Thread: Suspension

Originally Posted by deadfishdisco

hi val,
got +2" king springs and bilsteins for my 96 manual disco (tdi) about 5 years ago...through smiths in albany ....the springs were "medium" not heavy duty/ and are fantastic...done a few desert runs /and rough roads...maybe 30000 km on them. with this in mind I then put bilsteins on my 96 auto tdi disco for desert camping runs about 20000 km ago, kept the old (unknown) springs but think they are Heavy duty king springs....all good but ride is a little harsher than the medium duty....

so...highly recommend bilsteins ...no matter what cost, always puts a smile-on-the-dial whenever i am driving.

keep up the good work, robbo

had a look through their site though and there doesnt seem to be light, medium or heavy duty anymore. they just have non raised, raised with no extra weight added, and raised with 100-300kg extra weight. all are progressive, some are tapered too. the tapered ones are called "comfort design"
the guy from kings basically said the tapered (HDT) is still HD but feels a bit less harsh than just the HD. he had the HD ones in his old 4wd which said when he went camping it was perfect ad made the car handle nicely with the extra gear. he said was a little harsh on road with nothing in car but he only used it to get to work and back mostly. which is the same as me.

i have winch and bull bar so definitely need the front raised 03T (50-100kgs) the rear i'm still unsure. if i just put the raised rear will ride nicely to work but might sag a bit when camping and not give the proper 40mm lift. i can get the HDT comfort design (100-300kgs) extra weight. also take into account that i have long range fuel tank, rear drawer system and full length roofrack permanently on. id say that would bet close to at least 50+ kg in the rear constant.

I have a rear bar with spare wheel carrier and double jerry can holder, so it's a bit heavier than normal. The guys at Ape suspensions yesterday said the springs I had installed were 20% stiffer than original if that helps.