Saggy springs, to lift or not?

[Smego]

1, Ok, my 110 now sits about 4 inches too low due to off road equipment and old springs, I can now afford to buy the terrifirma +2 lift kit (is it any good?), mystandard shocks are fairly new..

SO is it worth getting the lift kit (thinking med duty or should I get heavy?) or just get standard heavy duty springs, I need to get it higher as can't even follow standard ones in ruts :-o

2, I will also be looking to either get cheap new 31 inch muds to go on my existing wheels as my tyres are old OR buy a set of 16" second hand wheels and tyres, just not sure which yet.

3, ... is it possible to change the springs with just a farm jack or do you really need a spring clamp thingy as I can't really afford to pay a mechanic to fit the new ones?

Ta.

Gary.

[Orgasmic Farmer]

Hi Gary. I have a set of brand new Terra Firma 110 rear springs here if you are interested. They are the medium duty ones. I bought them and fitted them during the rebuild of my 110 HT but as I almost always drive empty it became apparent before I even finished the build that these were too firm for my needs. I removed them and fitted standard LR dual rate springs. However, while I am more than happy with the LR springs I find that as soon as I get about 250kgs or more in the back it sits very low and handles like a boat. If I was to frequently carry any sort of load I would definitely be looking to fit the TF springs.

So anyway. Long winded way of saying I have a pair of unused medium Duty TF 110 rear springs for sale. A couple of chips from being moved around and they have benn fitted to a rolling chassis but never driven on. Looking for £60 delivered if they are any good to you.

Cheers

Mark

PS you can generally change rears with no special tools provided you disconnect the shocks (and ARBs if fitted)

[mmgemini]

You don't need anything other than the spanners, axle stands and a trolley or normal jack to change springs. I've never used a compresser on Defender springs.

A farm jack is a RECOVERY tool, not for in the workshop.

[Ed Poore]

If you're just loading it up with weight I'd just replace the springs with the standard heavy duty ones (people have mentioned using the 130 springs which have a built-in helper as well). I had a similar issue and just replaced front and back with heavy duty ones (Britpart if I remember correctly) and it's been fine since - albeit currently a bit harsh because I don't carry as much weight around any more.

See the attached picture. At the time that photo was taken there were at least two chainsaws, 10 gallons of petrol, gun cabinet, sledge hammers, machetes, various recovery equipment, fencing materials and some logs in the back (probably a couple of guns as well).

If I'd fitted a lift at the time then 90% of the time I'm sure the vehicle would feel too high, as it is it's quite good fun watching people trying to get into it as for some reason it seems to sit quite a bit higher than other Defenders that friends have.

(Noticed that you're in Surrey - could always pop around and have a look if you wanted)

[edit]You'll probably need to disconnect the anti-roll bar if fitted on the rear to fit the new springs in, I cheated slightly and used a digger to compress the spring and then tied it up compressed to slot in place[/edit]

[Smego]

I don't have a workshop so assume that means it's ok to use the farm jack then

Ed I am in Farnham on the road to birdworld so that would be great if you could.

Gary

[Bowie69]

Bottle jack between axle and chassis normally makes it an easy job for me.

Jack the chassis up, put it on axle stands, nice and high, wheel off, shock off, bottle jack in place and pump, undo spring retainers before hand and the spring drops out.