Suspension Swap Tips Hints

Going to swap suspension over on saturday.

Ive got;

- TF202 lift kit, 4 x Springs + Shocks
- Defender Front Shock Turret Securing Ring TF502
- Defender 90 Rear Coil Spring Retainer TF506
- Defender Front Coil Spring Retainer TF505
- Tubular Front Shock Absorber Turrets TF504
New nuts and bolts

Am i good to go?
Anything i should/shouldn't do?

I heard that cracking the nuts of castor/trailing arms first then fitting sus then lowering bouncing a few times and then tighten bolts back up stops the bushes tearing.
Any other things to do?

I assume its just a case of
Jack up on chassis rail,
Loosen castor/trailing arm,
wheel off,
old shock off
spring out,
new in,
bolt up,
lower + bounce,
tighten everything next corner....

Any help appreciated.

Always simpler than it sounds!

It took me hours to get my old shocks off as the flats across the bottom had rounded off, i ended up having to grind them off because the shocks were just spinning round and round as i was trying to undo them, then again, i don't think they had been change in 25 years so yours might be alright!
Depending on what lift you are putting on you might want to think about some extended brake lines so your existing ones aren't stretched under high articulation.
Also depending on the lift you are putting on, you might want to think about some 3degree radius arms as putting on a lift can really mess with your castor angle which you will notice in your steering

All ready running +2" Britpart Supergaz.

all ready have extended brake lines nd wide angle front prop.

When money allows going to add Castor Corrected Arms front and back

Get your grinder warmed up......my son calls it "daddys spanner"

I've done mine not long ago...

- The bolts holding the spring retainers snaped, so I had to drill them out as the nut underneath were welded to the spring plate, but I think not all are like this. so if the bolt snap you can take it out easily... if they are welded you cant get a disc cutter in there, so you have to drill it out



- The threaded bit on the new shocks was too long, and after tightning the nut, it would touch the axle, so a bit had to be cut, i had to do this with the shock in place with just holding a blade, would have been easier if I had cut it off before fitting the shock..




I also found that even with a highlift jack, I had to use spring compressors to fit the new ones in, as the axle wouldnt drop far down enough

and... see if you can fit it all as fast as me lol

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9wBp8BJniI"]Defender Suspension timelapse - YouTube[/ame]

Nice one JP 3:45 Mins to beat!!

What program did you use to edit together that timelapse, i cant find anything decent to do it on easily??

COA said:

Get your grinder warmed up......my son calls it "daddys spanner"

Click to expand...

popped into screwfix picked up some cutting discs!

Use lots of anti seize when putting new stuff on. Also should pick up some of the front tower securing rings if you are switching out the old towers for new ones. I had to cut mine off.

BearDy89 said:

Going to swap suspension over on saturday.

Ive got;

- TF202 lift kit, 4 x Springs + Shocks
- Defender Front Shock Turret Securing Ring TF502
- Defender 90 Rear Coil Spring Retainer TF506
- Defender Front Coil Spring Retainer TF505
- Tubular Front Shock Absorber Turrets TF504
New nuts and bolts

Click to expand...

This part?

haha whoops... didn't see it

No problem, What do you mean by antiseize? Copper slip grease?

mmajor2 said:

What program did you use to edit together that timelapse, i cant find anything decent to do it on easily??

Click to expand...

I used a GoPro HD camera to take pictures every 5 seconds.. or 10 seconds, cant remember, but might have been 10.

Then I use Final Cut Pro to put it all together and adjust speed, etc...

BearDy89 said:

No problem, What do you mean by antiseize? Copper slip grease?

Click to expand...

Suspect penetrating spray to free rusted nuts, or something similar?

TBH Sam I'd start spraying them morning and night between now and Saturday


EDIT: Nah, I'm wrong, he was into assembling so probably copper grease.

PS - I'd still be spraying with Penetrating Spray as often as you can before the big day!

im on it!

lubbing nightly from now til saturday dont want stuck nuts!

BearDy89 said:

No problem, What do you mean by antiseize? Copper slip grease?

Click to expand...

Yea the copper slip grease so if you take it apart again it all comes off easy instead of rusting solid together. I guess across the pond we call it different names. But yes all soak everything with WD-40 a few days in advance!

So woke up Saturday morning rareing to go on the Suspension Swap.
got all tools, jacks, chocks, WD40.

I had lubed up as many bolts as i could get to twice a day for three days previous. This proved to be a GOD SEND!!

So i started with the lift kit, new Spring retainers front and back, turrets, and turret rings.

All new suspension


Picture of old:



Jacked up ready to go:



I was wary about how high i jacked the landy on the hi-Lift so i went as high as i dare and lowered the axle so much that it was only just resting on the Jack.

I then secured everything with Axle stands.

Got the socket set out thinking i would need a long bar and some brutt force to crack the top nut of the damper.
It span off with minimal effort!! (I think due to the WD40 for days previous)

I then Jacked the axle back up as high as i could untill the hilift was only just holding on. Then put the spring compressors on the spring and lowered the axle back down.

The spring stayed compressed and almost fell out.

Then I saw this



F**K is that all that has been holding my spring on for the last .... 3 years??

So dug into my trusty scrap metal bin, Cardboard template, sheet metal cutter, grinder and welder to produce this:



Slid it under the old bracket



Welded and painted:



Its not the nicest job in the world but its defo stronger than what was there!!

Once this was in place, i compressed the new spring (making sure its the CORRECT SIDE and REAR)

Pushed the spring up into the top spring seat, and then slid the bottom spring seat up under the spring.

Clamped it in place with the new HD spring retainers.

Damper is easy, push fit onto top damper hanger, and compress damper by hand and then line up the bottom stud with hole in bottom hanger and allowed damper to expand locating itself.

Tighten all bolts to correct torque's and bobs ur uncle:




Onto the other side following the same procedure:

Same problem, however someone repaird it badly with lots of crappy weld so i had to spend some more time cutting and cleaning. Made up an almost identical plate as the passenger side and welded it in.




I was pretty P1SSED off by this point as it was susposed to be a quick saturday morning job. I started at 11 and finised at 5. i gave up taking pics of any thing else but the front is relativly easy.

Just have to move the expansion tank in engine bay and the turret covers.

Forgot to add NONE of the bolts snapped!!
not a single one.

Either this was due to the amount of WD40 i was spraying days in advance,
or because the other lift kit had only been fitted around 3 years ago.

Good stuff Sam

Are you pleased with the handling now the jobs done?

I completely forgot to mention the difference!!

Its hard to describe, but it's definitely noticeably different!!

It is obviously stiffer springs because i went for the Medium load.
but i think the dampers are much better as well.

When hitting a bump in the road you feel one soft bump with the new kit,
with the old it was a hard hit followed by 2 or 3 "bounce's" afterwards.