Calling Landy fans, can anyone recommend a good landrover forum (particularly covering defender models) for asking technical questions?

I asked what I thought a pretty straight-forward question about suspension specification on Landyzone and after 130 thread views I get one crappy answer equivalent to being recommended I buy a new set of XTR brakes because my Superstarcomponents pads are squealing.

Even better, anyone know anything about specifying front dampers and coils with a c.2″ lift?

I frequent landrovernet.com. It’s miles better than landyzone, though that wouldn’t be difficult.

Re the lift, my advice would be: don’t. I ruined my disco with a 2″ lift. If I needed to improve a defenders (already excellent) off road ability I’d spend the cash on decent tyres then a locker for the back axle.

I am, in true stw fashion, assuming that’s why you want the lift…

Lr4x4 works quite well

Dont discount landyzone as theres a few gold members on there when you et truely technical

Asking about lifting a land rover on a land rover forum is like asking wot tires for on here.

cheers KTC will check it out.

Re the lift, this is what I asked:

A few years ago the previous owner, on having the whole body swapped as one over to a new galv chassis, had the rear suspension replaced with a 2″ish lift.

The front suspension looks like the same it had the day it was born:
Using ninja hacksaw and grinder skillz, I managed to get the rusted old shock absorber off. The existing spring is something like 41cm uncompressed. The rear spring is about 36cm compressed when fitted.

So I’d like to replace the coil & shock & turret & fittings. But browsing manuals, forums and ebay listings I cant seem to find any guidance on how you specify coils and shocks and turrets so that they all work together.

If I want, say, a 25mm-50mm lift at the front to match the rear with, say, a medium load coil, I’m guessing I need to find a “50mm lift coil” and a “50mm lift shock absorber” yes? Can I use a “standard” galv turret or do they need to be “+50mm” too?

None of it needs to be special, or off-road spec, just something fairly basic and even better all from the same place even an eBay seller. Thanks for any help.

I’m guessing the rear lift was done by the previous owner during the chassis swap because the originals were shot, and he went with a lift “just because”

I don’t want to have to get 4 replacement suspension sets when the rear two are only a few years old. I’m only aiming at a modest front lift to set a more level ride. I don’t need to spec for additional load carrying.

+1 for landrovernet.com or LRUK as the inhabitants there know it, very knowledgeable and friendly.

Other than the galvy chassis ….. Your lr looks like mine,,,,,

Mines onnthe back burner just now thanks to house and work but i intend to take time off both work and diy when i get back from equatorial guinea and attack it.

Defender2 is a bit more friendly place IME. As mentioned Landyzone is a bit of a playground clique-fest. No doubting some of the knowledge but too many dismissive tools for me as a newbie.

I have a big grin on my face as last week I took my bulkhead and sills down to the guys at Ashtree near Salisbury to have them shot, repaired and Galv’d. I got a chance to have a long chat to Lyndon & Kev and they’re legends.

Spendy, but I got paid last week for a whole year’s work so Im treating myself. And if I negotiate with the wife I might even go for a set of galv doors 😀

No mention of wheelbase in the op. If it is a 110 or 127/130 then they sit up at the rear anyway and so it may not be lifted at all.If it is a 90 and you still want to lift the front then you need to think about weight i.e in basic terms
v8, no winch = light duty
TDi no winch = medium duty
TDI and winch = heavy duty
Another thing to think about is changes to caster angle affecting steering when lifted (it gets a bit vague and doesn’t self centre as well).

lro.com forums have always helped me not that i ever need it 8)

stoner- why don’t you just get some heavy duty springs and shocks they give a bit of a lift and save the hassle of brake lines etc.. and there not that expensive just don’t get sh*tpart

pretty certain its had a lift TWDS. There’s over 2″ of difference in ride height fore and aft. But you might be right, Im just not sure how to check coil/damper length as I cant find specs online.

and after being reshod in more ladylike footwear:

As I said in my earlier post, if I do lift it then Id only be after medium as its just a 200TDi and no winch or extra loading (110 BTW)

OK 110 CSW. To my eyes it doesn’t look lifted and may have just had new standard springs on the rear when rebuilt. If the fronts are the ones it left the factory with then they are about 20 years old and will have sagged and generaly be weak especialy in comparrison to the newer springs on the back.

thanks TWDS – any idea where I can get length numbers for uncompressed front coils to check?

Ok depending on it has standard (probably has) or factory HD suspension the lengths of new springs are.
Standard NRC 8044 384mm drivers side
NRC 8045 368mm passengers side
Factory HD NRC9448 388mm drivers side
NRC9449 376mm passengers side

Are HDs standard length?
That rusty coil came out at 410mm ish

Was any trace of paint on the rusty spring? factory springs are black with stripes of colour to identify them. most aftermarket springs are just one colour (normaly not black). If they are aftermarket they could be anything as the numbers I gave you are for factory springs.

nothing I could see (I think yellow white for OEM isnt it?)
Seriously there’s 3mm of rust on every surface 😀

NRC8044 = 2 white stipes.
NRC8045 = 2 yellow stripes.

or HD
NRC9448= one blue stripe and one red.
NRC9448= one yellow stripe and one white.

useful, but useless, my coils are rusty brown all over 🙂

Check out aulro.com, it’s the aussie owners site but contains so many threads about everything that your bound to find what you’re lookking for, no matter what the subject.

It’s saved me $000’s in stuff I’ve been able to do myself.

spring info

You should get the info you need there. If you go for the 2″ lift I’d replace the brake lines and get castor corrected radius arms as well. Steering doesnt self centre well and gets a bit wobbly without.

Re the shocks etc, if you get shock mounts to match they just move the top end of the damper closer to the axle. Normally when people fit lift kits they need bigger bump stops as they fit bigger wheels, so they end up with travel in the shocks they cant use. With the lowered shock mounts you get that back as extra droop/negative travel.

If you dont fit bigger wheels your standard shocks and mounts will work.

Ill echo what the others have said though, I dont think that back end is lifted.

cheers KTC – for simplicity then I’ll go for a standard replacement set with standard height galv turrets. If The rear looks too far out of whack then I guess I can deal with that later, but it’s less hassle than having to replace the radius arms, hydro lines and track down shorter galv turrets etc.

Stoner remember fore aft difference will mosty be attributed to the fact front has a gert heavy engine in it

Rear is rated to carry a tonne odd and is sitting unloaded.

Well that’s unexpected:

Thanks for the help guys. An order for all the parts including some HD front springs arrived today. Hopefully be able to pick up some spring compressors from a mate in the pub tonight and start fitting this lot tomorrow.

No idea why the old ones come out longer than the two new ones (which are two lengths obv to compensate for driver mass). They’re definitely old and shot, so goodness knows whats happened to them.

Hopefully be able to pick up some spring compressors from a mate in the pub tonight

Stoner, if you were local you could have borrowed mine, the mother of all spring compressors.

The old spring looks a little thinner diameter wire, so probably lower rate, and quite possibly sit lower loaded. Rate goes to 4th power of wire diameter, so it has a big effect.

Hard to count coils on old spring. ~7.5 coils – could be V8 RR/Disco front springs, 7.75 coils could be standard 90 fronts. Both lower rates.

Should sit up well on those HD ones, although maybe a little firm/harsh without extra weight up front, eg winch.

Handy LR spring info…

http://rovers.red90.ca/springinfo.html

Somewhere, I’ve got a more comprehensive version of that list that kenneththecurtain posted a link to, complete with 90 and 110 springs.
The odd thing with Land Rover springs is that many of them have got multiple applications. I can’t remember any specific examples, but it’s something like the O/S/R spring on a Range Rover is the same as the N/S/F spring on a 90.
I do remember that 110 CSWs like yours have different rear springs depending on whether they’ve got self leveling or not.

I replaced all four springs on my military 110 when it was 10 years old. I checked the ride height before and after and found it had sagged about 50mm at the front and not at all at the back.

Hi MiliG 🙂

Yes multiple fitments, those HD fronts are standard 90 rears. There are plenty of spring options for 110 fronts as almost all the LR spring options will fit 90/RR/Disco fronts and rears. 110 rears are different diameter and only two standard options 180 (for use with ‘bodge’ leveller) or 330, quite a jump in practice.

bloody hell mcmoonter!

My mate is as reliable as a landrover….so Im going to have ago with some ratchet straps and judicious jacking this weekend. I only need 9 fingers, dont I?

My mate is as reliable as a landrover….so Im going to have ago with some ratchet straps and judicious jacking this weekend. I only need 9 fingers, dont I?

I’ve never replaced a coil souring in a Land Rover but I would where ever possible use a prescribed tool.

I head a horror story where a Rolls Royce mechanic replaced the front coil on a Shadow. The springs have to be compressed to about a half of their length. They start out about three feet long. One can either use the RR tool or a couple of lengths of threaded rod on top of the spring mount to compress it. He used the rod method. It worked fine on one side, but he reused the same rod on the other. It snapped, the spring ejected and ripped off half of his face.

Never need spring compressors when changing LR springs, even long ones, and those new ones aren’t very long, shorter free length than the old ones. With the chassis jacked up allow the axle to droop, add a little weight if required and the springs should go in fine, a little boot can help 😉 Just watch the brake lines, this is where slotting the holes in the line mounting brackets help as caliper/lines can be moved without undoing anything that will drop fluid.

Edit: Put the top of the spring in to the chassis seat first, before slipping (or booting) the bottom on to the axle spring seat.

cheers Mark,
thats much what a landy-nut mate said this evening in the pub. He suggested removing the callipers to keep the lines free.
Bit of leaning on the chassis/crowbar and it should go in easy enough.

Looking forward to it. I finished doing the paving slabs in front of Mrs Stoner’s compost bays so Im now allowed back in the garage to tinker 😀

all fingers present and correct. Bit of help from a couple of one-hand clamps and standing on the bumper and first one done. Thanks again for the help guys.

This is what I love so much about this forum. Somebody comes on with a random request for a link to another forum, gets all the help he needs on this one!
Fantastic! 😀
Plus it’s been interesting reading in it’s own right. Excellent work, chaps.

This is what I love so much about this forum. Somebody comes on with a random request for a link to another forum, gets all the help he needs on this one!
Fantastic!

+1

Good work Stoner, from a Land Rover virgin you’ll just about have tackled every base before your first six months of ownership.

+1 – frankly it’s easier asking in here than trying not to upset the delicate flowers on a landy forum 🙂

After the nearside suspension I need to have a good look at the starter as it’s not engaging with the freewheel consistently.

Sorry, silly question; do they do decent ones or do you have to buy one that needs everything replacing on it? 🙂

cost you £55k 🙂

And you’ll still have to replace half of it in 25yrs time…

Good work. Nice shiney bits 8) The other one will take no time at all now your are practiced in the art. I once spent a couple of hours swapping all 4 springs numerous times trying to find the best set for a custom build from the various springs I had ‘in stock’ 🙂