Springs

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mattmoo

Member
Posts
20
Location
Heather, Leicestershire
Hi all,

on my series three the original springs have been replaced (for discovery ones i believe - it was done by a previous owner) - anyway, the front of my landy points upwards a little and does seem to have quite a lot of body roll when cornering, can I just buy some spring clamps to lower them slightly and does anyone know what sort i need? I've done some searches on Ebay but no idea really what i'm looking for. the springs had been uprated by the previous owner so they could put on larger tyres, i think they got carried away a bit!

any ideas?

Cheers,

Matt
 
Has your Series 3 got leaf springs, or is it a hybrid on a coil-sprung chassis? You mention Discovery springs, that's why I'm asking.
Some pictures would help us understand your problem and advise.
 
itis coil sprung. the landy is in a barn about 10miles away at present so next time i'm there i'll take some pictures and post, i've done a google images search and found the following (which is of a hilux) but it looks quite similiar to how my landy is.

i'm actually very new to mechanics and landy's and bought my series 3 on a bit of a whim last year, its been brilliant but I want to get it suitably road worthy and tidy and replace with a more original spec later in the year (something that looks like the haynes manual! - it has brake servos etc) so keen to get it level and looking good.

http://image.pbase.com/u41/guilf/large/26637196.CoilSpringRearSuspension.jpg
26637196.CoilSpringRearSuspension.jpg
 
That picture doesn't work, nor does the link. Besides, posting a picture of a Hi-lux doesn't really help, needs to be of your car so these guys have a clue of where to start.
 
Well, as it's a Hybrid, there's no telling what springs are on there.
Only thing to do is take them off, measure them and find some shorter ones.
It could be that they're +2" springs and replacing them with standard height Defender ones will do the trick.
 
there are so many spring options for coil sprung landies, just from the standard list there are about 10 options of lengths and poundage it couls be the rears have sagged and need new ones or you might need uprated ones, if you hunt through the springs lists you will find HD ones, police spec ones, rangie diesel fronts etc
 
As said, permutations on the springs are endless; and then there is how the chassis was converted to coils, and the possibility it was done badly, or the person who converted it had the notion to weld the spring mounts on slightly lower to add a bit of extra 'lift'!
But, if it used Disco springs, and had mounts welded on the chassis at roughly the right height; the Disco has a heavier body, and engine, so I'd expect it not to ride quite so low to begin with, and possible that the weight distribution on the springs is different too; I presume we are talking about the tidy blue SWB in your profile; which is shorter than a disco too. Being shorter, weight on the back has less leverage to compress rear springs, and I thought the disco was supposed to be a bit tail heavy, so would have thought that disco springs would have made it sit back-end high, not low; but?!?
Could be that the Disco's tail heavy, but Series doesn't have so much gubbins under the bonnet, so might be that theres not the same weight on the nose!
either way, problem is to get the angle more suitable, and try and make it a bit more stable!
I would NEVER use spring clamps!
Horrendouse devices, prone to popping off when you least want them too!
And you could spend forever swapping and changing springs of different rates and lengths to get the angle you are happiest with.
And you DONT really know what you are starting with? Is it s astock Disco spring, or an HD one; standard length or over-length, or what.
You obviousely want to take some length out to reduce the roll centre, and you want to take a little more out from the front springs than the rears........
But as a starting point, might be worth swapping the fronts for the rears, and seeing how that sits; before TENTATIVELY taking it for a test ride (Somewhere deserted..... slowly!)
Beyond that; go to a pro; used to be a couple of people that advertised 'custom' springs, think British might do it; tell them the corner weights of your truck, or the axle weights, and the length the spring needs to be compressed to give the ride height you want, and they can usually do some sums, and tell you if they have any standard springs that are close, or if not, they will 'cut down' a standard spring, retempering the top coils to give the square end, to suit. They aren't THAT expensive; more than a set of coil-clamps; but a HECK of a lot safer!
As a note; local tips often have a weigh-bridge to find your axle weights; Have a word with the operator, during a quite period; they'll often weigh either end for you for a small donation to the beer fund! - we used to use bath-room scales for comp-cars, but think a LR might be a TAD heavy!
 
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