Thread: Reverting to Standard Suspension

Dave A , I think rambling on may have just enlightened us all and solved your problem as well , if , as he says your springs are your shock absorbers , then you have airbags ,therefore you don't even have
shock absorbers. ........ There's your problem

just wondering why you guys are trying to take the **** out of me.....

It is a FACT......your springs , airbags included , are what absorb the shocks from road undulations that you drive over.

Your dampers....incorrectly called shock absorbers , dampen and control the oscillations generated by the springs.

There is no need for sarcasm or smart arse comments.

Sorry mate, not deriding the content of your post, and I do appreciate the information, but the tone of your post....

Originally Posted by ozscott

I have had a d1 and d2 since new Mr LR. You would have been too young to drive at that time i assume... ride and handing from a driver's perspective and from a rear seat passenger perspective can be v different

Congratulations like a medal? Shirt to pin it on?

Obviously you have taken my statement as an attack on the Series II Discovery, and hence shredded it, that is not true at all... I've have had two D2's, they're bloody good things... I've had two D1's... also bloody good things... and I have an RRC (that works bloody well thanks to a bit of ingenuity in the suspension department...).

I never said it was about what handles better... I know what handles better, I've had the opportunity to flog just about every LR model around a corner.

But the older cars had a better ride, more Rolls Royce than Ferrari... D2's handle much better, but they are completely different to drive, I actually like the rear steer from the old A-frame set up, but then I don't mind a bit of roll as I know how they behave. Both are reasonably behaved on dirt, but IMO a D1 with decent shocks and coils is much nicer, D2 sway bars are too stiff.

My statement was mentioning what the people that sold and worked on LR's thought when the D2 was released, they didn't like it at first, it was different from the old chassis they'd been driving for 25 years... Each to their own... that's just what they continue to say to this day. And sometimes, I even agree, the rear steer makes them fun on mountain passes, but the D2 is very predictable, a nice daily driver

Originally Posted by ramblingboy42

I thought this was general knowledge but obviously not.

Your shock absorbers are your springs.

What you are calling shockers are dampers.

Dampers control the oscillations of the shock absorbers (springs) which would become uncontrollable if not damped.

If your dampers are not properly matched to your springs , that is where you start to get uncomfortable ride as the dampers work against your spring rates either too much or too little.

Incorrect and/or worn dampers affect the ability of the spring to work correctly throughout its travel and can make a significant difference to braking as the dampers control the speed of the forward pitch of the vehicle under breaking.

That is why expert advice should be sought when lifting or changing springs and dampers in your car.

The man has a point...

I generally just call dampers, "shocks" as that is colloquial...

Good man Mr LR. Good to see you taking my comments in the spirit intended.

Cheers

apologies and no hard feelings to ramblingboy42, that day had involved a heated discussion with a customer who had supplied his own SHOCKS wanting me to fit them to his patrol to correct a sag ....no need for details. now , a previous customer had correctly self diagnosed a transfer case noise. had i explained to him in a dictatorial manner that it was common knowledge that it was the bearings in what should really be called a 2 speed centre differential, i shouldn't have been surprised if he had pulled out a wet fish and slapped me over the head with it. ..........hence the need to colloquiallise.

to the OP , with such a stiff ride , if you don't require a lift , and your current tyre size will allow , dropping back to stanard would certainly give a better ride in your case as it would appear the previous fitter had limited knowledge of suspension , eg , they may have fitted constant load td5 front springs which , as yours is v8 would give a nasty ride indeed , especially with incorrect shocks.(v8 is a fair bit lighter ) . Also check they haven't put spacers under the airbags .If there and they have fitted wrong shocks, they may be topping out.... hope this helps

I'm not sure what has actually been fitted in the way of front springs (this coming weekend, my first one I've had off in over three months, is "Play with the New Disco Day") so I'll crawl underneath on Saturday & have a squiz.

I spoke to a guy at Rover Parts Plus who has a D2 and has been through the whole rigmarole of trying to improve the ride. He suggests, because of the fairly substantial ARB nudge bar, that I go for springs that have a 2" lift, but are fairly standard rate. He's also recommended Terrafirma dampers. Bilsteins would be lovely, but I took one look at the price & nearly died.....

"Wow! I take it that's the price for four?"
"No, that's PER unit."
"Arrrrrr.... okay then.... What are the .... erm..... other options please?"

He also said the ride is slightly better with the rear converted to coils, but you then lose the self-levelling.

Anyway, a couple more engine bits & other odd jobs to do first before I get round to the suspension, but it should be in the pipeline within the month.

Silly question time now..... I'm pretty handy with the spanners, but certainly no expert..... Is the changeover of springs and dampers something that is best left to a specialist?