Vehicle & Technical > Defender
Suspension setup?
smo:
Ah yes, i'd forgotten about silly things like the ARC rules, thanks for the reminder Paul.
CJ:
...and i think Max traction have there non dislocating 3link out soon too ??
8)
SteveG:
Even though it's mainly going to be for Challenge events I'm going to assume that you'll be driving to and from events. If that's the case then my view is that long soft springs ala Max Traction aren't great for on-road use. Also if you've done any slow technical sessions on a side slope in a Challenge events you'll know that soft springs aren't that great for this too. Progressive springs help with this, but the choice for your height needs etc becomes limited.
I like the idea of X-Eng's springs as you put the springs on for best road use and you get downward pressure too. I haven't tried them yet so I have no opinion on how good they are.
Gwyn's rear shock mounts are good in action and are cost effective too. Chenging out the A bar joint helps significantly too and is ok on-road. Some have replaced A-Frame for rose joints and is good, but again this affects on-road handling. For rear radius arms either ones like the QT services rose joints or X-Eng's X-Joint seem to give best articulation. My experience from rose joints when running a front 3-Link is that need to be changed out every 6-12 months. The polybush on the X-Joint is 15 pounds so it'll be interesting to see if this approach works out better cost wise.
For the front I personally do like a 3-Link, not so keen on bolt on kits due to price and they sit lower than weld on kits. Having driven a 3-Link on road I found it to be ok handling wise - I found the Simex affected things more :roll: :wink: If you are worried this can easily be overcome by fitting a dislocating anti-roll bar for long journeys between events. This is where you need to find someone happy to build you a custom 3-Link. Someone like Protection and Performance may build you 3-Link mounts into their tubular chassis (assuming that you need to replace your chassis from your other post!) IIRC they have a lot of experience of racing as well as cage building.
The QT Services front shock turrets work very well with long shocks and as the shock is now outside the spring you could fit the X-Eng springs on the front too.
Good luck with having the fun of specing out your vehicle and then getting to try it in action :) :)
Cheers
Steve
simonred90:
i'd try to take as many different setups in different trucks out as you can. that way you'll get a feel for what you like and dislike.
my suspension is as basic as it can be yet handles challenge events superbly.
SteveG:
Sure, but you'd be surprised what a good suspension set up can do. A Friend runs a Range Rover with 3-Link front, jointed rear arms and modified rear suspension with open diffs and goes places a normal or average modded 90 would need lockers to do.
As you know a pair of lockers and all the ashcroft kit to make it bomb proof would set you back about 2.5-3K pounds.
Cheers
Steve
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