d6lc

Well, I keep reading that the airmatic shsocka last about 60k, how ironic that last week we crossed 60k on out 08 GL450 and true to form if left overnight the back end sags down to the floor!!

So I leave for vacation but when I return I'm getting the replacement Arnott airbags, it looks a very simple repair. Any advice, tips or other key things that shoudl be done when you replace them?

2010GL550

We are close to 60k miles, so I'm preparing myself for this repair. Here's a great video tutorial:

M1M2M3

The back is pretty straight forward much simpler than the front. Only snag I encountered was unscrewing the nut for the air line. And I didn't think of it at the time but I should have just changed the rear struts at the same time.

I changed the fronts then 4 days later the rears went so don't be surprised if the fronts go soon. I'd change them in pairs since the other is likely ready to go. It took me and a buddy about 45-50 min to change both rears.

crossfire190

Were there any visible signs on the airbags before they went? Just put on my summer tires and they looked good... Where did yours fail?

nj10944

My 08 GL450 just started to going down in the rear- ordered Arnott's waiting for them to be delivered. I did change my rear struts about 3 months ago.. will update once I have them installed.

320GLCDI2008

My 2008 GL320 CDI made it a whopping 68K, just ordered Arnott replacements, found the best prices at shockwarehouse.com , They have step by step installation instructions on the Arnott website and also a link to an installation Video Arnott has on YouTube. Looks like a very simple operation, should take less than an hour to do both sides.
Apparently when the Air Springs get old, if you go in for a service and they put the vehicle up on a rack, it will stretch the bags and can cause them to develop leaks, so was told by a tech at my local Firestone store, they were instructed only to put it up on an alignment rack when doing service on vehicles with air suspensions so as not to "stretch" the Air Springs and cause leaks.

d6lc

Fitted my rears this morning, took around 1 ½ hrs and that including some fiddling around with the first airline connector as the space is tight.
If your planning it, a couple of tips:
1. Buy a cheap small 10 mm ring wrench and dremel an 1/8 slot in it, this made removing the airline easy. Space is tight so anything over 6 inches long is too big.
2. Had a panic when I first fitted the Arnott, as it seems way too short and didn’t fit with the suspension at full drop (DOH - its because it hasn’t inflated, and you can’t stretch it by hand!), so I jacked the suspension up just enough to hold the bladder in place, before starting the car.
3. It seemed to take ages to pump up for the first time, I started thinking something was wrong, but all seems fine.
I couldn’t see any obvious splits in the original units, but the rubber was showing some signs of perishing, they lasted 6 yrs and 60k!

Fronts next, they seem ok at the moment but I’ll do them at the end of the summer, don’t want to risk them failing over the cold winter here!, I guess once they start failing then they all go pretty soon.

M1M2M3

After being parked I noticed one side being lower that its supposed to, once you turn it on or open a door it will re-inflate. Once it sags its leaking though and it starts to leak faster and faster.

Fix it before the compressor has to operate to frequently.

M1M2M3

When you change the fronts also change the sway bar link, I didn't think of it at the time but about 500 mi after I changed the fronts I starting hearing a significant amount of noise over small bump and imperfections at low speeds. I thought I messed something up, but when I looked under the link nuts were spinning freely.

Thankfully its an easy change and nothing serious.