suspension dillema..

Decided to change the suspension on my series 2a petrol swb from leaf springs to paras. After a very long weekend in the barn, I had the old ones off the rear, one of which was 11 leafs the other 9 (both fairly shot), and the front off, which were in better shape.

I bought GME parabolics from paddocks, 3 leaf rear, 2 front, and pro comp 3000 shocks, also Paddocks.New bushes all round. Sat in the barn, things looked great, nice and level and extra bit of lift.

I've now clocked up 50 odd miles and cant get away from the fact that its as bouncy as hell! Its gone from being solid to making me feel sea sick. I've chucked the spare in the back to way it down, which has helped a bit, but the front end is a real handfull on any uneven surface. At slow speeds off road its great. Whats going on?! Should I have gone for 9000 shocks and the heavier damping, since I cant believe it can be the springs.

Any suggestions would be really appreciated

Woodboy

did you load it up a bit when you did the bolts up?

i got my mate, who's a salad dodger, to stand in the back when i did up the rears. Front ones I'm not sure now, think i bounced them, then got under and tightend up..

were the shocked extended length ones as some parabolics can raise the ride height. when my missus bought her series the previous owner had fitted them but with standard shocks that were topped out when sat on level ground. When you drove down the road it sort of chattered and skipped and jumped like a lamb!
We fitted +2 es 9000 shocks and it was then an alrc national winning truck!

I'm gonna have to double check, but i think i got +2" es 3000's. They were def es 3000's from procomp, just not certain about the +2 bit. The front ones look very compressed in comparrison to the rears, but there is travel in them if you stand and bounce on front bumper, but difficult to replicate driving conditions by doing that..?
Thanks for comments. There has to be something wrong with my set up cos no one would fit paras if they rode like mine! And not Cheap!

Thanks Tig, you've made me check on the invoice from paddocks and i've found two things; 1, i did order a pair for the rear and a pair for the front. Thats the good news. Bad news is I forgot they came with front and rear difference, so now have to work out if they are on the right end! They looked identical, is it possible to see the difference without the box/part number?

Ps. this is the first 'forum' i've ever been on, and it bloody well works!

pps, the shocks were classed as 'extra long' on Paddocks web site, guess that is same as +2" ?

in your old leaf springs, every time they flexed several plates had to slide across each other, usually with loads of rust between them. this absorbs a lot of energy, and is effectively a suspension damper. changing to parabolics ... (usually 2 or 3 leaves only, and often with teflon/PTFE blocks between the leaves to reduce friction) ... loses this inherent damping effect and you have to get dampers that work a lot harder ... hence the bounce.

Thanks for the info. I've just discovered that I had put the front shocks on the back and vice versa.. pillock. Have now swapped over and taken for quick spin, seems better but a few more miles needed to be certain.
This will sound ridiculous but I am right in thinking that the shocks go on with the barrel/thick end at the top and the rod/gaiter at the bottom? If not it will be third time lucky!

With shocks i normally just think about the way you would want them so that stuff doesnt get stored in the larger part like water and mud, so I think you may have got it right.

phoned paddocks this morning and their advice was to fit them with thick end at the bottom, so did that, got home and just read your comments! I took it for a spin again and I'm sure it felt better, but I may just be trying to convince myself. I don't see why it should make a difference, other than for reasons you mention. Not sure I want to re fit them a fourth time though! Does any body know for sure if it matters, and why?!

One thing I'm sure of, the old girl rides better now than she did when I started this thread... thanks for very helpfull comments.

Moral of this tale.. dont put things on upside down and back to front, little things like that do matter..

It would appear that the pushrod(plunger side) gets mounted at the top. Which is how mine are fitted, Its just that mine have a large cover over it so hence being the bigger side. So maybe i confused you, as i see quiet a few shocks have an exposed pushrod part.

Mine are like this, http://www.lrseries.com/resources/u...d3fa66f4/RTC4483-SHOCK-ABSORBER-109-FRONT.jpg
and hence the thick side is just a covering for the push rod end and i hence mounted this at the top else that cover would end up getting stuff stuck in it.
Also check out Shocks and Land Rovers there are a few shock setups and they all seem the rod end is at the top, and i dont think she would post them if they were upside down

Good luck man

edit: On further reading it appears that some manufactures build them for the other orientation......so probably best to stick to what they say.
Think I ended up being more a nuisance than a help sorry!!!

i got same procomps and parabols and fitted mine last week so what i did is this,got the springs in place one corner of the landy at a time then tighten the nuts and bolts just enough to make sure nothing falls off, jack the axel up untill the chassis starts to lift(the shackles should be pointing down and slightly to the rear if not and they are tucking up towards the front) then tighten all the nuts and bolts to 70lbf ft get the shock in place and tightend up (ive got the gaitor ends up longest pair of shocks to back shortest to front)wheel back on and away you go.
drive it for about 100miles then retorque the nuts and bolts.ive done it this way and its a nice ride.hope it helps

Okay, it seems consensus is that shocks should be gaiter end to the top, which I have now done. Thanks for all the advice and links etc.
I think I will follow your tip Greenday and I will slaken off the bolts on the springs, push the axle up till it lifts the chassis, and re tighten. I suppose this is equivelant to putting a load on? I had not torqued any of the bolts, seemed a step too far, but probably worth it to get the best out of the springs?

Thanks all...

if you torque them up it stops the springs from twisting(bad thing)and also help protect your bushes from splitting(also a bad thing).so my advise is to torque them up

Suspension problems sorted! Thanks forum!

Have just returned from slackening all bolts on springs, jacking up, and then torqued to 70 ft lbs all round (thanks greenday). I also managed to stop the bonnet from bumping and rattling around, which was making the poor suspension seem worse. I fitted a rubber block on each corner along the front edge.. I did wonder whether there would have been something like that on there originally, can any body confirm?

Any way, result is great. Gone from thinking I'd wasted lots of time and money, not to mention blood and knuckles, to being well pleased.

Thanks for all your comments