Folks,
apart from being ridiculously expensive, are the Arnott Gen3 bags worth looking at? I like the idea of the ride being firmer when lower instead of firmer when higher - but I've also read some stories that they're not the most durable parts.
Does anyone have any experience? I'm not really bothered about the extra 2" ride height although if I had the bags I'd probably slowly collect the other bits needed to raise the offroad height (shocks, rear height sensors).
I bought mine for the same reasons as you .... must be 3 years ago now.
They give a surer ride and allow faster cornering than the standard ones, but I'm not sure if they are worth the extra.
O rings not very good, I've replaced both front sets now and will also do the rear.
From what I've heard about them, if you really must have the extra 2" height, then go for Gen 3 Arnotts, if you want to leave it at standard height, stick with Dunlops.
I also have a set of Gen III's fitted. If you want comfort and ride quality I would say stick with Dunlop.
The real (or only) advantage with Gen III's is the extra 2" of lift for off road use. You can tweek the heights even more so that it will raise up a full 4" over std height.
It really makes a difference if you do a bit of off roading. Nothing catches underneath anymore.
The piston design makes it softer off road, a bit firmer at std height, and quite a bit firmer a motorway height.
It drains the tank lifting the car up 4", so you will need a good air compressor.
The extra height can't be obtained without the right shocks and the rear height sensor arms need to be lengthened and a flexible joint inserted.
I ran the car with front Boges all round but it was a bit bouncy off road. I have now gone with Terrafirma +2" shocks.
If you want my opinion, the Gen IIIs are well made but have a design weakness. The rubber bladder is secured with a clamp ring that can leak.
If you buy new they come with a lifetime warranty so it is very important to keep the receipt in a safe place.
I had a feeling that Arnott had changed their 'lifetime guarantee' policy to only be within the US? I'm sure I read something about it on the other forum where someone had a Gen III blow out and went to claim on the lifetime guarantee to be told they wouldn't replace it..
Whilst I'd like to try out a set of Gen III springs to see what the handling is like, I really couldn't justify the £800 price tag! I could get 3x sets of genuine Dunlops to do all 3 of my RR's for that money, and still have a bit left over afterwards!
EDIT - just had a look on the Arnott website and the Lifetime Warranty is North America, and European Union - outside of that and it's 2 years...
Is it like another lifetime warranty I've come across? The one where you go to them and say, it's broke and they tell you that as it's broke it's reached the end of it's lifetime so the warranty has just expired?
Or is it like the Halfords lifetime warranty on their Professional tools? I sheared off a 1/2" to 3/8" adapter but I was using a 3/8" drive socket, then the adapter, and trying to undo something with a 1/2" drive, 2 foot breaker bar. Something was going to give and it was the adapter. For the hell of it I took the broken bits to Halfords with the intention of buying a new one and they swapped it free of charge!
They did indeed reduce the UK warranty to just 2 years. On the other forum Arnotts have a vendor section and I asked the question why the reduction. They said it was based on claims history, so I think we must come to the conclusion that we drive our cars harder in the UK. Anyway, they have recently put it back up to a "limited lifetime" warranty, whatever that means.
Another solution that came up on RR.net was to fabricate and weld new spring mounts for the axles and stay with Dunlops, a far cheaper solution. Insurance companies in the UK wouldn't like it though.
dave3d wrote:
They said it was based on claims history, so I think we must come to the conclusion that we drive our cars harder in the UK.
Or we are more likely to complain when they fail.......
Or the fact that most of our roads are potholed cart tracks, in worse condition than the Romans left them :-)
Gilbertd wrote:
dave3d wrote:
They said it was based on claims history, so I think we must come to the conclusion that we drive our cars harder in the UK.
Or we are more likely to complain when they fail.......
Thanks for the help folks.
I reckon Arnotts get a priority of "if my numbers come up" and I'll concentrate on keeping the rest of the Rover happy :)
She's just having a new front wheel hub now, and I don't know how long the other side will last. It sounds/feels just fine at the moment, but so did the other one until about 10 minutes before it collapsed! and when I say collapsed, it was bad enough to need a new brake disk. :eek: