David_LLAMA4x4 Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 I am having trouble finding springs that I can rely on to sell as part of a 2" lift kit. With the exception of OME ( which I can buy right and sell with confidence ) I cannot find a spring setup that actually works!! OME would be my choice to supplu but customers are after a ' cheaper alternative'.... All the (mostly blue ones and yellow) ones I have had any experience with thus far simply cannot be relied on to give an equal lift, a correct height of lift or a useable articulation... Any suggestions what you have used and actually been impressed by rather than fitted and put with for LR90, Disco 1 and RRC applications please...... David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bishbosh Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 When you find the answer David I'll have some! Spent ages on the phone talking to Gwyn Lewis yesterday about just this problem. Can't really justify the expense of OME, despite theire excellent track record etc. etc. and don't want to throw money away on springs of unknown parentage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Humphreys Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 Would be worth talking to Simon from X-Eng as hes working on the same thing. Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBMUD Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 Honest answer? OK, you asked for it... I have been running Scorpion +2" springs on my 1991 Defender90 for the last ~5 years and they are just fine. I use DeCarbon shocks too. When they do give up I will have a serious dilemma on my hands as I have not seen any springs that I would have in preference - I also have no idea of the poundage or free length of the Scorpion ones I have, just the SR part numbers. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 There is nothing wrong with SR ones, just the quality is a bit variable! Many people have had good experience with them and some have not, but like most things the people who have got the dirty end of the stick tend to shout louder about it! I had a long chat with the people making springs for me for my next project about making some good quality springs which will not sag (at least not to the same extent) and will deliver the poundage stated. They said that all springs sag, but the sag is proportional to the amount of stress in the design. You can imagine that a spring wound out of 2" thick wire would probably not sag? However, thicker wire and better materials cost more and they reckon the LR market is too cost sensitive to warrant making quality springs. A quality spring would have to retail for about £50 inc vat. If that is not viable, how about genuine springs? They are made from first class material and are as good as you will get. From a main dealer, they are about £35 each which isn't that spiteful. Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid_From_Hell Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 A bit of research and you should be able to do it via genuine springs via length / poundage / landy type Genuine at least do what they say on the tin, and are not expensive ! Nige Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_LLAMA4x4 Posted November 15, 2006 Author Share Posted November 15, 2006 I agree with the Genuine route but am struggling to find a 2" lift out of the off the shelf springs..... I also agree entirely with the 'too cost sensitive' theory - the punters simply won't pay enough to buy a goodd quality part. This research ( so far ) seems to be pointing to the fact that if you won't pay £50ish per spring ( OME or taylor made ) then you're not going to get a good one!!!! Just confirming that there is an issue with supplying springs to the mass LR market..... David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reads90 Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 I agree with the Genuine route but am struggling to find a 2" lift out of the off the shelf springs..... I also agree entirely with the 'too cost sensitive' theory - the punters simply won't pay enough to buy a goodd quality part. This research ( so far ) seems to be pointing to the fact that if you won't pay £50ish per spring ( OME or taylor made ) then you're not going to get a good one!!!! Just confirming that there is an issue with supplying springs to the mass LR market..... David Start looking in Australia few manufactures who are better than OME Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 I guess finding out who winds LR's springs could be a good start, HD Rangie ones are £36 a set difficult to go wrong really! There must be MOD spec ones that give a lift, something off an armoured vehicle perhaps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LR90 Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 I agree with the Genuine route but am struggling to find a 2" lift out of the off the shelf springs.....David I'm sure there are several OE springs that can provide a 2" lift (or more)! We are talking fiment to landies in the 2 to 2.5 ton range here aren't we or have you got something much heavier in mind? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_LLAMA4x4 Posted November 16, 2006 Author Share Posted November 16, 2006 I'm sure there are several OE springs that can provide a 2" lift (or more)!We are talking fiment to landies in the 2 to 2.5 ton range here aren't we or have you got something much heavier in mind? No we are just talking normal 90 / Disco1 / RRC vehicles. I am sure some of the springs off an armoured vehicle may well be so beefed up raterate wise that a std weight vehicle would not deflect them at all giving a lift, BUT it would be a hideous ride quality with little or no upward articultion..... I am after a spring that will lift to a required height, stiffen the rate only enough to counter the increased height of the COG and articulate off road to the full travel of the shocks..... OME do some that are just about spot on, as Simon R says and as I too have confirmed they can be made easily enough but these seem to cost more than the mass LR population want to pay. In the interests of volume sales I was after a simple off the shelf 'lift spring' that actually worked prioperly!!! The hunt isstill on David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ltwt1981 Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 What about lift blocks under the spring, do they work or not? I run leaf springs so not an issue with me, gone parabolic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white90 Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 D4x4 have OME(King springs IIRC) make them thier own must be cheaper than OME ones or they wouldn't bother. would and enquiry to King be worthwhile? I have OME 764 Front and OME 781 Rears can't remember the specs but they work superb. the 764s are over 4years old and still doing fine the 781s are approx 2years old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 I have a page: http://www.x-eng.co.uk/X-SpringCalc.asp which I never finished writing for trying out different springs on your vehicle. You enter the front & rear axle weights and it calculates, for all the springs I could find data on, what the length of the spring will be once fitted (measured between top & bottom hangers) as well as giving a relative 'hardness'. The rate alone does not tell you how hard the spring will be - it depends on the mass as well. The only bit not working on the page is the annimated Land Rover! The idea was to click on the 'try' button next to a spring and it would 'fit' it to the vehicle so you could see how it sits! Even without that, it's quite useful! Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reads90 Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 Try EFS they are good springs better than OME and the next big thing in Winch challenges Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark90 Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 From what I have heard Dobinsons (another one from down under) are good quality springs, and last longer than OME, not cheap though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reads90 Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 From what I have heard Dobinsons (another one from down under) are good quality springs, and last longer than OME, not cheap though. EFS is cheaper than OME but beating them at the game Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bull Bar Cowboy Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 I am another with OME 764 front and 781 rear …………. Perhaps a little stiff at the rear………. but the OME’s have given me 2.5 years of trouble free use. Before that I had some Bearmach blue springs ………… they lasted 6 months and the front began to sag badly, losing almost 1.5 inches in ride height. I don’t have too many good things to say about OME shocks though ………. But I think you already have that area sorted. Edited @ 18:33 to correct the dreadful grammer and bad spelling .......... Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_LLAMA4x4 Posted November 16, 2006 Author Share Posted November 16, 2006 I am another with OME 764 front and 781 rear …………. Perhaps a little stiff at the rear………. but the OME’s have given me 2.5 years of trouble free use.Before that I had some Bearmach blue springs ………… they lasted 6 months and the front and the front began to sag badly, losing almost 1.5 inches in ride height. I don’t have too many good things to say about OME shocks though ………. But I this you already have that area sorted. Ian You guessed right Ian I have the shocks sorted no problem and, so far, I am over the moon with the feedback I am getting from the people now using my Rough Country shocks - they all accept that whilst they are a bit dearer than the obvious competition they were well worth the extra.... I think that this thread is already showing that as far as is reasonable anybody willing to pay £50 -£ 60 per spring can have a setup worth having... It is amazing how few answers have come from anyone defending the set of springs they bought for £100 and would recommend to everyone else on here!! David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will_warne Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 From what I have heard Dobinsons (another one from down under) are good quality springs, and last longer than OME, not cheap though. FYI they're imported and rebranded as 'Terra Ferma' by Frogs Island 4x4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dollythelw Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 Eibach baby but you wont like the price.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LR90 Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 I have a page: http://www.x-eng.co.uk/X-SpringCalc.asp which I never finished writing for trying out different springs on your vehicle.You enter the front & rear axle weights and it calculates, for all the springs I could find data on, what the length of the spring will be once fitted (measured between top & bottom hangers) as well as giving a relative 'hardness'. The rate alone does not tell you how hard the spring will be - it depends on the mass as well. The only bit not working on the page is the annimated Land Rover! The idea was to click on the 'try' button next to a spring and it would 'fit' it to the vehicle so you could see how it sits! Even without that, it's quite useful! Si Nice Here's my attempt http://www.lr90.shacknet.nu/lr90/calculator.aspx Like Si's set your axle weights (the defaults are mine ), use the 'select' buttons to pic your springs courtesy of Red90 and hit calculate to check the compressed lengths. There are other bits so you can lift a corner and see how the springs work together which was something I was trying to understand and improve on mine when I put it together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
najw Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 When I built the Rock Rod I had a set of new BMW Coilover springs made by Ogley Brothers Ltd in Sheffield. They will make any size, weight, length of spring you desire. If you'd like contact details PM me Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bishbosh Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Just to resurect this thread - after hunting high and low for a "reasonably" priced set of springs, I ended up, at SimonR's recommendation, talking to Procomp. They were very helpfull and I now have a true 2" lift on the Bobtail from springs that are not stupidly stiff. Price was alittle more than I had orignally hoped for, but I think they will be worth it (crosses fingers). Still considerably cheaper than OME and hopefully more reliable than other cheaper springs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbocharger Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 To throw my 2p into the ring, I'm a skinflint so went for the 'cost leader' - cheapest - from Bearmach for the rear of my Ninety. 2" lift +25% and they've been spot on for the job for me since 2002. I think they were about £40 the pair - perhaps I was lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.