LOUNZ
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- New Zealand
will take this suggestion with me to the shock bods I am soon to visit with all the great suggestions I am getting from the forum! thanks.
Can I imrove my suspension or do I have to trade my Defender?!
- Thread starter LOUNZ
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LOUNZ
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- New Zealand
Yes, have had that thought too.... wouldn't be interested in a Discovery, the Range Rover is an option but it just doesn't suit my mud, dogs, horses, busy life that the Defender does.The landcruiser would actually be more practical...just boring.
discomania
Well-Known Member
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Spec up springs that suit your needs, I went for HD springs years ago without really thinking about it, HD usually means that when fitted in normal use situations you will end up getting longer life from it because it was designed with heavy duty use in mind. Springs however need more thought than this, it's not as much that the spring is heavy duty in the sense it will last longer I would argue, it just means they are just designed for heavy duty use, as in heavy loads and towing.
Where am I going with this you say, well, my mainly on road Defender 90 with HD springs with usually just a driver is a bit of a bone shaker on our potholed, poorly repaired roads. Load it up with half a ton in the back and she is a different car, and not for the worse, the ride is so much smoother.
In my situation I really need normal duty springs, and then have a better ride for 90% of it's use, and when it comes to the half ton in the back, well so be it, it won't be as well set up for this scenario as it is just now, but it will still be well within LR parameters and work just fine, all be it doing that all the time it would wear the springs much quicker.
So, what we need to do is swap our springs! Shame your so far away.
Where am I going with this you say, well, my mainly on road Defender 90 with HD springs with usually just a driver is a bit of a bone shaker on our potholed, poorly repaired roads. Load it up with half a ton in the back and she is a different car, and not for the worse, the ride is so much smoother.
In my situation I really need normal duty springs, and then have a better ride for 90% of it's use, and when it comes to the half ton in the back, well so be it, it won't be as well set up for this scenario as it is just now, but it will still be well within LR parameters and work just fine, all be it doing that all the time it would wear the springs much quicker.
So, what we need to do is swap our springs! Shame your so far away.
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LOUNZ
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More thoughts....thanks for your input, and I'm not sure you'd want my springs after 200,000k
I've come up with a plan, see my last post.
LOUNZ
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- New Zealand
Thanks to everyone for their input. Exactly why I come to this forum for ideas especially when I'm a away from Landy homeland...here in NZ. You have been a great asset and I appreciate your time.
I have decided to replace shocks and springs all around, found a specialist very close to home who deal with Old Man Emu as one here has suggested and they are confident I'll get the improvement.
I'm not going for any major modification, just new and improved all around.
For those that are interested, I'll post my feedback on the result once I've completed the work.... roughly 2 - 3 weeks from now.
Happy summer times for you... not too different from our winter now
I have decided to replace shocks and springs all around, found a specialist very close to home who deal with Old Man Emu as one here has suggested and they are confident I'll get the improvement.
I'm not going for any major modification, just new and improved all around.
For those that are interested, I'll post my feedback on the result once I've completed the work.... roughly 2 - 3 weeks from now.
Happy summer times for you... not too different from our winter now
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- Oxfordshire
ome are good quality. stock should improve things a lot over worn.
LOUNZ
Member
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- New Zealand
Thanks for the advice. I did go with Old Man Emu sports shocks and replacement springs all around. Normal in front and heavy duty behind. Infact, when they were pulling it all apart, it revealed the front radius arm bushes were in need of replacement too. And after all that... it has definitely made the difference I was hoping for. Not getting the trailer feedback that was getting me down and handling better in general without towing albeit a little "harder" ride.
