I would like to get a few 4x4er's opinions of whats there favorite; Coil or Leaf (please include why and what type of driving conditions rock crawling, mud, woodland driving, dunes.....etc)and if anyone has used an aftermarket leaf spring on a series3 (replacement or inhancement)!
I think leaf suspension gets a bad rap sometimes. And I think this is often due to us Brits being a little ignorant. On two counts...
1. A Defender's coils work quite well
2. Stock Series setups don't
Automatic conclusion = leaf suspension is crap.
But it's not true at all. Just look at what these do with leaf suspension:
In short, enough to really, truly and utterly embarrass a coil sprung Landy.
The only thing leafs don't do as well is ride quality, although parabolics do improve this.
On the subject of parabolics -
be WARNED!!!!
Cheap ones are utter, utter ****. I know loads of people who have bought them and ended up binning them. And there's a good reason:
1. They usually didn't know what or why they were buying
2. They bought the wrong grades
3. They set them up wrong
4. They were cheap rubbish to begin with
So my advice is - do your research.
Personally there are only 2 makes of parabolic spring I'd consider - yes ONLY two!
The best, being Haystee - these are the guys than invented them and designed them originally.
HST Parabolic Springs
However they are frighteningly expensive. But they will work and last.
Next up is Rocky Mountain parabolics. These are essentially a copy of the Haystee ones (although claims of cheaper steel being used). These are still very good springs however, if not as good as the Haystee ones.
A bit cheaper too, but somewhat of a bugger to get in this country.
Rocky Mountain Products, Parabolic Springs, Shackle Kits, Shock Absorber Kits
This is their UK importer:
Rocky Mountain Spares UK > Improved Engineered Parts and Accessories for your Land Rover
WARNING: They often don't have Rocky Mountain Springs in stock and they can take months to come in. Often Rocky Mountain UK will then try and flog you some cheap crappy UK made parabolics instead - DON'T!!! Wait for the Rocky Mountain ones or don't bother at all.
ALL other parabolics I've seen available in the UK (at most places like Paddocks, etc.) are a total waste and not worth the hassle of buying let alone fitting.
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Another common issue I see with parabolics, is people buy a HD spring and then fit to a pick up trialler - this does not work and won't offer the flex you need. HD parabolics are for load luggers. Off road with minimal weight you want soft lift springs to promote flex.
Also you need to think about what you are trying to achieve - in short it should be to allow the wheel to go and down further and with more ease.
The spring rate will help with the ease, the spring length will somewhat dictate the ride height if you want a lift (Haystee if you speak to them can offer different lift options too).
But gaining more travel also means swapping shocks - many forget this. Stock shocks will run out of travel too soon, so a good setup means extended shocks are in order. In extreme cases you may need to consider the upper shock mounts and relocating them too.
Spring shackles - swapping on some longer (mil spec) rear shackles is an easy way to get a small lift. But do check the entire setup as with some parabolic setups a large shackle lift will cause the spring to bend backwards under full articulation and eventually damage it.
Revolver shackles are another option - but you'll have to go off and research this yourself.
Remember more downward travel and you'll need longer brake pipes too!!!
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If you want extreme lifts do a little research on SOA conversions. Spring Over Axle.
As standard the leaf spring sits below the axle, in the Jeep and Suzuki world it's common to relocate the springs above the axle, it requires only a small amount of fab work and gives you an easy 4-6" lift (watch those prop angles mind
).
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Lastly and REALLY important off road. Have you ever noticed how a Series Land Rover bobs up and down when going up a steep hill?
You can hear it too in the engine bruuum bruuum bruuum as the front dips and dives. In extreme cases where you fail to make the ascent it can truly shake the front of the vehicle up and down and sound like it's going to break something (and sometimes does).
Well this is a design flaw with the front suspension. What's happening is as you drive forward up a hill all the weight loads on the rear wheels. The front has less load on it, as the front wheel rotates it tries to "twist" the front leaf spring, the front of the spring down and the back of the spring up.
The front leaf has the shackle on the back of it, as the leaf twists it pulls this shackle forward, but as it doesn't lock into position and gravity will be trying to pull it in the opposite direction (due to the wight load of the vehicle being on the rear wheels) it springs back and forth. This motion translates into the bobbing you get. This is can be quite damaging wearing the front shocks prematurely and even breaking diffs and half shafts. It also makes it a damn site harder to get up some hills too.
I believe there are several solutions or attempts to solve this including custom made anti trap bars.
But I feel a simple solution is to do what almost every other 4x4 maker does.
Take a look at a leaf sprung SJ or Jeep YJ. Note the shackle on the front springs is at the
front, not the back.
Moving the shackle to the front will stop this bobbing up and down on steep ascents.
A bit of home fabbing and it should be an easy conversion for a Series Land Rover.
And indeed, if you look at an early (very early) Series 1's, you'll note these have the shackles on the front. So Land Rover did know this.
The main advantage to have the shackle on the rear of the front spring is it offers better steering (and stability) on road. This probably mattered more when Series Land Rover's where common daily use hacks and many may not even have seen the dirt.
But today when most are 2nd or 3rd vehicles and used for fun and off roading it would appear to be a design flaw - but one easy to remedy.
Hope that helps
