hey everyone
i am about to replace the springs on the front and rear of my series 3 land rover i would like to replace them with actual leafs not parabolic s as it sways around enough on the standards, are poly-bushes a good idea i have heard they are and give slightly better handling, also i have a 88 and have heard putting the 8+2 springs from the rear of a 109 on the rear will give a better ride is this true? also any recommendations for dampers as i don't have a clue which are best. The land rover will sit of long periods of time as I'm away abroad a lot the only thing i have heard in favor of parabolic is the keep better if not in daily use. any advice/opinions welcome thanks.
Getting a suspension setup right is a far bigger question IMO.
And you need to start with the spec of vehicle, your intended use and your expectations.
These are critical.
In all honesty, a 100% stock new setup is perfectly fine for general use. It's not the best at anything, but will work.
Things to bear in mind. Weight of the vehicle. If you have an empty truck cap with one person in, then it'll ride vastly different to a hard top/station wagon with 4 people in the back.
And you can't get it to excel at both things, you either go for a middle ground and compromise on both (stock setup), or you tailor it to one extreme at the sacrifice of performing slightly worse at the other end of the spectrum.
You also need to consider on road vs off road. Being good at one will generally compromise the other.
As for parabolics. They should, no they are, way better than stock springs in terms of ride. But you need the right rate and good quality ones. They should also improve on road handling too as a rule.
On this note, I would think running HD 109 springs would be bloody awful and massively too stiff and bouncy unless you plan to fill the load bay with bricks.
Do you have a budget in mind?
If you want the best look here:
HST Parabolic Springs
But being the best you'll pay a premium.
The next best parabolics are genuine Rocky Mountain Spares as they are basically a copy of the Heystee ones. Be warned, the UK Rocky Mountain Spares doesn't always have genuine Rocky Mountain springs and will often try and flog some crap British ones which are nowhere near as good.
Apart from these I have never seen any other descent parabolic spring for a Series Land Rover. All of the other ones are cack by comparison.
Indeed I have some Paddock Spares sold ones on my 88 (no idea who made them, it was years ago). They are nowhere near as good as Heystee. But they are still a marked improvement over stiff warn out standard springs.
Ride quality is good and handling very good. But the rear is IMO too high a spring rate unless loaded up. Which makes it a little bouncy at times.
As I say, stock is a pretty good all round compromise. But you can do better.
As for bushes, you'll only ever find a split opinion on them.
My view is, it depends as there is more than one type of polybush and different brands make just as big a difference. And of those makers you often find different rates too.
That said, good quality polybushes do exceed stock ones. Because the stock one is a middle ground compromise. A polybush will tailor to one extreme or the other, so you need to get the correct one.
All this is true with shocks too. Stock OEM are fine on a stock setup. But on a good parabolic setup you need a shock to match.
