Thread: To much lift! (Is there any such thing?)

Cheers guys, the car is going to end up with a set of 35" weekend tyres at some stage, but not for a while. I recon daily rubber wil be 33" (or if I'm really tight the same as what is on there).
I will be aiming for the 2" coils of better yet some $ back and slot in LRA or the 130 front springs. I realise there is bugger all lift needed in a Defender for tyre or other reasons, I was just thinking that as it isn't really a daily driver, 3" would be OK.
I do use the car for some long trips, but they are few and far between, whereas a weekend out with my mate in his bloody 4" coil + 2 body lift J**p are more common...
As I said, I'll chalk this one up to experience (even though I am not admitting too much fault yet - other than being a goose for wanting an 'extra inch' of lift), and get some front coils initially to get its nose off the ground, and then see if the rear looks OK (and maybe just put a small spacer in it if I need 20mm or so to match whatever the front comes out at). I am happy with the (old) rear spring rate in there.
Aiming for a front BSC of 100mm or a smidge over now.....

Originally Posted by Benny_IIA

Would it matter which way the coil was installed?

Wouldn't have thought so myself, although with the closer winds at the bottom, they were touching at the rear of the coil. Maybe having the wider winds at the base would allow the softer part of the coils to work a bit better?
Height wise - i'm going to say not much difference surely.

Originally Posted by Pat The Rat

Cheers guys, the car is going to end up with a set of 35" weekend tyres at some stage, but not for a while. I recon daily rubber wil be 33" (or if I'm really tight the same as what is on there).
I will be aiming for the 2" coils of better yet some $ back and slot in LRA or the 130 front springs. I realise there is bugger all lift needed in a Defender for tyre or other reasons, I was just thinking that as it isn't really a daily driver, 3" would be OK.
I do use the car for some long trips, but they are few and far between, whereas a weekend out with my mate in his bloody 4" coil + 2 body lift J**p are more common...
As I said, I'll chalk this one up to experience (even though I am not admitting too much fault yet - other than being a goose for wanting an 'extra inch' of lift), and get some front coils initially to get its nose off the ground, and then see if the rear looks OK (and maybe just put a small spacer in it if I need 20mm or so to match whatever the front comes out at). I am happy with the (old) rear spring rate in there.
Aiming for a front BSC of 100mm or a smidge over now.....

There is nothing wrong with running a three inch lift for a daily driver it's just that you need to do the other bits and pieces for it to work safely and properly.

The springs you have aren't a three inch lift, its more like 4-5 inch. So if you had plans to fit new radius arms or slotted swivels, just change out the coils and go ahead with the 3inch lift. Don't worry about what other vehicles are running in lift. A friend has a Patrol he has 2inch body lift 6inch spring lift and 35's, when I park next to it my sills, chassis line up and I only had 2inch lift and 33's. Other cars need all the lift to get there bellys of the ground.

I don't think this is your fault, it's just that the springs you were given are to heavy a rate for your vehicle, Wayens coils and mine are taller then yours in free lenght but our cars sit lower then yours, this indicates the rate is to heavy.

I would recommend fitting some new rims, 16x8 with a neg 25 offset to increase your wheel track, this improves stability.

I fitted some variable coils to the rear of my D1 recently, the instructions said to put the closer winds to the top as they are meant to bind, I don't think it would be desirable for them to bind at the bottom.
Cheers,
Lee

Originally Posted by Foxspell

I fitted some variable coils to the rear of my D1 recently, the instructions said to put the closer winds to the top as they are meant to bind, I don't think it would be desirable for them to bind at the bottom.
Cheers,
Lee

Where they bind isn't so much of a problem... I guess apart from wear on the chassis at the front of Rovers, but when the closer winds are at the bottom they trap debris.

Thanks guys - seems close winds at the top is the go then.
I still doubt it will effect height too much overall, but do appriciate its better to have the close winds up against a nice level mounting bracket on the chassis then the varying axle housing (and prevent them collecting crap too).

Originally Posted by lambrover

There is nothing wrong with running a three inch lift for a daily driver it's just that you need to do the other bits and pieces for it to work safely and properly.

The springs you have aren't a three inch lift, its more like 4-5 inch. So if you had plans to fit new radius arms or slotted swivels, just change out the coils and go ahead with the 3inch lift. Don't worry about what other vehicles are running in lift. A friend has a Patrol he has 2inch body lift 6inch spring lift and 35's, when I park next to it my sills, chassis line up and I only had 2inch lift and 33's. Other cars need all the lift to get there bellys of the ground.

I don't think this is your fault, it's just that the springs you were given are to heavy a rate for your vehicle, Wayens coils and mine are taller then yours in free lenght but our cars sit lower then yours, this indicates the rate is to heavy.

I would recommend fitting some new rims, 16x8 with a neg 25 offset to increase your wheel track, this improves stability.

Thanks mate, I'll be doing going along roughly these lines. Depending on what the supplier offers me (store credit or $ back).
If I get store credit I'll probably roll the money over onto 2" coils, a new rear wheel carrier (random I know) or more likely +2 Terrafirm shocks, which look like good value.
Between you, me and the other few hundred reading the thread I'll be hoping for $ back, to get some front coils (either 130 fronts or LRA in same rate but a bit higher, and looking to get a bit better quality shock (had an amazing run out of Bilstein in the past - but I'd like the 10" travel LRA ones - again, waiting & waiting on Heasmans for an price).

I'll just trim the rear up to suit where my front finishes and call it done for now. I'm looking to do a few larger trips this year (hence enbarking on this whole shamozzle), so I am just keen to be back on the road.

Originally Posted by Pat The Rat

Cheers guys, the car is going to end up with a set of 35" weekend tyres at some stage, but not for a while. I recon daily rubber wil be 33" (or if I'm really tight the same as what is on there).
I will be aiming for the 2" coils of better yet some $ back and slot in LRA or the 130 front springs. I realise there is bugger all lift needed in a Defender for tyre or other reasons, I was just thinking that as it isn't really a daily driver, 3" would be OK.
I do use the car for some long trips, but they are few and far between, whereas a weekend out with my mate in his bloody 4" coil + 2 body lift J**p are more common...
As I said, I'll chalk this one up to experience (even though I am not admitting too much fault yet - other than being a goose for wanting an 'extra inch' of lift), and get some front coils initially to get its nose off the ground, and then see if the rear looks OK (and maybe just put a small spacer in it if I need 20mm or so to match whatever the front comes out at). I am happy with the (old) rear spring rate in there.
Aiming for a front BSC of 100mm or a smidge over now.....

Pat
From your description,it sounds like you are trying to set up your vehicle for similar use to mine,except that I don't run anything except for my 35's,as it is my weekend only vehicle.Having said that,I took a very long time looking at what works in the real world,and what was basically advertising hype.Working in the industry for over 30 years; helped to separate fact from fiction a lot of the time though.
There is nothing wrong with running 3" lift on a Defender,despite what the purists will say.BUT you need to be prepared to do it properly,or you can end up with a very unstable mess
You don't need huge lifts to compete with j##%s off road or any of the J#p vehicles for that matter.
It is all about spring selection,shocks selection and mounting.
You mention that your springs are "progressive wound" ie have tighter coils at one end.What you haven't mentioned is whether the coils are tapered wire coils ie the wire at the closer wound coils is smaller diameter than the other coils.
If the coils are all the same diameter,then the coils are NOT true progressive springs,but rather what is known as ramp progressive.These coils can be mounted either way up,depending on where you want the most amount of resistance?
A tapered wire coil ie. where the tail of the coil is a smaller diameter,will require the thinner coils to be mounted to the top.This type of coil is what is known as a "Progressive" wound coil.
I run a set of "Progressive" coils in the rear of my vehicle,and a set of "Linear" rate springs in the front,which allow the vehicle to keep full articulation and they add stability to the front when compared to the "ramp progressives" that I ran previously.
The other thing,is that the later the year model the more likely you are to require a double cardan front shaft and at least wide angle uni's in the rear shaft.
I know that at the height that mine is now,that I need both and mine is a 93 200Tdi.
If you run 35's and wish to have"full" articulation,then they will just touch the body at the rear wheel arches,depending on wheel offset and variabilitiy in actual tyre size.There are people out there that say they don't rub,but that is usually due to the fact that they have limited the available UP travel due to fitting "Lower" rear upper shock mounts.
There are lots of different ways to set the vehicle up with regards to brands etc.but a lot of what I have seen leads to very unstable vehicles,particularly in Offroad situations.I wanted something that was as stable as I could make it and allowed me to run the gear that I wanted.
The end result for me has been something that I am very happy with,is inherently very stable in the roughest country,and even though it is an old truck,has proven to be very reliable.
Do the homework,and resist impulse purchases based on what a salesman tells you,is my advice