Lowering a Defender

[solmanic]

OK - I may get banned for even suggesting this, but has anyone found an easy way to just marginally lower a Defender? I'm not talking about lowering it into the weeds, just 30-40mm. Enough to get into at least some multi-storey car parks. (letting air out of the tyres is not a solution guys)

Softer springs? Shorter springs? Only carry really fat people around?

Stock Defender height is listed as 2021mm. In reality it is more like 2060mm and with the amount the rear kicks up over ramps I never go under anything lower than 2200mm. The extreme height is probably the only real drawback I have with owning a Defender in the city. Getting the height down closer to 2000mm would be a big improvement and surely won't compromise off-road ability much.

[Diego Luego]

I scratched the roof of my MY02 Defender Xtreme ever so slightly in the Sydney Entertainment Centre carpak. This parking area claims it is 2100 and my defender is only 2035 on a tape measure.

The 2200 rule is probably safer.

[Michael2]

Fit a couple of water tanks and keep them full. I have a 44 litre in the rear (L) quater panel and a 50 litre against the cargo barrier.

Fit a Long Range Tank and keep it full.

Carry a heavy tool box.

Car Pool

Fit more accessories.

or

Have you considered air suspension?

or

put a rachet strap between the axle and the chassis and rachet the body down!

Personally I like the ones that add to the purpose of the vehicle (tanks & accesories) and the one that slashes the fuel bill (car pooling).

[Yorkshire_Jon]

You need to change the springs and dampers.

You dont really want softer springs, just shorter. Dampers need to be shorter so that under maximum spring compression you dont try to push the piston through the axle!

The other option is of course to put standard steel wheels back on for daily driving and put the bigger 235x85 and upwards back on for playing - that'll probably drop you 2" when around town.

[isuzurover]

If you aren't too tall, you could go to a hot rod shop and get them to mod your roof to make it low profile. Could easily shave 75 - 100 mm off the overall height.

OR - buy a cheap electric winch and set it up under the chassis to winch the suspension down for driving into carparks - like the comp guys do for climbing steep hills.

OR - best option - ride a bicycle into the city.

[mitch]

You need to change the springs and dampers.

You dont really want softer springs, just shorter. Dampers need to be shorter so that under maximum spring compression you dont try to push the piston through the axle!

how will this happen? shorter springs wont change the position of the bumpstops...

cheers- mitch

[solmanic]

So far I have been taking advantage of street parking - you'd be surprised how easy it is to get street parking in Brisbane's CBD. It's just for those occasions when a park simply isn't available or I end up going somewhere where the only parking is undercover.

I should mention that being a brand new vehicle I am looking at the least severe way of achieving this (chopping the roof is not on). Swapping the springs appeals to me but maybe I should thrash the bejeezus out of the current ones off-road a bit before spending money on such a thing .

I like the accessories ideas, but I am a total miser so extra weight and therefore worse fuel economy doesn't thrill me.

Is there no magic solution? Like Land Rover having the springs all propped up on wood-block shims that can be removed . Kind of like the poor turning circle thing - just wind the stop bolts in to where they should have been out of the factory... That kind of thing.

[rar110]

I had some OME springs resized down. The 110 sat about 2" lower and handled really well. Only trouble was the springs were just a little too short and with only about 30mm gap the axle kept hitting the bump stops.

The springworks at Bowen Hills did mine.

[Slunnie]

Tusker had the same problem with his new office. He looked quite carefully into a full air setup.

[one_iota]

God save this thread for the occasional sprinkler head

Over the rear axle several bags of cement for me...

...good thing I work for a construction companee