Doesn't sit level, leans to the left

Hi guys, my Defender leans slightly to the left. Not dramatically but noticeable nontheless and you can feel it when driving. It doesn't pull to the left at all, even under braking, it's just that it doesn't actually sit level. Any idea what might have caused this?

Mine does this and if you only drive it and dont carry pasengers the suspension will settle to to the drivers side i thought the same as you unless its a shock???

Hi there, I had a similar problem and found that one of the coil springs had gone weaker than the other, after I had removed them the dogy one was a diff height than the other, worth a look.

if you own a right hand drive defender, they are supposed to list to the left. There are 'reasons' to this.

1. 10 yrs ago, the fuel tank was under the driver seat, so a full tank of fuel plus a 75 kg driver will logically level the vehicle.
2. sollihul assumed that you always travel without a passenger. it's you and your defender in the wilderness.
3. it helps water to flow off the car, especially the front gutter under the windshield.

i faced this issue ever since the vehicle was new and every new td5 i looked at in the whole of singapore has this list. it's just that most people don't really notice it.

spoke to the dealer and they confirmed that they are designed this way.

assuming your car is new then it's like that. however if the list is getting too much to bear you may opt to change the PS spring.

honestly, i'm rather light weight at slightly over 50kg, so i opt to change the PS springs to level out the car. at the end of the day, it's your call if you want to change the spring.

alternatively you may choose to insert spacers on the PS which can be rather tricky for the front spring. easier to change the springs.

Thanks guys, very helpful. I'll stop worrrying now!

Hi. Notised this first nowas a new member from Norway. I had a similar problem that my new 2003 Defender 110 was " suncked" about one inch on the left side, and as you know , here in Norway we are driving our cars on the (correct) left side and on the correct side off the road. I was in the thought that my weight could have lowered the car on the drivers side ,but damn it, i am not that heavy , so,..well i complained to the salescompany, and they sorted it out and found that one bracket on the underside of the righthand backspring was mounted wrong under it instead of over to hold the spring down , so it was lifted on that side.Well they moved it in the correct possision, so now that is ok, but i think that the spring some how is to short because after the adjustment i hear a knocking sound when i move the car forward or backward and allso when the chassis is cranging.I think that the upper end of the spring is moving in it`s support but i can live with that .

timberdog said:

Mine does this and if you only drive it and dont carry pasengers the suspension will settle to to the drivers side i thought the same as you unless its a shock???

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a nackered shock wont make it lean!! a weak or busted spring would..
slob

Are you sure you havent had slobs ex-mechanic sat in your passenger seat.

I say ex-mechanic 'cos he's run of with my missus, and the mechanic turned up on my doorstep suffering from post traumatic stress.

I'm using her as a bicycle rack until I think of a better use for her.

she's back now and thanks for the bike


and she reckons you can't drive cos you kept trying to look out the passenger window

To be clear on this, would new replacements fix this issue as long as they arent landrover oem parts?

Most of the other springs I see are lift or drop, not straight replacements, anyone experienced in this?

Cheers

defzilla said:

To be clear on this, would new replacements fix this issue as long as they arent landrover oem parts?

Most of the other springs I see are lift or drop, not straight replacements, anyone experienced in this?

Cheers

Click to expand...

FFS this thread is 9 years old?? I think you just got the LZ Shiny whatsit award for thread resurrection..

defzilla said:

To be clear on this, would new replacements fix this issue as long as they arent landrover oem parts?

Most of the other springs I see are lift or drop, not straight replacements, anyone experienced in this?

Cheers

Click to expand...

If there is a prize fer digging up the oldest fred. you should win it

I don't fully understand the question, but if it helps, standard springs are all different, compensated for the different loads on each corner. Your vehicle should sit fairly level with these.
Some aftermarket springs are not different each side, so vehicle may list, or if spring on one side is very worn that may cause it.

Standard height springs are available, genuine, OEM, and a wide range of aftermarket options.

Suppose you could always try swapping them round, might level her up...

Pikey said:

FFS this thread is 9 years old?? I think you just got the LZ Shiny whatsit award for thread resurrection..

Click to expand...

Yeah I did notice, searching yielded nothing useful, wondering if x 2 offside springs would work. Old threads relevant to old motors

Pikey said:

FFS this thread is 9 years old?? I think you just got the LZ Shiny whatsit award for thread resurrection..

Click to expand...

But a man who uses the search function deserves more than an award surely