weasel_110 Posted November 21, 2008 Share Posted November 21, 2008 Hello Chaps, just thought I would share yesterdays front suspension swap... My 110 3-door has always been 'nose down' and I have wondered whether new springs would put it level... Reading somewhere on this forum, it was my impression that it was thought it should look the way it did, a few pics showed the bottom part of the springs as 'coil bound' some members said that was normal, others said they were knackered. Here is a pic of mine before I started, I measured the length (before I jacked it up) and this showed 10½"... ↓ measured from here ↓ I also measured the distance between the bump stop and the axle, which was 2¼" ↓ I then jacked up the chassis on a piece of sleeper and axle stands (after slackening wheel nuts!) Removed expansion tank to one side and took off the cover ↓ Following excellent LR4X4 advice, I didn't even try to undo the turret nuts and just sheared them off,going well so far until, I came to undo the bottom shock nut.... I had soaked all the nuts in PlusGas a few days before but it wouldn't budge! Had a pair of Stillies (Thanks Ba!) on the damper but eventually rounded the nut Good style! After trying to cut through the bolt at the bottom of the damper with my Crocodile saw in between the coils I gave up and thought 'Who has got a cutting torch?' when I had a brainwave.... I drilled two holes in the nut ↓ then wellied it with a chisel! Result! What a relief! ↓ I prised off the turret and this is what I found....(A good job I'd bought new turrets!) ↓ Wire brushed top and bottom mountings ↓ and then waxoiled them ↓ got the new spring out of the box and was a bit disappointed it was the same height as the old one. I had ordered standard height,heavy duty Britpart ones with their new Cellular Dynamic Front Shock absorbers DC6000 ↓ I fitted the spring and didn't need the spring compressors I borrowed from my mate Timpo (Thanks for the lend of your Jack!), it was getting dark by now so I packed up for the day...... The next day, not raining luckily! I fitted the damper into the newly sprayed and waxoiled inside turret ↓ I had made a tool by filing a square holed spanner with a rat tail to grip the bottom of the damper shaft while I tightened the bottom nut. ↓ Now I was ready to tackle the nearside..... I snapped off the four turret nuts and drilled the bottom nut as yesterday, I had the damper and spring out in 15 minutes !!! The spring just pulled out with no compressors by the way! This was the difference in height for your interest... ↓ Finished fitting new spring and damper etc..... I sprayed the nuts in the turret tops with oil and covered them over with mastic flashing tape. ↓ Boxed everything up and was REALLY pleased when I dropped the Landie down onto the drive, it HAD lifted the front end up, by 1¾" and was now sitting level as I had hoped for! The gap between axle and bump stop was now 4"... ↓ WELL PLEASED! ↓ Cheers Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted November 21, 2008 Share Posted November 21, 2008 Good write up, and good news, nice one! When the bottom shock nut won't come off, I find a hacksaw will fit in there if you put the blade through and reassemble the saw around it, doesn't take too long to cut through the stud -your method seemed to work quite well too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disco_al Posted November 21, 2008 Share Posted November 21, 2008 nice job. it's always satisfying when you achieve something like this yourself. old springs had probably gone weak with age, and hence the difference in height when it had the weight of the truck on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted November 21, 2008 Share Posted November 21, 2008 all hardtop 3 door 110's sit nose down, as the rear springs are stiffer the carry the load & level out with a full load on, just look at some of the XD/Wolf soft & hardtop military 110's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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