Which front springs for 110?

The pics below show what my spreadsheet reveals for 3 different front springs:

• NRC 8044 – drivers side front in 110 Defender
• NRC 9448 – drivers side front in heavy duty 110 and 130 Defender
• 220 lb/in 17.2” high spring as used by Rick130

The static ride heights were adjusted to achieve unladen and loaded spring loads of 470 kg and 540 kg. These loads were based on 110 front axle values for; kerb load with no accessories fitted, and maximum gross load, less about 60 kg per side for the weight of the axle and wheels.

The dynamic loads were calculated at one inch increments of spring displacement. The front axle of a 110 is on the rubber bump stop when the spring is compressed to a height of about 7.25” and the values of dynamic heights and loads are coloured red when this happens as the stiffness of the bump stop comes into play.

IMHO you only want to hit the bump stop on rare occasions.

Thank you John.
Would you interpret your results as indicating Rick's spring set up would be either too long or too stiff for a D110 (he has a D130 I understand) given that his bump stops almost never touch the axle under dynamic conditions?
Or otherwise that the D130 front springs woul be th best of the three options you evaluated for a D110?
Did you consider any extra weight on the front of "your" D110 for the simulation?
Cheers,
Stgo

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bush65

[snip]

IMHO you only want to hit the bump stop on rare occasions.

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I agree, in most normal situations hitting the bump stop means the spring rate = infinity which would normally mean total loss of control (effectively you are driving a go-kart)

I have to say that even though the spring pads are polished in my car, meaning that I'm using all the available travel a lot, the impact must be juuuust hitting as I really don't feel it (except when flying through one particular causeway) and there is about 20mm of bump stop compression before the rate will be damned near infinity.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SG1

Thank you John.
Would you interpret your results as indicating Rick's spring set up would be either too long or too stiff for a D110 (he has a D130 I understand) given that his bump stops almost never touch the axle under dynamic conditions?
Or otherwise that the D130 front springs woul be th best of the three options you evaluated for a D110?
Did you consider any extra weight on the front of "your" D110 for the simulation?
Cheers,
Stgo

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I don't know enough about your use or conditions.

Most of my experience is with rangies and discos, but over the years I have tried many springs. For my use I was happy to compromise on high speed highway handling for off road performance and found long soft springs best for me.

This convinced me to seek as much bump stop clearance as practical, with as low a spring rate as I could go without hitting the bump stops except on rare occasions. I kept the rear swaybar to help with on road performance.

The logical conclusion is air springs as these allow ride height and load capacity to be changed at will.

The spreadsheet results I posted considered two more or less extreme loads. It is vey easy to try other loads (or springs) if you want to nominate them.

BTW after my earlier post I realised that the stock 110 front springs are progressive rate. The rate I used is what I found published elsewhere, so the results I used will be affected by the different rate.

Since learning that stock Defender 110 front springs (NRC 8044/5) are variable rate and the data I had wasn't valid, I replaced them in my spreadsheet with 2 other springs that should be suitable. Both of these are 180 lb/inch spring rate. Their free lengths are 16.5 and 17.2 inches respectively.

Compared to Defender 130 front springs (225 lb/in by 15.3 in) both of these will be more comfortable and flex better. The 180 lb/in by 16.5 in spring will sit at approximately the same height. The 180 lb/in by 17.2 in spring will sit approximately 0.7 inch heigher.

Les Richmond Automotive produce both these springs for Land Rovers, the 180 lb/in by 16.5 in spring is colour code Red, the 180 lb/in by 17.2 in spring is colour code Orange.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...012/12/932.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...012/12/933.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...012/12/934.jpg

Bush 65,

Excellent thank you.
The 180 lb/in by 16.5 in spring sounds like an attractive option. However I need to change mine ASAP and my only fast option is a 15.75 inch/200lbs/inch spring.

Any chance you can run a test considering a 15.75 inch long spring with a 200lbs/inch rate? It would give me an excellent idea of what to expect from the only spring that I can easily buy off the shelf (in Argentina) and which is softer than and slightly longer than the D130 springs.

Thanks
Stgo

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SG1

Bush 65,

Excellent thank you.
The 180 lb/in by 16.5 in spring sounds like an attractive option. However I need to change mine ASAP and my only fast option is a 15.75 inch/200lbs/inch spring.

Any chance you can run a test considering a 15.75 inch long spring with a 200lbs/inch rate? It would give me an excellent idea of what to expect from the only spring that I can easily buy off the shelf (in Argentina) and which is softer than and slightly longer than the D130 springs.

Thanks
Stgo

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Done. I left the NRC 9448, 180lb/in x 16.5in and 180lb/in x 17.2in for reference to the 200lb/in x 15.75in spring.

The ride height of the 200lb/in x 15.75in and 180lb/in x 16.5in springs are very close for the range of loads I used. Naturally, the 200lb/in spring is firmer.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...012/12/909.jpg

Thank you Bush 65! You have been very generous.

I will install my brand new, relatively cheap (guess what brand......:angel:) springs and see how it goes. They are 200lbs/inch and actually 16.1 inches high (I measured them wrong the first time, sorry). I am taking this as a test. Not sure how it will work out.

Thanks for all the great help. I promise some pics of my 2.8TGV D110 once it is levelled!

Saludos
Santiago