Busarider wrote:

Yes dinnu it's a 90....like I say I'm fairly new to defenders... The rides rock hard has it is... I'm playing... II like the sound of spacers etc...least it means I'm not stuck with how it sits when I fit them... 👍

BP wrote:

Mainly on road but over country lanes so not smooth. Usually light loads.
I’m after something like nrc2119 on the fronts and nrc8044 on the rears.
Spring isolators, new strut towers and dampers of course. Doesn’t need to be fancy.

If you aren't doing anything extreme at either end of the spectrum, i.e. not silly HP and fast road or track use or lots of flex off road with improved suspension travel. Stock suspension should really be quite good.

The 90 has a shorter wheelbase, so will pitch back and forth more than a longer vehicle. But shocks & springs will not solve this. Overall though, the ride really shouldn't be harsh or bad, not even compared to modern hatchbacks. It is of course a live axle 4x4, so will behave and feel different to a fwd hatch.

For stock suspension improved damping is certainly an option. The Britpart Celluar Dynamic shocks are pretty good as a budget offering, although being a twin tube type will also be good for towing and hauling, so while more controlled, they may feel a little firmer on road.

A good quality gas shock should also be an improvement over stock. Just fitted from Bilstein B6's to a 90 and they definately have more control, but I wouldn't say it is a night and day difference in ride quality. Just better over sleeping policemen and the like.

I'd also say take a look at bushes, they can also alter how the vehicle feels. Polybush (the brand) offer a 'comfort' grade bush which might be worth a look.

Although, do bear in mind the softer you make the vehicle the more roll you should probably expect and with softer bushes less feel through the steering and more remoteness. Again I wouldn't say any of these changes should be night and day difference. But as an entire package the culmination of changes should make for a different feel.

On the note of bushes, anything worn or clonking or even something inside the vehicle making noise can often make, or shall we say give the appearance of a more harsh ride. Sound can often impact perception quite a lot.

Spring wise there is a lot of choice. A Defender should be 175lbs/inch front and 225lbs/inch rear. But spring length also plays a part, e.g. the red/white stripe RR HD rear spring is 178 (170 in some links)lbs/inch, so you'd think similar to the front, but is is 1.5-2.25" taller, so will impact ride height.

If you lift and you off road you'll probably want a longer shock, else you run the risk waving a wheel in the air more often.

Trial and error might be the only appraoch to getting a setup you like. A classic RR would have run 133lbs/inch on the front and 150lbs/inch on the rear. But they were known for quite a lot of body roll. So you may want to consider anti roll bars too. Fundamentally an RRC is not so different from a Defender under the body and the suspension is practically identical in design, it just uses different rates.

Disco 1's also used dual rate rear springs which might offer a good balance at 150/210lbs/inch while being the same length as standard rear Defender springs.

Although finding some of these springs might be more of a challenge these days, not even sure if all of them are available direct from LR, but lots of sites don't list all of them.

Then it comes down to price too. The Alive stuff looks interesting, but they don't seem to publish specs of their springs (they might tell you if you ask, I've not tried), but a set of their springs are £552 + shipping. Go for any of their shocks and you are looking at £1200-1500+ before fitting.

I quite like Flatdog springs, they also publish the spring rate and length:
https://www.flatdoguk.com/def%2D90%2Dstd%2...Dstd%7E255

£219 with free shipping for a full set! Which is quite a price difference.

You can also pick & mix if you want. No reason you have to stick with a spring for a specific vehicle. Just check out the spring rate and length. You don't even need to stick to using them on the end of the vehicle as advertised for. On one of my vehicles I have rear springs on the front and front springs on the rear.....