Thread: Finding the right shocks. D90 Front +2"

After doing it for the first time with my current defer......

Once spring are in physically measure open (by jacking the chassis up) and closed.

Than you know your open/closed with the springs selected.

DeCarbon used to make a +1" shock. I have been ultra impressed by the ride and lifespan of them. I have fitted the same front set to 3 of my vehicles, so they have now done over 300k ...the rears were changed out as I went from a long travel rangie to a std defender/ county.

82-2385 Koni's (80/100 Series TLC front dampers)

It's what I used to run.

9.7" travel in stock form, so you have to raise the towers with stock bump stops. I got creative with bushes, a combination of Patrol and Koni so I only needed to lift the tower 6.5mm and you'll need to trim the bottom pin if going the thin bush route.
I also reduced the bump valving and I was using 220lb springs, but I can't recall what foot valve I ended up with, too long ago. I was the only silly bugger doing that, everyone else just used them as they were.
With extended stops you could probably run them as is too.
I could start to dislocate 17" free length springs.
If you get you rebound setup right you can trim the adjuster ears internally and get a full 10" of travel.

It's a shame, uninformed just offloaded his and some Koni 88 Series custom valved rears

[edit] old thread with open/closed Koni lengths. Note that most of those part numbers are now obsolete, but still some good info. Koni Shock absorbers

I couldnt find DeCarbons, are they finished?

Rick130: I read that thread and a few others on here.

Part# 82 2385

Open: 617mm(24.291"),*
Closed: 373mm (14.685")

Land Rover Defender 1998

Toyota Landcrusier 80 series

pin/pin

valving: Rebound 2600nm/s Bump 1000nm/s

Stock defender replacement from Koni would be 82 401181SPX. Valving for these are: Rebound 1300nm/s Bump 600nm/s

Apart from the issue with closed length the shock appears to be twice as stiff as standard. Standard spring rate up front in a 90 I beleive is 175lbs. So Im concerned these konis are going to be way too harsh for a 90 on standard rate springs.

That said, I have no idea what the bump/rebound is on my terra shocks for comparison.

So many 'defender' shocks found online but none post open/closed/bump/rebound measurements. Is there a koni/bilstien catalogue with this info?