 | Home > Maintenance & Modifications > Damper/spring advice for a 90 |
 
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| jst Member Since: 14 Jan 2008 Location: Taunton Posts: 8021   
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Try superpro, they really know their stuff Cheers
James 110 2012 XS Utility 130 2011 M57 bespoke Camper 90 2010 Hardtop 90 M57 1988 Hardtop |
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14th Sep 2018 8:16pm |
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| Co1 Member Since: 19 Aug 2018 Location: North Yorkshire Posts: 3672  
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Cheers, but they seem to be just bushes, do they do shocks and dampers as well?
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14th Sep 2018 8:22pm |
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| custom90 Member Since: 21 Jan 2010 Location: South West, England. Posts: 20333
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Standard springs, non HD with castellated spring isolators top and bottom all around if on a 90.
Damper wise Bilstein B6. I'd say that's probably your best bet overall.  ⭐️⭐️God Bless the USA 🇬🇧🇺🇸 ⭐️⭐️ |
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14th Sep 2018 8:30pm |
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| Dobby Member Since: 23 May 2012 Location: East Seaxe Posts: 187 |
^^^ WHS.
Def’ly gen springs. Also Decarbon shocks pretty good too. |
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14th Sep 2018 8:35pm |
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| jst Member Since: 14 Jan 2008 Location: Taunton Posts: 8021
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they certainly do for pretty much all the pickups out there including anti rolls bars, performance on road and off road, i believe they do LRs to, try them. Cheers James 110 2012 XS Utility 130 2011 M57 bespoke Camper 90 2010 Hardtop 90 M57 1988 Hardtop |
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15th Sep 2018 9:09am |
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| jst Member Since: 14 Jan 2008 Location: Taunton Posts: 8021
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or change it for an airsprug vehicle...... Cheers
James 110 2012 XS Utility 130 2011 M57 bespoke Camper 90 2010 Hardtop 90 M57 1988 Hardtop |
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15th Sep 2018 9:10am |
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| Kit Member Since: 12 Feb 2016 Location: Shropshire Posts: 1110 
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I'd have to agree with jst, I don't think there's a whole lot you can do to a 90 which is going to make it suitable for someone whose had back surgery. An air-sprung vehicle would do a much better job. 1993 200 Tdi 90 CSW
1956 Series 1 Hard-top 1958 Series 1 Soft-top |
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15th Sep 2018 10:15am |
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| Biffas Member Since: 30 Dec 2015 Location: Surrey Posts: 122  
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Bilstein b6 shocks will make it a harder ride i have them fitted to my 110 xs utility my wife moans every time we go out also got alivetuning springs!!!.
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15th Sep 2018 12:13pm |
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| custom90 Member Since: 21 Jan 2010 Location: South West, England. Posts: 20333
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Alive springs I belive are performance so will be harder. ⭐️⭐️God Bless the USA 🇬🇧🇺🇸 ⭐️⭐️
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15th Sep 2018 12:21pm |
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| Biffas Member Since: 30 Dec 2015 Location: Surrey Posts: 122
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They are advertised as comfort lowering springs, happy with the way it sits now but the ride is so hard i drive around with a full tank of fuel as much as possible, i also have the anti roll bar fitted.
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15th Sep 2018 12:28pm |
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| custom90 Member Since: 21 Jan 2010 Location: South West, England. Posts: 20333
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Not sure where comfort comes in really even if advertised as lowering springs typically are harder.
Again performance ARB's stiffen things up a bit too. By nature the Defender is what it is and there is only so much that can be done really. ⭐️⭐️God Bless the USA 🇬🇧🇺🇸 ⭐️⭐️ |
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15th Sep 2018 12:36pm |
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| Green Machine Member Since: 19 Nov 2010 Location: North Yorkshire Posts: 1226 
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Col - there is so much bad advice on the internet about suspension set up on Defenders - especially when comfort is the main priority. This is due to everyone having different vehicles carrying different loads in different circumstances with different requirements. What works brilliantly for one person's circumstances is absolutely terrible for another.
In an ideal world, you would try a few out with different setups fitted and see what you think. Unfortunately, this isn't very easy to accomplish (unless you have a lot of friends with 90's with different suspension setups!). So you are left having to go on other people's advice and suggestions and try to come up with a setup that suits you, but you won't actually know until you have made the outlay and had it fitted. The key thing here (as others have suggested) is that you will never get a Defender (especially a 90) to ride like a modern car. Two beam axles bolted to a chassis just doesn't allow for this. Combined with the 90's relatively short wheelbase, it will always be a severe compromise where comfort is concerned. So first you have to decide how important it is to try to improve things (some improvement can be achieved), but knowing it will never be great. From personal experience changing the shocks alone makes very little difference to an unladen 90. In fact, you are likely to make the ride harder by changing to an 'upgraded' shock e.g. Bilstein B6 / Koni Heavy Track / Old Man Emu. I swapped my standard shocks for Koni Heavy Tack (adjusted to their softest setting) and there was no discernible change to the ride quality - if anything it became a touch harder than it had been with standard shocks. For me, the big difference was achieved with fitting Alive's comfort springs front and rear, along with rubber spring isolators top and bottom all round. These are currently fitted with the same Koni Heavy Track shocks, and the difference in ride is quite noticeable. It's no Rolls Royce, but it is a significant improvement over what I had before. I suspect that fitting the Alive comfort springs with standard shocks would give a slightly better ride quality, and I have heard a couple of other people in the past say this is a very good combination for ride comfort. I am not saying this is the smoothest riding setup possible on a 90 (because I have no evidence to do so), but I think it is probably pretty close without going to a custom air setup. I would say a good option for you would be to keep your standard LR shocks (assuming they are in good order) and invest in a set of Alive comfort springs with rubber isolators all round. 2005 Td5 | 90 Station Wagon | Tonga Green |
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15th Sep 2018 1:04pm |
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| Kit Member Since: 12 Feb 2016 Location: Shropshire Posts: 1110
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Great post Green
Also bear in mind that those softer comfort springs are no doubt designed to work with anti-roll bars, I wouldn't fit them without ARB. 1993 200 Tdi 90 CSW 1956 Series 1 Hard-top 1958 Series 1 Soft-top |
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15th Sep 2018 1:37pm |
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| Co1 Member Since: 19 Aug 2018 Location: North Yorkshire Posts: 3672
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Thanks green, great post. I’ll give Alive a ring and see what they advise.
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15th Sep 2018 3:41pm |
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