Thread: Heavy Duty Suspension 110

Great advice folks. I'm requesting costs for the installation of H.D wheels and supension, this ofcourse leads to the next Q.
No doubt the HD will be great fully loaded when doing the big trips with family,....however unloaded will it become a Kidney buster of a ride.
What I need is someone who has ridden in the 130 and 110 to compare the ride for me..

I know I keep asking Q's however, act in haste...Repent in leisure!

Cheers

Rolly

Rolly, you can never ask too many questions.My Tdi has Lovell HD springs and loaded it was fine,unloaded it is crap. Pat

Rolly, Use of genuine HD springs on the front is very good advice.

If you are looking to beef up the back the I'd suggest that you do a trial pack for your trip, get everyone in the car and go to a weigh bridge and measure front & rear weight of the vehicle. This will give you a good target to Assist in the spring selection process. Make sure you stay within the 3050Kg GVM. 3050 Kg gives you a full 1 tonne of load carrying ability! Also be careful not to overload the roof. Having a low centre of gravity should be one of your packing objectives.

Whilst the car is fully loaded, check the sag at the rear & go for a drive to check the handling. Then decide how much stiffer you want the rear to be.

I had the 130 helper coils installed in my 110. Unless fully loaded they resulted in a bone-jarring ride. It was awful and I took them out rather quickly.

An alternative to longer/heavier rear springs would be a set of air bags inside the rear springs. I had this setup in one of my 110s and it worked well as a touring solution, allowing me to adjust the ride height to suit the load & conditions.

It's not a solution for everyone, but if you don't mind towing then an off road trailer might be an option. With 5 people volume can be as much of an issue as weight.

How hard is it to swap springs back and forth, after the first time?

Check the capacity of your current rims and tyres they may well be adequate.

Even after the mods you are still restricted legally to 3050 without certification.

For 5 people, a good 4WD box trailer, ex military? May be the best option.

Thanks for the responses, very helpful.
I've decided to install the HD wheel and suspension. It will be great for the trips where we're loaded to the Gunwale but may be too firm round town...time will tell and then as discussed earlier, removal of helper spring and install airbag.

Once again many thanks for the advice.

Cheers

Rolly

HD could produce a very stiff ride. Maybe medium duty might be better?
Mine has a bar and winch up front and drawers in the rear on standard suspension. Doesn't seem to be an issue, although I'm thinking of rear air bags for when towing the camper.

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

HD could produce a very stiff ride. Maybe medium duty might be better?

If I could touch on the medium duty statement. I have to repeat my comment to ask for the specs before buying. For example Dobinson medium duty (350kg constant) is a 540 lbs/in coil yet their heavy (500kg constant) coil is 470lbs/in. If you accepted the marketing material at face value you will be buying a very stiff coil. I have the 540lbs/in under the house because i accepted the marketing material.

I second John's recommendation about poly helper bags. I have those now and they offer flexibility to reduce psi for unladen and (for me) 18 psi when loaded up to offer a firmer yet compliant ride. The psi is a matter of trial and error.

Swapping springs is a RPITA and like having a spare set of mud tyres for play, it soon becomes a chore.

MLD

Originally Posted by MLD

If I could touch on the medium duty statement. I have to repeat my comment to ask for the specs before buying. For example Dobinson medium duty (350kg constant) is a 540 lbs/in coil yet their heavy (500kg constant) coil is 470lbs/in. If you accepted the marketing material at face value you will be buying a very stiff coil. I have the 540lbs/in under the house because i accepted the marketing material.

I second John's recommendation about poly helper bags. I have those now and they offer flexibility to reduce psi for unladen and (for me) 18 psi when loaded up to offer a firmer yet compliant ride. The psi is a matter of trial and error.

Swapping springs is a RPITA and like having a spare set of mud tyres for play, it soon becomes a chore.

MLD

Agree 100% about getting the springs specs. I have a set of Lovells and Kings in the shed that were just way to heavy and the ride was terrible as a result. These were sold to me as part of a kit specced for the Defender. I ended up using springs from Les Richmond Automotive, the specs for which are available on their site.

Interestingly, I ran rear air bags for a while with a 270lb spring but found they were detrimental in some situations off-road where they stopped the shocks from working through the full length of their travel. They'd act like a bumpstop that came in too early and prevented the shocks from controlling the ride. The result was seriously horrible. The fix was to let all of the air out which meant the back end sagged if it was loaded up for a trip.

So I ripped those springs and bags out and went with a 320lb spring. All good so far and there are now three sets of springs in the shed...