Fox coil overs on discovery

[muddy4x4xfar]

hi all, im fitting coil over suspension to my discovery 1 race project.

I'm going for the fox 2.5 Coil overs with dsc

am i right in saying they need to be mounted at a certain angle to allow for how the axles go up and down? HAs anyone done this before. its a slight learning curve for me too but something I'm determined to learn about and do, so any advice would be great

thanks

[biasbilt]

You'll need to give a bit more info on how you're planning to mount them. I'm pretty sure 2.5s won't fit through the coil platform and provide clearance at all axle positions plus bush compliance. To get them on, you'll need to mount them out side of the coil and fabricate top and bottom mounts to suit.

Let me know if you want any more advice. Cheers, Toby

[Ex Member]

If you need to ask the most basic questions, then something like this is not what you should be pursuing.

[RedLineMike]

ive got 3" coilovers on my new build & it can be quite decieving how much space they take up, on the rear om shocks are tilted forwards 5 degrees with 16" of travel, & on the front is 14" with the shocks reclined 25 degrees which gives about 15" ish of travel,

[muddy4x4xfar]

You'll need to give a bit more info on how you're planning to mount them. I'm pretty sure 2.5s won't fit through the coil platform and provide clearance at all axle positions plus bush compliance. To get them on, you'll need to mount them out side of the coil and fabricate top and bottom mounts to suit.

Let me know if you want any more advice. Cheers, Toby

If you need to ask the most basic questions, then something like this is not what you should be pursuing.

ive got 3" coilovers on my new build & it can be quite decieving how much space they take up, on the rear om shocks are tilted forwards 5 degrees with 16" of travel, & on the front is 14" with the shocks reclined 25 degrees which gives about 15" ish of travel,

Thank you to those who replied and where helpful.

I do know i will have to cut the spring mounts off to accommodate the coil overs i was more concerned about the possibility of snapping a coil over shock when the axle drops and articulates back and forth. i know from looking at other racing 4x4s they usually put a strap on to stop the axle going further than a certain distance or so i am told. but also helps when lifting to change a wheel.

I'm pretty sure which route i need to take now though. thanks guys.

Red 90 giving an answer such as that does not help, we didn't all get a chance to have an education in this sort of thing. like i said in my question I'm self taught and learning, with no help from anyone nearby. Im not the sort of person to copy what everyone else does i like to do things differently an learn new things. can't help don't answer, thats simple. don't degrade people .!!!!

[RedLineMike]

if you are trying to work round a LR chassis 14" coilovers are about the longest you can fit & use all of the travel to your benefit,

yes you can fit longer ones but it come a point where they are more of a hinderance than a help,

on the front when i had radius arms i ran the shocks pretty close to vertical as that allowed the most misalignment in the bottom bearing for the travel & flex available,

when i had an A frame on the rear the shocks were in a comprimise of leaning forwards & in to allow the room to articulate, when i switched to 4 link, i mounted the shocks above the lower suspension joint which allowed it to articulate in both directions fully,

in regards to the limit straps, they are to stop the weight of the axle pulling the end of the shock / coilover on full articulation

[FridgeFreezer]

Axle limit straps are there to stop the shock piston acting as the lower limit, much as bump-stops should hit before the shock hits the end of its travel*.

Breaking a shock because it's fouling would be a different sort of upfk, you should be able to work out placement by removing springs and slackening stuff off & then cycling the axles through full travel (using a handy forklift or tall jacks etc.) to check for clearance, as well as the amount of movement the bushes will have to accommodate. That plus measuring & maths, obviously.

* = Really you should assume the bump stop's not there and the axle will hit the chassis before it punches the top out of the shock, bump stops compress a lot more than you might think when hitting stuff hard.

[Tal]

Just because I don't know

Is coil over suspension more efficient than seperate spring and shock? I know seperate spring and shock is eaiser to remove and replace (having done both). but coil over is a lot quicker if you have a way to compress the unit.

[De Ranged]

Just because I don't know

Is coil over suspension more efficient than seperate spring and shock? I know seperate spring and shock is eaiser to remove and replace (having done both). but coil over is a lot quicker if you have a way to compress the unit.

There is a bit more to this question than what first meets the eye.... so I will simplify it abit and just assume since this is a 4wd forum this is about long travel multiple spring coilovers...

First the spring rate, in a normal coil your rate of compression is linear (if you add 100lb it will compress X, if you add 200lb it will compress 2X) a coilover with multiple springs normally has a travel stop on one spring (the spring divider will bottom out on the shock body stopping the travel of one spring) now what this does is allow an increase in travel resistance, for the first part both springs are free to compress so they both do (if you use the same spring rate for both springs as my above example since there are two springs both getting weight so 100lb will move each spring X so a total compression of 2X, once the slider hits its stop then only one spring can carry any of the weight so the 100lb will only compress it X) this changing rate allows for more down travel than up and the truck to be built lower to the ground (lower CoG) than a normal linear spring

Now its never just that simple lol there are other ways to get a variable rate from a coil making them non-linear, a spring that has laps that are closer together at one end is an example... if they can compress to the point they bottom out against each other! they have to do this to change the rate, very few that are fitted to vehicles do (have a look at the paint where they would need to bottom out on if its not cut by the compression of the coil they arn't compressing enough to change the rate and the spring is linear) now as these coil laps bottom out they stop being able to compress and it works in exactly the same way as the coilover hitting the slider stop. Some coilovers work both systems to give 3 different rates of travel over the length of travel, this also means a normal coil suspension system can match a coilover

There is one one bonus the coilover springs have and that is tune-ability they come in different rates and lengths giving near infinite options where as changing a vehicle coil spring requires ones built specifically for that vehicle

Just on a personal note its an awful lot of trouble to go to when a crappy old leaf spring is way more progressive lol

Your shocks.... to be honest there is no difference other than coilovers tend to be more expensive so are a better optioned shock, if you want to spend the money then you can fit just as good

Alignment, this is one that untill you get into longer travel is of little gain... a vehicle coil has a seat on the chassis and on the axle suspension as these separate they swing in an arc meaning these seats angle away from each other... on a long travel system this can cause a vehicle coil to bulge and collapse where as the coilover of the same length always has the springs aligned

hope this helped