Suspension

Haven't been on here for a while but I was wondering if anyone could give me some ideas for upgrading the suspension on my freelander 1.8, any help would be greatly appreciated

simon27 said:

Haven't been on here for a while but I was wondering if anyone could give me some ideas for upgrading the suspension on my freelander 1.8, any help would be greatly appreciated

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Upgrading the suspension? How?????

Taller? Stiffer? More travel? More dampening?

More dampening

simon27 said:

More dampening

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How many miles on it?
The factory shocks go soft with age.

68000

New oem shocks.


Or Monroe gas ones?

i was looking at some Sachs ( gas )

they're more expensive than the monroe's for fronts
'n slightly less than the monroe's for rears

( Sach get better reviews than Monroe btw. .. over all ..
( then again .. with reviews .. be many other factors to take into consideration as well ..
( for a freelander .. am thinking that original type/brand shocks should be good enough ..

then looked at koni .. as i had them on a motorcycle 'n they were great ..
then saw the price .. Gulp !!!
well the website said £600 or so each ..
was wondering if it were a typo

mine's got 80k miles now .. shocks feel a bit soft ..
wouldn't have noticed much .. except had a new ( 2k miles ) FL 2 for two days ..
and the better ride quality over bumps was noticable

haven't a clue what the FL1 was like when new ..
i.e. compared to the hippo2

Thanks hd3 I'll have a good Internet hunt

The standard Delphi shocks are a good compromise tbh. By 50K miles, they are past there best.

so mine at 125,000k are K****d then....

Epicuser said:

so mine at 125,000k are K****d then....

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And mine at 89k which look original

was told today at the local LR dealership that they don't usually replace shocks
unless they're leaking or weeping oil ..
mentioned difference between mine and that low milage FL2 ..
was told the design be so different as can't be compared ..

am also under the impression that shocks should be matched to spring ratings
or one gets a ride that's overly harsh ..
or that seems to be the story regarding gas shocks .. according to google
( something along those lines )

I had an Octavia before my Yeti, and I had the struts all replaced with Koni FSD's and kept the standard springs. They improved the ride big time. Plus the old ones were leaking we discovered when they were taken off. Could not tell until then.

Some damper sets are designed to be a direct replacement for the OEM struts and so keep the original ride quality matched to the springs, others are designed to be used with uprated springs... Unfortunately the people selling often don't know which is which either

Epicuser said:

so mine at 125,000k are K****d then....

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Soft I would think
My rear shocks are noticeably softer now than when I got the car. Mine has just past 40K miles.

Nodge68 said:

Soft I would think

My rear shocks are noticeably softer now than when I got the car. Mine has just past 40K miles.

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Not even run in........

@ simon27

you could try playing with tyre pressure to see if that improves matters
i think some tyres might have a bit more 'spring' to the rubber compund
( dunno .. be just a theory based on changing pressure in my new tyres .. upping by 1psi ..
( they be a different brand than my previous ones ..
( and changes to air-pressure .. as small as 1psi .. change the overall ride
( in a different way to my previous ones ..
( one difference is that i think my new ones have a stiffer sidewall

btw: tyre psi changes aprox. 1psi to 5.5c temperature difference ..

here's something that 1 or 2 people here have used to counteract
the FL1's tendency to roll in corners ..
Grayston Engineering Spring Assisters
( the rubber coil spring assister )
evidently they worked for the roll-in-corners occurence
how they effected overall ride .. i don't think was mentioned
( try a forum search .. maybe was a mention )

anyhow .. the above are cheaper than a new set of shock absorbers
that may or may not give you the ride your after ..
( unless your current shocks are leaking oil .. or faulty in some way )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

talking again today to the service manager at local LR dealer
he be sayin' that they very rarely have to change shocks on landy's
he couldn't offhand remember the last time they did ..
( they only will fit LR shocks .. not any aftermarket jobs
( as they can't guarantee aftermarket bits ..
( but he did recommend another local landy garage that would ..
i did ask .. generaly .. at what mileage did the shocks usualy want changing on the various LR vehicles ..

you could search this forum for 'monroe' shocks
couple of people have fitted them to freeelanders ..
'n ask what the ride quality is like compared to what the vehicle was factory fitted with
'n if they have gone softer with mileage ..

If you just want a lift?

Then these seem ok.....Got a 50mm spring spacer lift kit for me Rav..just in the process of fitting it....

http://www.wellspacedout.co.uk/

Ses88 kits are better quality. So I am told.

And when it comes to suspension ya don't want any fink to break.....

ZDomZ said:

Ses88 kits are better quality. So I am told.

And when it comes to suspension ya don't want any fink to break.....

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You gets what you pay for