QuestionHi John
My lovely little R.R. that I got for my 21 birthday has run into a couple of problems the air suspension is sluggish to raise and the engine light keeps comming on after I've taking it to a L.R. dealer twice with no awnser why, and I'm having a hard time with the brakes and getting a good price on the repairs I would like to do them my self, or is this a job you want to definatly give to a perfessional I've done brake before but Never a 4x4. help save this college kid some money for groceries.Oh and by the way I' have to replace a caliper on the front drivers side and all the rotors and new pads all the way around.
AnswerHi Jonathan,
(first thought: A college kid with a Rangie! I had a bike when I went to University! Times have changed ;)
The air suspension problem you mention is common. I've known Rangie owners to swap in the old coil 'n shocks to overcome this problem. Seems the air compressor is the cause.
Changing the rotors and pads is not that difficult. You'll need a large hub nut socket and maybe a circlip plier - but thats the only special tools I'm aware of.
Don't buy the parts from the dealer. Go to Advance auto or search the web for your rotors and pads. Raybestos is a good product and I use their rotors and pads on my '95 Disco. They cost a fraction of the dealer's! About $50 per rotor and maybe $60 for ALL your pads. You will have to buy the hub gasket and lock washer from the dealer.
You may be able to rebuild the caliper. LR dealer has kits to do this. A new Caliper can run up to about $800 !
Try www.car-part.com for salvaged calipers. Some salvage yards have good parts and bench test them before selling them, even with warranties. I bought a $30 caliper for my Disco from a wrecker. I had to clean it up but it works fine. The dealer's caliper rebuild kit is about $200.
IF you are serious about doing this work yourself try this website: http://www.discoweb.org/
they have excellent pics in the TECH section.
Regards,
JohnMc
NB if you're stuck, send me an email and I'll pass you some tech sheets that will help.
jmcinnis64@hotmail.com
