leaking problems.

An air strut is like a shock absorber but instead of being a coil spring with a metal rod that compresses it has an air bladder that compresses when air is applied. The air spring raises and lowers the suspension to give you a smooth and comfortable ride. The struts should be replaced when they are worn or have leaking problems or your Land Rover will not raise to the correct height as you drive.

The air strut is attached to the control arm at the bottom by a 9.5 inch long bolt. Take a 22mm socket with a breaker bar or wrench and loosen the bolt, removing it from the control arm. You will notice the bolt has a plate that sits on it with some threaded holes in it and a nut at the top. The air strut is attached to this plate and nut with two more 15mm nuts.

You should remove the 3 bottom nuts first so they do not drop and yank the air line and get screwed up pulling through the top hat hole. You can then use a jack and a little block of rubber to set up under the strut bottom so it doesn't just fall lowering the strut yanking on the air line as you loosen these 3 15mm top nuts. This allows the strut to rotate without touching the air line and will give you more room to loosen these three 15mm top nuts which are easier to do when the strut is rotating.

The strut is now free to rotate and you can remove the two 15mm top nuts with a ratcheting box wrench. I like a long one for better leverage. Once these are removed you will be able to disconnect the air line and maneuver the strut out of its mount. You should then use the jack to press the strut up into its top mount noting there is a plate that sits over some bolts so don't over tighten them. I like to use a lever distance about 8-10" to get them hand torqued to what feels like it won't loosen but doesn't over stress the bolts either.

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