Nige nearly made me spill my Shiraz on 19/05/2006 18:34 by writing:

Set the system to access level to reduce the amount of air in the bags.
Lift the axle to get clearance to remove wheel for access.
Slowly lift the chassis with a jack (don't over extend the spring).
This will reduce the spring pressure a little.
Depress the collect and pull the air hose out.  Don't try this without
supporting the chassis to avoid any sudden movement.

After replacement, lower the chassis a little, but not right to the bump
stops.  Let the system inflate and check it goes up and down normally.

Later, rinse and repeat, as it says on the bottle.

There is a SMALL chance you can damage the collect when you pull the air
hose out under pressure.  I've never heard of it happening, but wear eye
protection just in case bits of collet come flying out.

Andy

Nige,

What year is your P38?  For the first couple of years of manufacture
they used springs with ally pistons and they retaining pins tend to
seize in - on the fronts a large crow bar is all that is needed, but
on the rears they are an absolute b*d to do.  I gave up with the rears
on mine and took them to my local LR specialist - he admitted it was
a nightmare job, and even on his four-poster he spent half the morning
trying to remove the pins.  So - if you check your springs and see if
you have the ally ones you will probably need to order a new set of
retaining pins, if you have the plastic ones (they are black) it will
be a much easier job.

I deflated the springs on mine by just slightly pulling the air hose
out of the top of the bag and very slowly releasing the air in them.
I'm not saying that is the best way to do it, but it worked for me!
Of course, I had the axle and chassis supported at the time I did it.
You can just about get away with not removing the wheel arch liner
(front) On the drivers side, bend it out of the way to get at the
top clips, and on the passenger side you can access the clips from
the top with a large screwdriver(s!).

Re-inflation is quite easy, although mine proved to be a bit of a pig
as it refused to re-inflate the springs, but after 10 mins of running
the engine and a re-start they re-inflated straight away.  Do NOT allow
the springs to take any load if they are not inflated as it can damage
them.  You may need to drop the chassis down a bit to get the system
to inflate the springs, but like I said, don't let the springs take
any load until they are inflated.  Personally I'd do each corner
individually, but I know other people who do them in pairs and have
not had any problem.  Finally, don't extend the axle too far from the
chassis as you may cause an out of range on the EAS ECU and have to
have it reset!

Matt