wife hates ride in series III !!

hi there, i have just found this wonderful site, its been great reading through the messages.

now my problem, have a short wheelbase 1981, which has been converted from petrol to diesel,
how can i tell if the leafsprings were also changed over ?

I am used to series III's and kind of like the bumpy ride, but if the springs were not changed over, whta effect would this have ?

could really do with some good advice.
what would be the route to improving the ride, I know it's never going to be as good as a coiler, but do I start by changing the schocks, springs or bushes ?

i am sure I'm not the first to ask these seemly simple questions, but please go gentle with a newbie !!!

Welcome aboard Karl,

The simplest wat to tell if the springs were changed is to count the number of leaves in each pack. Normally, you should find 9 leaves in the front pack and 11 in the rear. Going by memory, the diesel units had 11 packs in the front ( somebody can correct me on that ).

If the landy is not used severely, I would just stay with the 9 pack in the front, so it would provide a some what smoother ride.

Another reason that your having such a rough ride, is that the shocks could be wore out or seized. A friend had a set of BM (crap) shocks on his series 2a 88, that were seized after 7-8 months of use. What a bone jarring ride he had, till he changed the shocks ( a working set )

Of course, changing the bushings, would be a good idea. They are cheap, not so difficult to do, certainly give you some time under the landy, getting to know it.


Cheers,
Todd.

hi there Todd,

thanks for that,

i have been wondering about changing over to parabolics, however my worries are that, we do pull a trailer with the odd horses or cow aboard, would the paras be up to that ?

also i know the old way with cars, to check the shocks, ie push down and there should be only one rebound, how can you check shocks on a landy, also which make would people recommend, monroes maybe ?

regards

karl

Parabolics are an excellent alternative to the tired old springs. No prob with towing.

If you have never changed the shocks, then it's best to do it, especially if you have no idea, when they were changed last.

Parabolics and new shocks will transform the ride of your 88.

Todd.

Join the club, I have same problem I have now fitted Parabolic springs and it's a diffrent Landy, In Windsor there are speed bumps everywhere now with the new parabolic springs it's not so much of a problem, being SWB it still pitchess back and forth a bit.I have new STD shocks up front and knackered shocks on the rear.going around corners the Landy rolls a bit but not excesivly. Girlfriend likes now enjoys going for short trips and says it much more comfotable but won't comite to a long jorney until i've fitted seatbelts .
I got my new springs from Craddocks £196.00 delivered inc. U-bolts(make sure the nuts are correct for the U-bolts mine were not).
All the best