Coil Suspension

[murray073]

Hi, I,m new to this forum but having spent some time reading the various threads I am impressed with the knowledge that exists hear.

I recently bought a Discovery 3 S TDV6 2007. It only had 57 000 Kms on the clock & I am amazed at how it rides and the way the new style of diesel engine performs. It runs smoothly, is very quiet & has unbelievable torque & acceleration. My previous experience with diesel 4wd's was in the 80's with Landcruisers & they are chalk & cheese when compared to the Discovery (stunning).

My 4wd history started with a 1979 Series III swb Landrover. Great car for it's day, took me to many remote areas in central Aust (Taking plenty of spare axles of course). Then came a 1980 F100. Great for the beach but a bit wide for the bush. Next was a 1965 petrol swb Landcruiser softtop, bit of fun for a while (Nephew still owns it). Last 4wd before the Discovery was a 1982 RangeRover. This was an excellent vehicle. Had it for 19 years & it to us around Australia, through many trips through western QLD, NSW & northern SA. But it was time to move into the modern era, hence the Discovery. It is a big learning curve so it's great to see that this forum exists with all it's knowledge. I truly appreciate all the time that people put to share their knowledge & experience.

I do have a few questions that I hope someone can help me with. Owning the S model I find that the coil suspension is too low. Does anyone have recommendations as to what type/brand of coils & struts work best to raise the suspension, & where to go to get them. I was hoping to raise it about 2 to 2 1/2 inches. Will lifting it this high cause any issues with increased wear of the CV joints. Do you need to change the struts to gain more travel or being independant suspension would it be wise to only allow standard extension because of increased CV joint angles.

Thanks.

Murray

[wardh]

Hi Murray

I have a coiler fitted with King Spring coil suspension. There are quite a few posts on the subject if you do a search If you look back at a few of my older posts you will also find information on coil spring suspension.

There are a few manufacturers doing springs for the S coilers and a few members on site have them fitted

I went with King Springs as at the time they had a better choice in rating as I required heavy duty rears for towing. The King Spring lift is quoted as 50mm which I believe is the legal max, forum members better versed will correct me if I am wrong. My actual lift was from memory around 65mm.

They were fitted to the original struts, have been on for around 70,000 ks and have posed no problems with CVs. (See past post of mine showing axle angles)

At a 2010 Land Rover off road training day I had no trouble matching the air suspension vehicles on the courses set. Mind you I do not think it was that extreme. I may have also had a small advantage with over 45 years in 4x4s and payed to do it each day as part of my job in forestry.

Cheers

Howard

[murray073]

Thanks Howard for the reply.

I have trouble finding things by searching on this site, might have to try the google search.

It sounds like I am trying to do the same as you have for I to have a heavy camper so need heavy duty rear springs. Nice to know that the standard struts are working out fine, saves some dollars since they are only 60 00Kms old.

Noticed the front bar. What type of bar is it & does it maintain the original bumper

Thanks again,

Murray

[wardh]

Its the Land Rover bar. Good light weight bar to hang a couple of lights off and deflect pigeons but you would not want to hit a roo.

The post that may give you useful info I posted 19th Sept 2009. The thread was called "Air suspension question" I could not link it to this page but it may google up or click on my avatar and bring up my posts and follow the dates back.

Picture of Bar and vehicle at the 2010 Land Rover day near Toowoomba.

Howard

[SuperMono]

I went with (the matched set) of Dobinsons struts and springs in my D3 'S'.
You get 50mm+ of lift over the standard suspension and the spring rate is increased over the standard coils. The ride will be a harsher than standard and the step up into the cabin is obviously a little higher.
With the lift you now have a useful off-road vehicle although not quite to the air-sprung D3/D4 standard. A little care with line and approach/departure angles and you can go most places (becomes a tyre limit really).
I tow a 1400+ KG van with no issues.
Might be worth giving them a call (they are in QLD) and discussing the spring rates for your specific requirements.

Dobinsons Spring & Suspension (http://www.dobinsonsprings.com/)

[Discophil]

I also went with the dobinsons matched set. Extremely happy with them, slightly firmer ride, but the extra 50mm is really noticable once you leave the bitumen. I would highly recommend.

[murray073]

I had a look at your old thread Horward. Very interesting reading, gives me confidence that the increased height won't affect the CV's. I think I'll talk to King springs & Dobinson's. Thanks four the heads up about Dobinsons you guy's.

[talltales]

4WD ONE sell Dobinsons. I had them fitted to my 2005 Disco 3 TDV6 S and they have been great. Full spring and shocky replacement with longer shocks to match the springs. I got my posted to me for under a $1000 and the local suspension shop fitted it for $150. I tow a 1800kg Exodus 11 and have no droop at all with 180kg ball weight.

[chuck]

To resurrect an old thread.

Will 275 x 65 x 18 tyres fit with out rubbing on a 50mm lift coil sprung D3.

My thinking is that coil sprung D3's are pretty reasonably priced & there are now plenty of accessories.

I would think a coil sprung D3 with the following would be a pretty good 4x4:
50mm lift
32 inch tyres
ARB front & rear lockers
rock sliders
bull bar & winch

No air suspension problems

Would be at least as good as a Defender with same & probably just as reliable with benefit of auto, airbags & more power.

[ozscott]

To resurrect an old thread.

Will 275 x 65 x 18 tyres fit with out rubbing on a 50mm lift coil sprung D3.

My thinking is that coil sprung D3's are pretty reasonably priced & there are now plenty of accessories.

I would think a coil sprung D3 with the following would be a pretty good 4x4:
50mm lift
32 inch tyres
ARB front & rear lockers
rock sliders
bull bar & winch

No air suspension problems

Would be at least as good as a Defender with same & probably just as reliable with benefit of auto, airbags & more power.

No mate because it doesnt matter how we cut it the fender will have more tyre on the ground and with those tyres pushing into the ground, with more inate balance with more clearance than a coil sprung d3. Having said that it would be a very nice tourer and solid offroader is my bet.

Cheers

[TerryO]

No mate because it doesnt matter how we cut it the fender will have more tyre on the ground and with those tyres pushing into the ground, with more inate balance with more clearance than a coil sprung d3. Having said that it would be a very nice tourer and solid offroader is my bet.

Cheers

D3's have one main disadvantage over a Defender, ramp over angle. A D3/4 from memory has about an extra 100 mm between the wheels comared to a 110.. If you have the same lift and tyre size compared to a 110 then the Disco has a lower limit to what it can crawl over as its way easier to end up sitting on your chassis rails. Especially so on a coiler which usually is limited to a 2" lift.

Defender owners carry on about how most Disco owners aren't up to doing the tough tracks because we are afraid of wrecking our vehicles, but in reality you see very few brand or near new Fenders out there getting bashed around either. The vast majority are reasonably old bits of gear.

Most Defenders out there getting seriously bush bashed are around the D1 or D2 age. So the jibes bout us being pansies afraid of scratching our Disco's is no different to the majority of late model Defender owners. (RVR110 excepted)

My D3 with an e-diff, 32" MUDs, at off road height and with Llams set to max in Rock Crawl will go most places any Defender will go quite easy. Once you have a bull bar plus rock sliders and under body protection fitted you get a much higher level of peace of mind that your not going to destroy it in the rough stuff. Plus we don't have diffs to get hung up on in rocky terrain which is not that uncommon to happen to Defenders if the drivers don't pick their lines well.

Will it go where a highly lifted twin locked Defender on 35" + MUDs and crawler gears can go? No it won't, but put the Defender back on 32" tyres and that would even it up considerably and possibly even give the advantage to the modded Disco. That is a bit of speculation though as not to many Fenders out there on 32's doing the hard stuff to compare against.

D3's are very capable off road and on and are way nicer to drive than a Defender, it just depends on how far you want to go with mods and how much your prepared to scratch / dent your vehicle to find out.

[ozscott]

Terry the poster was talking about coiler d3 as was I. There is no comparison between a coiler d3 and an air sprung d3 which simulates live axle.

Cheers

[TerryO]

Yes Scott your correct and I had already added a line that it would be some what harder with a coiler. Having said that I have been out with modded coiler D3's and seen them go places that my air suspended D3 struggled with.

Personally I would not write off a well modded coiler D3 in the rough stuff, especially with a front and rear locker installed. ...;)

The ramp over angle and max size of tyres is in my opinion the greatest limiting factors.

[ozscott]

Sorry mate I misread your post :)

Cheers

[TerryO]

Actually you didn't misread it, I rewrote a section after putting it up and reading it myself, so you read it correctly.

[swampy1]

Hi all,
I have a set of 50mm lift springs from my D3,free. I am in Newcastle.

[theresanothersteve]

...I have trouble finding things by searching on this site, might have to try the google search...

Try adding site:www.aulro.com (http://www.aulro.com) at the end of your search terms if you are using Google, you will use the full power of Google to search the forums. I tend to use Google rtahter than site's own search engines, it's much faster and normally returns better results!

Don't worry about the underlining, that's the forum trying to be smart and it doesn't have a code function.

[Learner]

Or there're two Google search options at the bottom of each thread. One to search aulro, thye other bto search the web.

Best Wishes,
Peter