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Land Rover rear lift spring install


Bax03SE
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This started in another thread about rear spring alternatives, but I thought it may help others find it if I moved it to its own thread. Another member, Neilca, found out that Land Rover uses coil springs with the same inner diameter (5”) as the R50. This is a great find, because LR offers many spring options with much higher spring rate than what is typically available for the R50, and in many different heights as well.

A chart of spring specs can be found here:

 

http://www.red90.ca/rovers/springinfo.html

 

I was personally looking for something that would give me the same lift as my current set up which was oem springs with a 2.5 inch spacer. I wanted a spring that would give me the lift I wanted without the need for a spacer, and also with a heavier spring rate for higher load carrying capacity. I settled on rear springs for a LR Defender 90, part number NRC9448. They have a spring rate of 225lbs which is much higher than the stock springs, and even a bit heavier than some aftermarket medium/heavy duty options for the R50. Ordered from LRdirect I got my springs delivered for $80 to my door, all the way from the UK! Can’t beat that deal!

 

 

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Here are some pics of the springs. 87aa4ccff372f81db0ff912436885da9.jpg

3ddbbab8600eccfd1a33f67e60038811.jpg

And a comparison to the stock springs. I replaced my stock springs with oem replacements last year, so these are new stock representations for comparison, not 14 year old sagging stock springs....

Notice the LR springs are not only taller, but also have more coils and the coils are noticeably thicker. The new spring height pretty much matches the stock spring with the spacer still on it.

02e1d1a2fe93dc1c8eb6e03e357da15f.jpg0cf46a4bad1919521f9ae7452da2aefd.jpg

 

 

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For the install, I tried them first as is, and they fit great, but the height was about an inch higher than I wanted. (Which I kind of suspected based on the height and spring rate. After test fitting as is, I took them off and cut off one coil from each spring. With one coil cut off, this gave me the overall height I was looking for. The rear of the truck sits about 1/2 inch higher than it did with my previous set up with the 2.5 inch spacers. So these springs gave me a total lift from stock of about 3 inches. Before I cut the one coil off, it sat another inch higher. This means these springs without cutting would give about 4 inches of lift, and could be a good match up for people doing a front sub frame drop, and they fit the R50 spring perches without the need for any modifications as with the often used jeep coils. There are other spring options on that list above with a little less spring rate, and also a little shorter. Someone looking for a lift in the 2-3 inch range could go with one of those and be able to install as is with no cutting.

8ebd548bfdd133b6716b23dbfcbcb85d.jpgfde97cb45d4eaecf0d2e654e751ed874.jpg

 

 

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Here is my stance now. It has a little rake in back, which is what I wanted to keep it level with weight in the back or when towing. I opted not to reinstall the air bags I was using with the stock springs because I don’t think these springs will compress enough to make them useful. I stood on the hitch, and it only dropped maybe 3/4 of an inch, and I weigh 220. That means it should easily handle the trailer I tow that only has about 180lb tongue weight and also have some gear in the back and still sit pretty close to level. The overall suspension set up on my truck as it sits now is Land Rover springs in the rear, and stock struts in the front with a 2 inch spacer. 9bdba2d159ff29d3d1872d3888622f3a.jpg7c71e7c0b41ba2acef02ef5cbf2d59c8.jpg

Just for fun, a comparison next to a stock Q in the Home Depot lot.c5a7f9d3787599c09bc3df87ec957e4f.jpg

 

 

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One other quick project while I was under there, I did a small panhard rod drop using the stock mount. I disconnected the bar from the bracket, and drilled a new mounting hole a little lower and to the right to bring the axle back to center with the lift. There is a small bracket that comes down at an angle to the panhard mount and uses the mounting bolt to attach to the bracket. It’s purpose appears to be to add support to the panhard mount. Since the new hole left this smaller bracket no longer connected, I solved that problem by welding the bracket to the panhard mount. It may not show up well in pics, but both sides of that angle bracket are welded directly to the main panhard bracket now.65c1432ff7b1ce0f23dced4da183a282.jpg

 

 

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Looks like tapatalk is being weird with those last pics of the panhard modifications? They show up in tapatalk. Ill give it a bit to see if it fixes itself before I try posting them again.

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Ive been riding around all afternoon looking for bumps, train tracks, etc.. and I think it rides great. Its stiffer than stock, but softer than what I had before because with the air helper bags you have to keep 5-10 lbs pressure in them at all times to avoid damaging them. The combination of stock springs with the bags was really a bit too stiff for my liking. It was nice with weight in the back, but unloaded it didnt have much give to it.

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Awesome find dude, I’ve been busting my head for the past 2 months trying to figure out what setup to piece together for a lift. This solved a major portion of that problem for me. Now to decide what to do up front. And the rig looks good man.

 

 

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Awesome find dude, I’ve been busting my head for the past 2 months trying to figure out what setup to piece together for a lift. This solved a major portion of that problem for me. Now to decide what to do up front. And the rig looks good man.

 

 

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If you use these springs to get 4" of lift in the rear a 4" lift in the front would match nicely, and I believe Johann Peralta (look him up on Facebook) has one left; they're not easy to come by.

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I’m still on the fence on doing a SFD...don’t really want to get into the hassle of extended brake lines and any other joys related to doing a SFD. I may opt to doing some slightly shorter springs to match spacers up front for now

 

 

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Edited by DirtyRhino
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Tires are 285/75/16 (approx 33x11.5). I think the 175 on the same height as mine will be just right based on my experience with these. Or, for someone who wants the 225 rate they could get the passenger side springs that are .5 inch shorter than what I got. I figured I could always cut but couldnt exactly make the springs taller, so I went with the bigger springs to start. Hopefully my experiment will help others decide what they need. Its definitely nice having a good number of options with the LR spring selection.

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Any idea if LR offers longer springs? Somewhere in the 6" of lift range say?

From looking at that chart Id say there is a good chance. I see a couple of springs with free heights of 16-17 inches and spring rates btw 170-200, which should give that much lift.

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I finally got around to installing the Defender springs in my Pathfinder. To recap the springs I chose are 15" long and 175 lb/inch. I did not trim the springs and it lifted the truck 2.5". The truck is the same height as when I had stock springs and 2.5" spacers. I was hoping for 2". Perhaps over time they will sag to the height I wanted. Haven't driven it yet because I am doing other maintenance right now.

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I finally got around to installing the Defender springs in my Pathfinder. To recap the springs I chose are 15" long and 175 lb/inch. I did not trim the springs and it lifted the truck 2.5". The truck is the same height as when I had stock springs and 2.5" spacers. I was hoping for 2". Perhaps over time they will sag to the height I wanted. Haven't driven it yet because I am doing other maintenance right now.

So were you looking to reduce the amount of lift you had? What are you using up front ?

 

 

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So were you looking to reduce the amount of lift you had? What are you using up front ?

 

 

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I am running 2" spacers up front. The Defender springs gave me a 1 inch rake. Some people like that and when I tow the race car I am sure I will like it too. Not a big deal, I wanted to chronicle the results for anyone else looking to do this mod. My truck sits about like Bax03SE's.

 

I measured about 35" from the ground to the middle of the front flare. 36" ground to rear flare.

Edited by neilca
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