Liftless 2 inch lift

Right, so I just spent the whole weekend in the freezing cold changing all the suspension on my Defender 130 from standard to Terrafirma's 2 inch medium duty lift kit but I'm not sure they sent me the right springs!
It's all gone together fine but I'm almost convinced I have no lift at all. I knew my old springs had sagged a bit due to them being 16 years old and taking some heavy loads over the years so it was sitting lower than it should have been but now, with my supposed 2 inch lift, with 265/75 tyres, it sits at 2010mm which, if i'm not mistaken is exactly what it should have been from the factory.
Does anyone know the height of their Defender with a similar setup? It's looking likely I may need to complain and spend another cold weekend changing them out again!
Thanks guys.

Where are you measuring from? I have 265's and standard springs

My Tdci 90 is on 265.65.18's and is 2008 from ground to top of roof at rear. Standard springs.

How many bags of cement have you got in the back 😊 (Just joking).

HTH

Pete.

Were the new springs specific to the 130? Would the extra weight of a 130 negate the 2" lift of medium duty springs?

Did you specify they were for a 130 or just buy a standard kit. From memory when I lifted my 90 the springs were not 2" taller but made of thicker wire so didn't compress as much.

Thanks guys, I was measuring from the ground up to the highest point I could find. I take your point about being specific to the 130 but on Terrafirma's website there are two choices, one for the 90 and then one for the 110/130 so I presume they are the same. I don't think the 130 is much heavier than the 110 to be honest, I think it's very slightly over 2 tonnes.
So, considering Pete's is 2008mm with the same tyre aspect ratio, he should have an extra 1" lift due to having 2" bigger wheels, meaning a standard 90 should be around 1983mm. That seems sensible to me, it's just LRO say it should be 2021mm (back of magazine check).

If your old springs were heavy duty then the truck will sit higher than with medium duty springs, that could be why the height is different

I went with the standard height terrafirma kit and mine is 3" taller than before! So it is possible they sent you the wrong springs as I guess they did with mine

That's not a bad call td5landy, although it seems weird that nobody seems to be at the height of a 'standard defender'.
That is one hell of a difference James! I guess I will be sending them an email tonight then to see what has happened.

AJJackson1 said:

That's not a bad call td5landy, although it seems weird that nobody seems to be at the height of a 'standard defender'.
That is one hell of a difference James! I guess I will be sending them an email tonight then to see what has happened.

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I know, right?! I reckon I have a 2 inch lift and had the saggy original springs on before.

But it sure as hell doesn't fit in my garage now!

Well you did well there, assuming that's what you wanted. Do you happen to know what height you're at now? That would be very interesting.

AJJackson1 said:

Well you did well there, assuming that's what you wanted. Do you happen to know what height you're at now? That would be very interesting.

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That is interesting, just measured and mine sits at 2010mm as well on the same size tyres.

Though that is facing downhill, so not sure how that would affect it.

Must have been really saggy suspension before!

Atm my 1988 2.5td ( 200tdi ) 90 is on a BP yellow spring and pro comp shock's setup fitted by the p.o. which when lightly loaded say 2 x peeps in the front and 2 x peeps in the back the 90 bottoms out on speed bumps and off roading and does feel soggy on the back end aswell so i have just put an order into craddocks today for a Terrafirma + 2" lift kit ( TF204 ) heavy load as i tow a trailer and do fishing trips with friends aswell as some off roading / green laning so thought this setup should be ok.

it does sound like you may have ordered the wrong kit or they have sent you the wrong kit as i would have thought a 130 would be more H/Duty spec rather than medium spec

Might not be any help but my 127 has a spring within the spring, weather it's because it's got the ambulance body or it's standard I don't know.... Could you fit a twin spring to yours ?

130 would have had HD springs as standard. Terrafirma 110/130 springs could well be medium duty as some people don't want such a harsh ride. My friend's 110 pick up had HD springs and sits a lot higher in the rear than my 110 SW on medium springs. The SW weighs a bit more but HD springs do give lift ( well, they have a higher preload weight but looks like a lift ).
You'd be better of getting some standard HD springs if you plan on putting much weight in the back, medium +2" lift kits are good for articulation but not for weight carrying.

Doubt if it will help, but my 90 is on a 2" lift, with 285 Insa Turbo's and it measures 610mm to the underside of the sills.

This is all good information guys. Thanks a lot. My 130 also has a spring within a spring Lurch, I don't know if that's normal or a special vehicles addition.
I think you may be right bluedog333, it just seems strange as the description said 2" lift with winch and winch bumper plus 200kg in the back. I only have the winch and bumper so I expected more!
I will double check what they sent me and maybe order some HD springs instead.
I shall check my height to my sills now Luigi, should give a fairly good comparison.

Right, so mine is 522mm floor to sills at the front and 610mm to the sills at the rear. If yours is 610mm at the front Luigi, then it looks like my front springs could be wrong. My rear ones would seem correct but I guess you can't really see a 2" lift on a truck bed as it's still lower than the roof.

Considering James' is also 2010mm it still seems that none of us are even reaching stock height haha, especially if you did accidentally get a 2" lift kit.

Have you got the front springs on rear and rears on front

wickford90 said:

Have you got the front springs on rear and rears on front

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Very possible, easily done!