Beeps Hi,
Before we start discussing about the various options you can have in
relation to choosing a long travel suspension kit please be advised that I
represent Scorpion Racing in Greece and therefore I do have a connection
with them.
Regardless of the above though the main scope of everybody on this list (the
undersigned included) is to provide the best possible assistance to fellow
LR enthusiast, so in this scope I will try and provide as much input as I
can.
First of all you will have to decide on how you will be using your Landy
from now on.
A 110 is by definition not a trialing machine.
If you plan on using your 110 for long trips on roads or paved gravel road
or medium offroading excursions at medium to relatively high speeds (up to
65 to 70 mph) I would recommend that you do NOT fit a suspension lift kit.
A good proposal is to fit a suspension kit which will move the downwards
travel of your shocks even lower. This is called the EVO kit. In this way
you will gain a bit of downwards travel (the one that mainly matters when
contact to the ground and therefore mobility and traction are required) but
it will not increase the height of your vehicles center of gravity and will
not affect in any negative way your straight line stability, increase the
body roll when turning and increase the vehicle's already sensitive nature
on crosswinds.
Also remember that a relatively higher vehicle is more unstable when the
road is slippery.
This sort of kit is not expensive and you can use it with your existing
shock absorbers and coil springs if they are OK.
It also comes complete with the required coil springs relocation and
securing kit and longer brake hoses (you will read further down why)
From my point of you this is a solution with no drawbacks (apart from having
to buy the kit) but providing a good upgrade on your vehicle's offroading
capability.
-----------
Increasing the suspension's height will also result in additional expenses
if you wish to retain the factory set front axle and steering geometry.
Fitting longer suspension bits (coils and shocks) results in upsetting the
castor angle which is responsible for how much "feel" you get from your
steering wheel and how effective the self centering characteristics of the
steering system are (namely the steering wheel will tend to be much slower
into returning to the center position when the vehicle is on the move and
you turn it left or right)
In order to remedy this problem you will have either to change the chrome
balls with ones with the castor angle corrected or change your radius arms
(the bars that run parallel to the chassis and connect the chassis to the
front axle, or change the bushes of those arms connecting them to the axle
with modified ones which are eccentric. The cheapest solution is the third
one but it is the least effective and the fastest one to go wrong or need
replacement. The one that is usually adopted is the replacement of the
radius arms.
One more drawback of increasing the suspension's height is that there is a
VERY strong possibility that you will end up upsetting the angle of rotation
of the propshaft (the axle that transmit the power from the center
differential and transfer box unit to the front axle). As a result you will
feel that the vehicle moves with increased vibration and this may eventualy
result into damaging the universal joints and/or the splined section of the
propshaft, the front diff's and transfer box's flanges, bearings and finally
if not addressed in time the diff units themselves.
The remedy is to replace the propshaft with another one with increase angle
of rotation (yoke) or a double cardan one as fitted to the Discovery S2
generation of vehicles from the factory (non genuine LR units are available
from a few sources apart from SR themselves)
Of course let's not forget that increasing the suspension height will also
DEMAND a necessary replacement of the brake hoses with longer ones
especially if you plan on making use of the increased suspension's travel
downwards. Not replacing them may end up in you being stranded with a
raptured brake hose pulled out of is caliper.
--------------
More extreme suspension kits (like the extreme from Scoprion Racing, or
Equipe, the three links front axle kit from Safari Gard or G2F) will
definately require the above modifications to the radius arms (the SG and
G2F kits include them while the SR and Equipe ones do not) the rear axle's
trailing arms (SR and Equipe kits include those while SG and G2F not
necessarely so) and BOTH propshafts front and rear (no kit includes those).
Replacement brake hoses are provided with the G2F, the Scorprion Racing and
the Equipe kits.
---------------
As for upsetting road manners ALL those kits do have negative effects on the
stability of your vehicle and according to my point of view should only be
used off the road. The only exception being the shock absorbers lowering kit
without suspension height increase. (the EVO kit)
All other suspension kit (including the VERY popular +2" suspension lift
coil springs and shock absorbers kits have negative effects on your
vehicle's stability and could therefore lead into a serious life threatining
situation which would have been altogether avoided if the car was sitting at
its factory specified suspension and bodyshell height.
I am sorry for the lenght of this posting but I tried to provide you with a
detailed reply, at least as much as my knowledge on this topic allows.
Take care
Pantelis Giamarellos
LAND ROVER CLUB OF GREECE
<
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:
[email protected]...
> Can anyone direct me to any comparison tests between SafariGard &
> Scorpion suspensions? Also first hand experience/advice would be
> appreciated.
>
> I'm planning to upgrade the suspension on my 95 Defender 110 Station
> Wagon for driving off-road. For the past 10 years I've been using OME
> springs and shocks on this vehicle but now I need a bit more clearance
> and wheel articulation.
>
> I am particularly interested in how these extreme suspension mods may
> affect the vehicle's handling on hard surface roads. I suspect some
> negative effect ... but will the vehicle become tipsy on the curves?
> 
>
