Defender 90 suspension saga...Not another one!

Let this be a lesson to me. After eagerly buying 'Rosie' my first Defender 90 200 Tdi in August last year I made the rookie mistake of fitting a lift kit :monitor_punch: 2" lift using heavy duty Bearmach blue springs and Tuffback shocks all round. All fitted by a trusted LR specialist at great expense.

It has put stress on a whole host of other standard parts and resulted in premature failure of various components. On top of this I recently noticed a knocking noise from the rear and 'Rosie' has eaten her way through both of the bottom rear damper bushes (6 months and 4000miles after fitment)

If only I had used the :search:

My solution is that everything is going back to standard so i'm going to purchase a set of standard normal springs and Armstrong dampers from mail-order 4x4. Problem is like most of the country atm i'm not flush with cash and cannot afford to have it fitted again buy the same guy for £250 labour.

I am a willing DIY mechanic with basic tools but could use a hand changing the suspension over. I would really appreciate anyone local to Surrey giving me a hand with the job.

Payment in the form of beer money or the willing mechanic could have the suspension kit currently on the car which is nearly new and was purchased from mailorder 4x4 last November and cost approx £300 new?

Anyone?

Sorry to hear, easy mistake to make when it comes to landrovers giving them to a specialist to fit anything, always charge silly money gave mine to my local to fit 4 lap belts and a steering guard £315. Suspension isnt the most hard work to replace sure plenty of people will be willing to help. I for one live far away so can not.

bushes aint a costly item to replace

and your not flush with cash but are gonna waste your money on another kit

I hear what your saying landyman but £150 to put her back to standard is a small amount in the grand scheme of things in comparison to the propshafts, uj's, input and output bearings, wear on steering box, trailing arm bushes amongst others, hard ride quality not being able to get into car parks and various other issues I never envisaged or gave thought to prior to fitting the kit.

Entirely my fault it was all too easy to fall into the trap and think it was as easy as some new shocks and springs........

Where are you getting the standard set up from mail order?

Matt999 said:

I hear what your saying landyman but £150 to put her back to standard is a small amount in the grand scheme of things in comparison to the propshafts, uj's, input and output bearings, wear on steering box, trailing arm bushes amongst others, hard ride quality not being able to get into car parks and various other issues I never envisaged or gave thought to prior to fitting the kit.

Entirely my fault it was all too easy to fall into the trap and think it was as easy as some new shocks and springs........

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this is the problem with lifting a landy when it goes wrong people blame the lift kit straight away which obviously does put strain on lots of parts

but if the landy hasnt been maintaned very well prior to the lift kit then the parts will fail quicker once lifted

what size tyres do you have ??

would those be the heavy duty springs that are more like a 3" lift?

I fitted those springs to the front of my 90 and it was massively taller. i could see that the prop was pointing at the wrong after and i did experience prop bind at low speed. changed to 2" OME springs(there a true 2" lift) and they are brilliant. no bind and now rock hard suspension.

new kit would be coming from mail order 4x4.

I don't blame the lift kit, I blame myself for not doing the research or putting more forethought into it before fitting it, it's my fault end of.

Tyres are 235/85/R16 BF Goodrich All Terrains

Yes they are the heavy duty ones and I did think it was higher than before when it came back. Prior to this new kit it had a pro comp 2" lift and springs on it so I didn't think it would be that different or cause too many problems. I put the extra height down to sag on the old kit. Without a doubt it is higher than just a 2" lift though. I replaced the old kit because it was corroded to hell and on it's way out.