Thread: How to loosen/soften up springs of series III?

Post #20 of this thread explains what I did to mine:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/series-3/4...springs-2.html

You probably won't be able to just pull leaves out without getting the packs reset. 110/defender rear shocks are too long for the rear of a landie unless it is a military version.

SWB rear springs are much softer. They will be too soft unless you have an aluminium tray and never carry much of a load.

Sounds like you have the extra-heavy-duty rears. In which case there is lots of room for improvement and it would be next to useless offroad as-is.

Sorry, I meant Disco shocks. They're a lot longer than stock also, but they won't top or bottom out any earlier, they just will have dud valving.
I'll check your thread, thanks

An easy and cheap way to soften leaf springs is to grease between the leaves. It's amazing the difference it makes.

It can be done on the vehicle by jacking the body up and driving a thin steel wedge between the leaves to open them a bit then wiping the grease between the leaves with a knife blade or something similar.

Originally Posted by 3 Sisters

Sorry, I meant Disco shocks. They're a lot longer than stock also, but they won't top or bottom out any earlier, they just will have dud valving.
I'll check your thread, thanks

Defender, Disco and RRC rear shocks are all the same length.

Xtreme - you are roight, greasing works well. However if they are the extra heavy duty rears, they are 500lb/in. Which means a tonne of weight in the back will only drop the vehicle down 2", and you would need 2 or 3 tonnes to reach the bump stops. All the grease in the world won't do much if that is the case.

I have the same problem except at opposite ends, my rear flexes but the front doesn't. I am putting mine down to poor quality of the springs as they are very rusty and frozen. They are recieving alot of lanolin but still not freeing up - considering a rebuild, chamfer the edges, grind off the rust, lubricate leaves ect. Also maybe thinking of longer shackles, dunno about that yet as I would think that Iwould need onger springs to take full effect of this.

keep us posted

This is the specs for the spring packs.



If you have 9 leaves in each pack, you either have some after market springs from someone like FWD in Melbourne or they are original 1 Ton or Military spring packs.

However if you do as Xtreme suggests you should find considerable improvement.

Another friend regularly puts his SIII up on his hoist so the axles are hanging and the leaves have all opened up and he pumps old sump oil between the leaves.

Diana

Make sure that the chassis bushes arent seized(both front and rear).The spring cant operate if they are.
Also see if those "PLASTIC" Polybushes have been used.They dont work on Series Landies and can weld themselves causing a seize.Replace with correct rubber bushes and ensure you follow the tightening instructions in the workshop manual,failure to do so will also give a seized bush that wont let the spring work.
YEP I FOUND OUT THE HARD WAY A LONG TIME AGO
Andrew