Air Suspension vs. Coils - Long Term Durability vs. Real Capability

[Michael Gary Scout]

So the Traveler and Terra are planning to offer optional air springs with active damping and a solid rear axle, and I wanted to open a more grounded discussion around when air suspension actually makes sense for a vehicle like this - and when it may not.

I'm not anti-air suspension. I am, however, someone who intends to own one of these long term, use it off-road for real, and tow with the Terra Harvester setup.

Here's what I'm thinking and I'd genuinely love input from others - especially anyone with long-term ownership experience on modern air systems.

Why air suspension could make sense for Scout

There are legitimate advantages that are hard to ignore:

• Load leveling for towing or heavy cargo without rear squat
• Variable ride height
• Potentially excellent ride quality when tuned well
• Packaging flexibility with a solid rear axle

For a mulit-role vehicle that will tow, road-trip, and see trails, that's compelling on paper.

The concerns

Where I hesitate is long-term durability and failure modes - especially outside warranty.
Across Ram, Jeep, GM, Rivian, etc., the patterns seem consistent:

• Small leaks = compressor overwork = cascading failures
• Moisture intrusion and cold-weather issues
• Valve blocks, height sensors, and software calibration becoming the weak links
• When something does go wrong, repairs aren't trivial - or cheap

Specific questions I think matter for Traveler/Terra

These are the things I'd personally want clarity on before choosing air vs. steel:

• Is air suspension truly optional across the range, or will certain trims/packages require it?
• If equipped with air:
  • Can the system fully isolate corners (no cross-flow) for stability off-road?
  • Is there a manual or mechanical fail-safe if the system faults?
  • Can the vehicle remain driveable at a fixed height if air control fails?
• Cold-weather strategy:
  • Desiccant/dryer serviceability?
  • Compressor placement and protection?
• Long-term service philosophy:
  • Are air springs modular and individually replaceable?
  • Will replacement parts be reasonably accessible outside a dealer network?
• Non-air alternative:
  • Will there be a coil-spring or steel-spring configuration tuned specifically for off-road durability and towing?
  • If so, is that configuration receiving the same level of ride damping development as the air option?

Where I currently land (open to being convinced otherwise)

If Scout can execute a simple, overbuilt, serviceable air system - great. I'm listening.

But if the air option adds complexity without a clear durability advantage, I'd personally lean toward a well-tuned steel suspension with quality dampers, especially for a vehicle I expect to keep over a decade.

The fact that Scout is pairing this with a solid rear axle tells me durability is already a priority. I'm curious how far that philosophy extends into the suspension choices.

I'm posting this in good faith - not to criticize, but because I think this is one of those decisions that will define how these vehicles are perceived five or ten years from now.

Would love to hear:

• Scout team input (as much as you can share)
• Owners with long-term air suspension experience (good or bad)
• Anyone else thinking through the Traveler/Terra decision with similar priorities

Looking forward to the discussion.

 

[MountainDad]

I have EAS on my 2017 Land Rover Discovery 5. I had one pre emptive recall to replace the brass connectors on the valves - never had a failure and to my knowledge, no one on the forums I frequent seem to have had failures. Modern LR's (2014+/-) have generally had very solid EAS performance. I now have 90k miles with hard offroad driving, -20F nights and 100F+ days. No issues. If any manufacturer knows EAS, it's Land Rover - and perhaps Volkswagen, who used them on their V8 and V10 Touaregs in the 2k's to early 2010's.

Some LR3/4 owners (2k's to ~2010-12 era) have had issues with leaky valves well north of 100k miles that cause the vehicle to sag to the bump stops when parked, and wear out the compressor over time, but LR addressed this in the most recent generation. That is a fairly easy repair. And, there are plenty of aftermarket options for compressors from ARB and others.

My experience - my LR's EAS has got me out of lots of tough spots, but it's also got 4 wheel independent suspension. EAS on a solid axle is useless aside from maybe auto leveling F/R for towing. It does nothing for ride height on solid axles, whereas on IS you do get additional ground clearance when you need it, but then relax to a normal driving height for street driving and highway cruising. My LR also kneels like a camel in "access mode" which my 75 year old mother likes - watch a video of a camel sitting down and getting up...Land Rover mimicked the order on purpose to reduce load on the compressor, and because they do have a British sense of humor. It is also handy in low-celing parking garages.

Land Rover puts their vehicles through rigorous testing in development, and they keep testing after rollout - that's how they discovered they should preemptively replace the EAS valves. I would expect nothing less of Scout Motors.