Have you looked into these?

https://www.arnottindustries.com/part_VOLKSWAGEN_yid24_pid164.html

 

Nooby
I dont think you read the post fully or misunderstood it.
My air bag's are fine it is the shock asborber part i am talking about.
See picture's attached to see actual component.

Regards
Drag

 

Misunderstood.

 

Learned something today. I always thought the air spring was integral with the shock. Very interesting. So is it the same shock as the steel spring suspension or different? I did a quick on line search and found regular steel spring struts for around $100 US each.

 

Learned something today. I always thought the air spring was integral with the shock. Very interesting. So is it the same shock as the steel spring suspension or different? I did a quick on line search and found regular steel spring struts for around $100 US each.

The original shock absorber parts is made by Sachs, a common manufacturer of shocks from Europe.
The air bag shock is different from the steel spring in that it has the area were the O'ring is fitted to seal the lower part of the air bag.
I have trolled the internet for someone who makes/sells the shocks but cannot find anyone, even Sachs who make the shock dont sell them.
Arnott industries only sell the air bag part of the assembly.
As i have said before this part wears out just like our steel suspension brothers. ( in fact the shock rebuilders told me they wear our faster with air?)
Replacement shocks from VW are $975 each so a cheaper alternative is very attractive.

regards
Drag

 

We need a good machinist to take look at the two shocks and come up with a sleeve that will adapt the air spring and seals to the steel spring strut. Iamagine if you could buy a set of adapter sleeves for a few hundred $ that would allow you to use steel suspension struts. It could save a ton of money on a shock change.

 

We need a good machinist to take look at the two shocks and come up with a sleeve that will adapt the air spring and seals to the steel spring strut. Iamagine if you could buy a set of adapter sleeves for a few hundred $ that would allow you to use steel suspension struts. It could save a ton of money on a shock change.

Mike
Thats not a bad idea. I would only need to get access to both steel and air shocks and do a comparison to see if the steel one could be converted.
I would think they overall dimensions of each would be very similar.

Regards
Drag

 

That assumes that the spring does exactly the same work and has exactly the same characteristics as the air bag element.

You would need to compare VERY carefully a shocker from a steel car with an air car.

 

SNAP!! Great minds DO think alike!! But it's not just dimensions, it's the characterisitcs too.

 

SNAP!! Great minds DO think alike!! But it's not just dimensions, it's the characterisitcs too.

Nooby

Yes the internal valving inside the shocks are not something easliy checked like external sizing.
These characteristics are very important to how a shock behaves during operation.
Not sure how how to measure this short of some form of spec sheet from the manufacturer.
If an adaptation could be made at least the steel shocks are cheap and the adaptation should be cheap if only the spring seat needed to be modified and some sort of a sleeve for the airbag to fit.
Just theorizing.

If that was the case i would bite the bullet try and see.

regards
Drag

 

Gents the Air suspension had adjustable damping ( Sport / Auto /Comfort ) I assume this is performed internally within the damper ( shocker). I don't believe this exist on the steel sprung setup. I am not sure how you would overcome this hurdle.

Stuart....

 

Yes you would give up the adjustability if this worked. I think for most people that wouldn't be an issue if you could potentially save well over $2000 or perhaps close to $3000 on 4 shocks.

As for shock valving, the motion ratio and sprung / unsprung weight of a steel spring V10 and air spring V10 are going to be the same and the spring rate has to be almost identical so the valving of a steel spring shock should work just as good on an air spring car.

 

subscribed, I learned something new on here as well.

I would never want to lose the adjustability of the damping on the fly though. I constantly switch back and forth from Sport to Comfort even due to the dismal conditions of our roads that look like the moons surface at times.

 

I always thought V10s were on air full stop.

I'm not sure how much the attached brings to the thread, but it is interesting that there is quite a market place for owners of older Range Rovers who want to convert from air to coils.

coilconv4

I noticed that despite their proclaimed prowess with air suspension, Arnott also offer a coil conversion!

https://www.arnottindustries.com/part_LAND_ROVER_yid4_pid22.html

What is interesting is that none of the kits include shock absorbers.

Therefore might one assume that the spring rate and the airbag rate in applications where the car is manufactured with both is the same?

 

Therefore might one assume that the spring rate and the airbag rate in applications where the car is manufactured with both is the same?

I think that's a pretty safe assumption. As far as I know you can bolt a steel spring and strut assembly in place of an air strut so the basic suspension design on the air equipped cars is the same as steel spring ones.

Is it only the air ride cars that have the adjustable shocks?

 

Do you guys think that I will see an immediate improvement in ride quality if I replace the shock absorber part of my air suspension on all four corners? I'm now hovering somewhere around 109000 miles (approx. 175000km) on the odometer.

 

Dude
At that sort of milage i would be very disappointed if the was not a marked improvement in the front end control.
Keep in mind that decrease in efficiency of the shocks is a slow process so you become slowly conditioned to the ride. Then if all of a sudden you then have shocks that perform as new i would suspect you would wonder how it got that bad in the first place.
I dont know about you but my comfort/auto/sport mode seems to offer no significant change to ride at all. I believe that the sport lowers the car slightly.
As i sit here im thinking after just having done all my brakes that i dont remember seeing any wiring going to the shock so if they are adjustable how is it done?. I will try to look tonight and report back.
Are we just assuming that the sport/comfort mode adjusts the shock's, i bet thinking again that it only controls the airbag.
I will look asap or if someone else can look and report.
I have as i said 155kms and mine if my description is understandable, throws me from side to side over some road conditions even though the car handles fine but im not a race driver.

I would bet if we had steel suspension we would have already changed or thought about changing our shocks.

Dude all four corners is $3600 in shocks only, plus labour and smaller airbag seals etc.
Hence the option of rebuild i have sought out, and maybe a cost of $1800 or less if i can bargin with the company.

I would be sure some one in your neck of the woods specializes in shock rebuild's considering us Aussie have one, you just have to look and ask.

regards
Drag

 

Some other considerations regarding Touareg air vs. steel suspension:
From the 2003 Touareg Suspension and 4-Motion Self Study Course

Air suspension ground clearance range is 6.4" to 12" vs. 8" with steel
Air suspension increases water fording depth to 23" vs 20" with steel
Max ramp angle improves to 27 degrees vs. 22 degrees with steel

Air suspension has soft and firm damping shock settings, the Touareg has front wheel acceleration sensors and three body acceleration sensors that enable the Level Control System Module to adjust a continuous variable damping control valve in each individual shock in real time, the response time is a few thousandths of a second, allowing for more damping during rebound stage than during bump stage of suspension movement.

 

interesting dragline..... in my case if i select sport, the touareg drops down, ofcourse and doesnt roll much thru corners...put it in comfort thru the same corner and it will behave opposite.

all the best with your work there to rebuild....i've hammered mine over thousands of corrugations on the outback trips, besides all other offroad adventures...at about 150k on the odo I think the shocks are okay...perhaps some deterioration over the years.

will pulling all four out, shipping to and back from qld for rebuild, putting it back yourself not cost close to getting a good deal from a vw dealer? plus it should give you peace of mind since it will be genuine part vs rebuild from someone who's not done a Touareg before?
Good luck with trying though and thanks for sharing what you have uncovered

 

interesting dragline..... in my case if i select sport, the touareg drops down, ofcourse and doesnt roll much thru corners...put it in comfort thru the same corner and it will behave opposite.

all the best with your work there to rebuild....i've hammered mine over thousands of corrugations on the outback trips, besides all other offroad adventures...at about 150k on the odo I think the shocks are okay...perhaps some deterioration over the years.

will pulling all four out, shipping to and back from qld for rebuild, putting it back yourself not cost close to getting a good deal from a vw dealer? plus it should give you peace of mind since it will be genuine part vs rebuild from someone who's not done a Touareg before?
Good luck with trying though and thanks for sharing what you have uncovered

I certainly understand the Rebuild vs New shock risk and if i go that way in the future i will need to live with the result.

As for cost and a dealer doing it

I do and have done 99.9% my work myself for ever,and believe i do a better job than a workshop can cause my time isn't cost driven for one and its my vehicle and doing it myself i know of all the little problems along the way your dealer will not tell you etc etc

Cost wise the shocks at ($850 ea audi dealer VW dealer $950 ea) plus freight from USA. I have not checked with the Australian dealers but there is no way in hell they will sell them to me cheaper than i can get them from the US including freight. When have the Australian dealers ever been anything but over priced, thats not just VW by the way.

Anyway i think i could do the job for under $2200 for all 4 corners, not including my labour with rebuilt shocks.

Powercat did comment and got me thinking i need to do some more homework on the shock /dampening system ( See attached self study has some interesting reading)
I also need to have some more detailed conversation with the shock rebuild company about the actual shock and if they see any issues with some more info i now have. W.W. Shock Absorbers - Brisbane's original shock absorber reconditioners. 33 Matheson Street, Virginia, Queensland, Australia 4014

regards
Drag

 

How much change should I notice between settings on Damping. On my car you can't feeling any difference between Comfort, Ato and Sport, only real change is the ride height. All in all he suspension is quite soft and tends to float a bit at higher speeds... Do I have a problem?

Stuart...

 

interesting Stuart, there is significant different between sport and comfort if i go thru a twisty at high speed....i only use comfort when in low range, around town its either in auto or sport.
with offroad tyres(thicker walls) sport is not as harsh as it is with the 285/45/19s

 

Thanks Singh. Looks like a trip to the Dealer and a warranty discussion.

Stu...

 

no probs, whilst there drive another air sprung Touareg, see how you go

 

Dude
At that sort of milage i would be very disappointed if the was not a marked improvement in the front end control.
Keep in mind that decrease in efficiency of the shocks is a slow process so you become slowly conditioned to the ride. Then if all of a sudden you then have shocks that perform as new i would suspect you would wonder how it got that bad in the first place.
I dont know about you but my comfort/auto/sport mode seems to offer no significant change to ride at all. I believe that the sport lowers the car slightly.
As i sit here im thinking after just having done all my brakes that i dont remember seeing any wiring going to the shock so if they are adjustable how is it done?. I will try to look tonight and report back.
Are we just assuming that the sport/comfort mode adjusts the shock's, i bet thinking again that it only controls the airbag.
I will look asap or if someone else can look and report.
I have as i said 155kms and mine if my description is understandable, throws me from side to side over some road conditions even though the car handles fine but im not a race driver.

I would bet if we had steel suspension we would have already changed or thought about changing our shocks.

Dude all four corners is $3600 in shocks only, plus labour and smaller airbag seals etc.
Hence the option of rebuild i have sought out, and maybe a cost of $1800 or less if i can bargin with the company.

I would be sure some one in your neck of the woods specializes in shock rebuild's considering us Aussie have one, you just have to look and ask.

regards
Drag

I'll take a look this week and see if I can find an independent who specializes in this sort of work. I'll report back if I do with pricing, etc.

Indeed, if we had the steel suspension, picky guys like us would have already replaced the shocks at our mileage level, there is no doubt about that one.

However here is the thing. With a steel suspension, you can do the old test of pushing your car down to see if it comes back up and bounces or not to show if the shocks are worn or not. We can't do this with air suspension, it feels solid like a rock, it will hardly compress when pushed down even. No way but to speculate at this point if the shocks are truly worn.

As for those who see no difference between Sport/Comfort settings on ride quality, I'll report this. When I was shopping for my Touareg, there were a couple that I was hard pressed to find a difference in ride firmness/softness, over rail road tracks, etc. The one I ended up buying (the one I still own today)), the difference is truly night and day. All my passengers, whomever it may be, will notice the difference in ride on the highway when switching from Comfort to Sport. With Comfort, it feels like a boat, with Sport like a sports sedan.

 

As for those who see no difference between Sport/Comfort settings on ride quality, I'll report this. When I was shopping for my Touareg, there were a couple that I was hard pressed to find a difference in ride firmness/softness, over rail road tracks, etc. The one I ended up buying (the one I still own today)), the difference is truly night and day. All my passengers, whomever it may be, will notice the difference in ride on the highway when switching from Comfort to Sport. With Comfort, it feels like a boat, with Sport like a sports sedan.

Thanks Dude, I think I need to take a deeper look, as there may be some firmware or settings variations. Unless I look at the switch I would not be able to tell you what setting it was in.

Stuart..

 

It did just occur to me, that if you are riding on 17 inch/18 inch tires, it will be harder to tell the difference in ride differences between comfort and sport settings. With 20 inch mags, it is night and day.

If you are riding on 20 inch mags, particularly stock 275/40/20 size tires, and you hardly feel any difference at all when going from comfort to sport mode, then there is a problem!

 

Where do we stand with this?

I am researching air ride vs steel springs... seems the VW system is much more robust than Land Rover/BMW's. However, it is at the same time both nice to see nobody around here has really ever replaced shocks and disconcerting that because they are robust nobody has a solid source for rebuilds, and OEM shocks are 950 a corner. At some point shock absorbers fail, and 90-120k is often the lifespan in my experience.

 

Where do we stand with this?

I am researching air ride vs steel springs... seems the VW system is much more robust than Land Rover/BMW's. However, it is at the same time both nice to see nobody around here has really ever replaced shocks and disconcerting that because they are robust nobody has a solid source for rebuilds, and OEM shocks are 950 a corner. At some point shock absorbers fail, and 90-120k is often the lifespan in my experience.

I have tracked down a company here in Australia that will rebuild them, same as they do other air shocks, land Rover etc. Quoted $400 ea,
and yes they do wear out exactly the same as steel suspension shocks. They do the same work and wear out the same only difference is springs hold up the weight of the car vs air holding the weight the shocks only provide dampening.

What is surprising that nobody has looked or found a company in the USA that will rebuild??

regards
Drag

 

one thing to keep in mind is tire size too, my air is much different when i have winter tires 17" and summer on 19" wheels and you feel a lot more of the road on the 19"

 

Bringing this back from the dead. I am wondering if anyone has a contact for rebuiding our adjustable damping shocks?

 

So still nothing new on this guys?
We at the 4x4community in South Africa are discussing the matter now and also looking into this.
Did you find any answers or did you all just give up the hunt?

 

I'm also researching this issue and stumbled across this thread.
Read through it and was wondering what happened to the idea of making an adapter for the air spring to fit a traditional shock? Yes, as mentioned, you'd forgo the sport/auto/comfort selectibility, but at $2500+ for a full set to be rebuilt (if sent to that Aussy shop -not even sure how that worked out??) I'm all for options.

 

I've found this:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/SHOC...9D-7L5616039E-for-AUDI-Q7-VW-TOUAREG-PORSCHE-CAYENNE-FRONT-LEFT/1896489875.html

Which seems to be the replacement (correctly me if I'm wrong please) for the fronts, and retains the adjustability.

 

I've found this:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/SHOC...9D-7L5616039E-for-AUDI-Q7-VW-TOUAREG-PORSCHE-CAYENNE-FRONT-LEFT/1896489875.html

Which seems to be the replacement (correctly me if I'm wrong please) for the fronts, and retains the adjustability.

First I never did send my shocks for rebuild and still need a repair /replacement on the front LHS unit.
THEY DO WEAR OUT JUST LIKE A COIL SPRING SHOCK !

That link goes to a Chinese site.
Price seems good but concerns me that the part number they quote is for a complete air spring assembly and then show a picture of just the shock part? Which do you get ?and sorry what quality is the component ?

Replacement of the shock part is easy just keep in mind they are different slightly left compared to right and are not interchangeable.
The rears are also different to the front and are different LH to RH.

Regards
Drag

 

Fronts:
http://vagfans.info/EN/volkswagen/U...TOUA/Touareg/2004/274/R/411/411007/individual-parts-for-airsuspension-dampers#8

Rear:
http://vagfans.info/EN/volkswagen/R...W/TOUA/Touareg/2004/274/R/511/511007/individual-parts-for-airsuspension-dampers


Also can find parts out of the country:
Пневмоподвеска - Volkswagen Touareg - купить запчасти на Туарег оналйн с доставкой в Москве и по всей России