Vehicle & Technical > Discovery

heavy duty front springs... Good or bad

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disco-v8:
ok my dad uses his disco to tow alot, and will be needed to tow my disco to events soon, so he has slowly been buying new running gear for it bit at a time.... hes already got new springs and shocks for the rear, which have been changed to the yellow heavy duty ones, as its to helphim with towing....

he now wants to match the front end with the rear by getting heavy duty springs and shocks, as he thinks it will help him out with towing.... fair enough no extra weight is going to be added but he thinks it will be better than the standard crap hes got on, plus will better match hes polly bush kit....


so question is..... is it a good idea to upgrade the front suspension to heavy duty springs and shocks or not???? what will all the pros be if he has it done, and what will all the cons be????

oh and another thing, will it affect the way it drives


thanks :thumbup:

peasey:
I have a full poly bush kit with the same HD +2 yellow springs all round and it made the whole car just feel more planted to me,but im running with standard shocks so cant answer your question fully.Bear this in mind though my springs that were on there were shot to bits so im unable to give you a comparrison between the 2,well an acurate one anyway.One thing I know is that I wouldnt swap them back to standard.The only thing that my springs changed was I lost some articulation and it doesnt roll as much in the corners and the ride was a little stiffer but not noticeble unless you knew you had changed things(well the mrs never said anything and shes usually the first one to complain).

Disco Matt:
Mine's an ex-family towcar (passed to me when Dad got a company car) so I'm not sure if that has affected my findings.

Generally I find that the standard front springs are too stiff, or the rears too soft. I often end up with a front left wheel in the air while scrambling up rocky bits as the back end just sits down and allows the front to lift. Mine has had the sills professionally rebuilt with 4mm steel, also has a heavy recovery gear box in the boot along with a full tank of diesel and a hilift on the back when laning.

The back end flexes superbly, but I reckon it would still flex with stiffer springs while forcing the front end to flex more, if that makes sense? I also have a winch bumper waiting to go on (when the sellers get back to me about the fact that it doesn't fit properly) which should add a bit of ballast to keep the front on the deck, even without a winch.

adamdanshona:
I have standard hight heavy duty springs and gas shocks all round ,with poly brushes,it sits well and  the ride is furm but in a good way.The only trade off is you might loose some slight articulation at the front.
I use mine for towing horse boxes at the weekend and I intend to fit a winch to the front end in the future so I thought it might cope better with the extra weight.

clbarclay:

--- Quote from: Disco Matt on June 01, 2009, 10:01:44 ---Generally I find that the standard front springs are too stiff, or the rears too soft. I often end up with a front left wheel in the air while scrambling up rocky bits as the back end just sits down and allows the front to lift. Mine has had the sills professionally rebuilt with 4mm steel, also has a heavy recovery gear box in the boot along with a full tank of diesel and a hilift on the back when laning.
--- End quote ---

What is it like though at other times, such as level axle twists, side slopes and decents?

Due to the high centre of gravity, when you climb up something the centre of gravity moves closer to the rear axle, making it heaveier and the front lighter. In a decent the rear will become lighter an the front heavier. A compromise has to be reached, if you made the rear stiffer and the front softer to make it more suitable for ascents, then it would become less suitable for decents.

During an ascent the weight is transfered to the rear axle and significant part of traction is proportional to weight so the rear axle will be doing most of the work anyway rather than an even distrobution between front and rear.

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