Shocks. Done To Death But Humour Me!!

Series71 said:

wammers first helpful post :attention::faint2::faint2::faint2::faint2::faint2:

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I will try and keep it simple for you don't worry.

wammers said:

I understood it. But maybe other would not have. The struts on the L322 are very akin to Oleos. Gas, in this case air as the spring and oil as the damper, all in one unit.

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Thank feck a 747 doesn't land on L322 air springs, I can just see it in the cockpit, gear down? Check. Gear locked? Check. Wait, it's just come up, HDC inactive, slow 30mph, what do we do now

Datatek said:

Thank feck a 747 doesn't land on L322 air springs, I can just see it in the cockpit, gear down? Check. Gear locked? Check. Wait, it's just come up, HDC inactive, slow 30mph, what do we do now

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:screaming_bug_eye_f:hysterically_laughi :hysterically_laughi :hysterically_laughi :hysterically_laughi

That has just sent a ripple through the office from everyone who has just asked why I have just p!ssed myself...

Datatek said:

Thank feck a 747 doesn't land on L322 air springs, I can just see it in the cockpit, gear down? Check. Gear locked? Check. Wait, it's just come up, HDC inactive, slow 30mph, what do we do now

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:hysterically_laughi:hysterically_laughi

I did say akin to, not same as Keith. Bit like some people on here are akin to humans. But not exactly the same as.

wammers said:

:hysterically_laughi:hysterically_laughi

I did say akin to, not same as Keith. Bit like some people on here are akin to humans. But not exactly the same as.

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I think the new Boeing Dreamliner was designed by ex LR engineers, it has a similar reliability record to a P38/L322

Datatek said:

I think the new Boeing Dreamliner was designed by ex LR engineers, it has a similar reliability record to a P38/L322

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Like the bloke on death row who gets called to the governors office. "Got some bad news and some good news for you Smith" says the governor. "Tomorrow at 8 am you go in the electric chair, that's the bad news". "Good news is Boeing wired it up".

Just to bring this back to ride quality, yes I'm sorry but . . .
What wheels and tyres are you running and what tyre pressures are you using.

dogsbody said:

Just to bring this back to ride quality, yes I'm sorry but . . .
What wheels and tyres are you running and what tyre pressures are you using.

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It is very true that 22" wheels with 40 psi in the tyres does have stunning effect on ride quality.

dogsbody said:

Just to bring this back to ride quality, yes I'm sorry but . . .
What wheels and tyres are you running and what tyre pressures are you using.

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Standard 18' wheels. Running my Avon winter tyres at the moment which have probably got a firmer side wall than all season tyres but not enough to make a huge difference I would have thought. I tend to run 30psi in the fronts and 34 in the rears.

You might want to investigate 16" wheels. The bigger sidewalls in the tyres might help and you could try dropping your pressures to 28 in the front. The combination might be very interesting - in a good way.

dogsbody said:

You might want to investigate 16" wheels. The bigger sidewalls in the tyres might help and you could try dropping your pressures to 28 in the front. The combination might be very interesting - in a good way.

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I'm just not a fan of the designs of the 16' wheels and with a spare set of 18' comets and summer tyres already cluttering the garage think another set of wheels could be a set too far!!

New shocks it is. Nearly plucked up the courage to hit the buy it now button for a set of Konis earlier, a glass of wine too many with me tea and I started to believe the marketing bull. One expensive mistake if it totally trashes the ride.

Doesn't anybody use these Konis???

It's your wheels, going to 16s will soften the ride more than any shocks can help.

fortgrange said:

Standard 18' wheels. Running my Avon winter tyres at the moment which have probably got a firmer side wall than all season tyres but not enough to make a huge difference I would have thought. I tend to run 30psi in the fronts and 34 in the rears.

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Should be 28 front & 34 rear. Unladen, I run 28 all round, less prone to tramline and a tad smoother on the bumps.

I run 16" on AT2 with 32 all round.
Std Shocks
Arnott 2 springs
No issues

I'm on 16s. F24 and R34psi. I had two britpart airsprings and two dunlop, britpart poly bushes and boge shocks. All done over last 4 years. The last bit I put in were the shocks and God they made the ride harsh! They may be OEM but I question whether they are exactly OE spec. So then I changed all the poly bushes back to rubber and things got noticeably better. Price-wise I reckon the best combo is to get the Boge, get new rubber bushes and manage your tyre pressure.

Like you I am interested in making the ride on my 90 a bit less harsh. To be honest it's done 113 thousand genial miles and it still has the original shocks and springs on it so I am guessing that they might need to be changed!

After much research I have gone for Trerrafima light load springs and ProShocks as a kit from Defender Bits. Andrew seemed very knowledgeable and told me that this kit should really improve the ride. The kit should arrive tomorrow so I will let you know how it feels when I get it fitted!

Cheers

Scrawf

There are plenty of kits to make a Defender ride nicer, not so with the P38. As has been pointed out 18" wheels don't help the OP's cause - changing them for 16s will make more difference than aftermarket shocks. The other option, coil spring conversions for P38s make the ride harsher because the spring rates have to be stiff enough to help prevent roll over at the fixed (higher than highway) ride height. The whole point of EAS is to run effectively softer spring rates when in road going trim - and then make it squidgy and long travel when off-road. The OP should go for 16" wheels and drop the tyre pressures until the required comfort levels are achieved. New unworn shocks will probably make the situation (crashing over bumps) worse. Also as has been pointed out elsewhere check to see if the bushes are okay and have not been replaced with rock hard polybushes.

Didn't 95% of P38's after approx 1998 come out of the factory with 18' wheels? Whilst appreciating 16' wheels will aid comfort, LR must have reached a compromise.

My last P38 ran on 18's and I don't remember it being quite as hard. The only difference being it had Arnott Gen 3 air springs. The springs on this one are originals still hold air 100% and look a long way from being perished.

Bushes are the good old fashioned rubbery sort and far from brittle. Just have to tack a punt and see what happens.

fortgrange said:

Didn't 95% of P38's after approx 1998 come out of the factory with 18' wheels? Whilst appreciating 16' wheels will aid comfort, LR must have reached a compromise.

My last P38 ran on 18's and I don't remember it being quite as hard. The only difference being it had Arnott Gen 3 air springs. The springs on this one are originals still hold air 100% and look a long way from being perished.

Bushes are the good old fashioned rubbery sort and far from brittle. Just have to tack a punt and see what happens.

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The rubber on the airbags hardens, there was a big difference in ride quality on my late 2000 when I fitted Arnott Gen II's The originals were in a poor state when I got them off and the rubber was as hard as hell.

fortgrange said:

Didn't 95% of P38's after approx 1998 come out of the factory with 18' wheels? Whilst appreciating 16' wheels will aid comfort, LR must have reached a compromise.

My last P38 ran on 18's and I don't remember it being quite as hard. The only difference being it had Arnott Gen 3 air springs. The springs on this one are originals still hold air 100% and look a long way from being perished.

Bushes are the good old fashioned rubbery sort and far from brittle. Just have to tack a punt and see what happens.

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Not as far as I know I have an unblemished 1999 with the later style comets 16 inch runners