Another suspension question.... Recommendations

[ThorneGator]

Hello all,

Have read through the other posts (polyairs, helper springs, suspension upgrades, etc), but considering my specific situation, I could use some advice.....

I have a rear drawer with about 50kgs of gear in the back of my MY05 110, and have just added a Frontrunner 2.8 roofrack (42kgs), and a 1.8m roof top tent (69kgs) that sits amidships to keep the weight between the axles. NOTE: I am aware that I am exceeding the 75kgs manufacturer rec.

Here's the kicker, I live in the middle of Sydney with no garage, and no real storage to hold a RTT, so that beast lives on my rack until we move (not sure when that will be) to a place I can park and store the tent off of the rack.

Now, the ride has become very spongie, and smooth in a straight line, with the stance drooping a bit. However, that doesn't equate to a very robust suspension setup for offroad touring, so what would you recommend?
My options as I am aware:
1) Polyairs- worried about robustness
2) 130 helper springs
3) Stiffer or uprated springs (front & rear or just rear)
4) Full system like "The Ultimate Suspension" (http://www.ultimatesuspension.com.au/vehicle_list.php'make_id=10)- thoughts?
5) What else???

We're not too limited with budget, but looking for best option without being stupid with price.
Thank you!

[Wicks89]

Hey Gator,

I think polyairs are fairly robust, after all if they were prone to falling apart they wouldn't be as popular as they are.

If I were you I would really measure the bump stops before and after load, to see what kind of difference its making to ride height.

Also, "rolling" and "Sponginess" are usually associated with shockabsorbers. So if your springs are tolerating the weight fine (Ride height not changed too much) and you know your shocks are old you may only need to replace the shocks to tolerate the extra sway the high load is placing on it.

A cheaper option for springs is to try 130 standard springs (not the helpers necessarily) they are a bit heavier duty.

I can also recommend jumping on Les Richmond Automotive website. He has a page all about springs and suspension. VERY WORTHWHILE READING before you drop money on anything, and they let you swap springs until youre happy. Theres more than one very happy customer on this forum.

[Slunnie]

I would start with Polyairs. I can assure you that they are very robust! They can be run with no pressure without issue (I've done this in my D2 since 2008 with no probs despite the recommendation to not do this) and they firm everything up, increase ride height and reduce bounce when they are inflated. The advantage is that when the load is off the roof, you can adjust the polyairs to suit.

[DazzaTD5]

Honestly I try to steer away from suspension threads as its a bit like spark plugs, best Land Rover, best beer etc etc etc.... everyone has there own opinion and preference

*poly bags are very robust as mentioned.
*they wont help with the front drop that stock coils do with a bullbar fitted.
*TD5 is fairly straight forward, you can use a complete kit such as Terrafirma in a heavy load coil front and back, using a long travel coil such as the pro sport, the ride quality is still awesome but that "ah la Range Rover classic tacking like a yacht is gone, greatly reduced"

The link below has a few Defenders, there is a white TD5 with black wheels, its fully loaded for expedition work and has the constant heavy coils as mentioned.

Land Rover TD5 (http://www.aztech4x4.com.au/land_rover_td5_15.html)

The pic below is my pa's (dad) Defender TD5 130, the setup on that is:
*Total weight is round 3.2ton, due to hydraulic driven crane, hydraulic tank, hydraulic power take off on transfer case, hydraulic driven winch, 160lt long range fuel tank, etc etc.
*Heavy load terrafirma coils, front and rear.
*poly airbags to level uneven loads.
*Terrafirma Big Bore rear shocks (these control body roll hugely but I only recommend them for the heaviest loaded vehicles)

Regards
Daz

[DiscoMick]

Just fitted Airbag Man bags to the rear of the Defender to level it when towing. Don't make the springs too stiff as you want a soft ride over corrugations. Check your shocks are doing the job to control bouncing.

Sent from my SM-G900I using AULRO mobile app

[weeds]

I removed the rear springs and fitted air suspension.....happy with it so far although no where near GVM.

[jon3950]

Just fitted Airbag Man bags to the rear of the Defender

A Defender with a man bag? No, that doesn't seem right to me.