The leaning Discovery of tipton

[ne jones]

My 1991 Disco has leaned to the offside since i bought it some 12 months ago.
Gradually it seems to have become worse so i first replaced the front springs and then this week the rears, all with Britpart heavy duty springs.

The thing is there still appears to be a greater distance between the tyre and wheelarch on the nearside than on the offside, probavly about 1"-2".

Is there anything else i should be looking at as being the problem?

Are there any measurements i can take which might indicate where the problem lies?

any advice gratefully recieved.

[Guardian.]

body mounts corroded and collapsed, this will make it lean big time, i know, my 200 body has  now nearly slid off!!

[ids]

Nathan - hows it goin......

When I changed my springs, they were sided.  Probably about 1" higher for the drivers side on both the rear and front springs which seemed to cure the dreaded lean.  Then again mine are Scrapiron ones not Britpart

The other thing to check is that one of the springs may have dislocated but not jumped back into its cup but i'm sure you know that one.

Thats my 2p worth.

[BrumLee]

Hi Nathan

I fitted Scrapion springs and the fronts were handed, not sure if the Bripart ones are but might be worth checking.

[ne jones]

OK, the front sits level its just that the rear offside sits lower than the nearside.
Both of the new rear springs were the same length and the rear springs that were removed were of equal length when removed.
My own thoughts were 'leaning' towards the body spacers but i know nothing at all about these, where they are and what they look like etc.
My thoughts were based simply on seeing them mentioned on various sites and forums.

EDIT Btw IDS thanks for asking things are going great, we'll have to meet up one day as we're so local.

[Range Rover Blues]

Apparently some Disco chassis were twisted at manufacture, hence the springs of different lengths business started up.  Also the bushes in the front radius arms resist body roll, they were stiffened with the introduction of EFi to help handling, well over time these creep, a cheap solution is to swap the radius arms left to right and see if it makes a difference.  Easier said than done though, right?

[ne jones]

If its the body mounting rubber is it part # ANR1504 i need?

How many are there to replace and is it a DIY job or are specialist tools needed? :)

[Range Rover Blues]

4 in the engine bay, 2 on the rear crossmamber and one at each end of each sill makes 10 in total.  You may have to loosen the seatbelt anchorage tie-down at 4 points under the body to allow the body to lift from the chassis, you may not.

[ne jones]

Problem  :x

I'm getting conflicting advice from varying sources and i really want to get to the bottom of this problem.

I went to my local lr parts man today to buy a bush for the rear trailing arm that im gonna use to replace the one i bent up the other day.
He said he cant see the problem being the body mount rubbers as these are only thin anyway, well thinner than the difference in height from 1 side to the other that my disco has.

I've just phoned up MM 4x4 who supplied me with the springs and they asked if the shock absorber was in good condition? Would a weak shocker cause the car to lean? I know that the shocker on the nearside rear was new not so long ago.

I've tried to use my 235/85x16's today and found the clearance on the nearside great but going over speed humps the offside one is catching on the top of the wheelarch. :x

WHAT CAN I DO??????????????????????????

[Porny]

Would a weak shocker cause the car to lean?

Nope....

The damper is there for damping, nothing else.  It is only the spring that affects vehicle height.


Ian

[ne jones]

Justhad a call from Richard @ Mailorder4 x4 and he ssaid the problem of the leaning discovery is one they've encountered before.
They dont sell anything to help rectify the problem but do know of customers that have made up a spacer to go below the road spring and raise the body in this way.
I've measured the internal and external diameter of the spring and shall now have my brother in law to turn an aluminium spacer made to the correct dimensions.

Anyone have a piece of aluminium lying around at least 155mm 155mm x 50mm?

[spy]

How bad is it?  I mean, I thought all discos leaned a bit!  Maybe its just another landrover "feature"!

[Tony F]

I had this exact problem, 2" lower on the offside.

I bought some new "standard" springs from Paddocks only to find that the back was 1" higher both sides but it still leant over  :x

The springs I got were part No: ANR 3477 if I recall and were the same for both sides. The old (sagging) springs were the same as the paint marks  were the same colour (brown & green). I have been told these are the same as the Range Rover Classic i.e. not handed.

I went to Scorpion and they showed me a Land Rover spec sheet that shows the Disco listed as having handed springs. I decided to go for a 2" lift from them and all four springs are different.

Result.... It now sits nice and level  :D

[doris]

Ultra

If you are packing one of the springs under the lower spring mounts you need 100mm Ali bar..........  this fits in the dished underside of the lower spring mount and raises that corner by the thickness of the spacer.

I do have two 50mm slices of 100mm bar left from my home made rear lift....(the fronts looked complicated due to the shock going through the spring centre, so I bought RRC rear springs which I have yet to fit)   ....... you just need to drill two holes for the bolts and buy longer bolts.  Actually I have them too..........  M10's in stainless with Nyloc nuts.

I suspect that you are too far away to collect, and they are too heavy for postage, but any metal stockholders can supply you 100mm Ali bar cut to any length.......  probably between £5 & £10 a slice, and I bought a box of 50 high tensile bolts with Nylocs from Screwfix for less than a tenner.

Damon

[doris]

.......  Incidentally.....  the rear body mounts rot out really easy, and if collapsed would account for 1.5-2inches droop on a corner.  They are just forward of the rear bumper up underneath.  Mine is on the way, but still solid.

D

[ne jones]

Doris it is intereasting what you say.
I'll have to look at the rear mounting and see whats what. But assuming they arre ok would you work out total cost including poastage for 1 of the 50mm sections you have.  :)

[doris]

These pictures nicked from www.discoweb.org show the spacer...........  in 1inch variant.........  and there is a section titled 'spring spacer'in their tech section that explains the fabrication and fitting.......  including exactly where to drill.

[ne jones]

So i've just looked at that link and it shows if im not mistaken, the spacer under the spring seat and not under the spring itself is that right?

I was planning on placing the spacer between the seat and spring.

Advantages, disadvantages etc??????????????????

[doris]

I would of course be pleased to sort something out for you.........  but it will most certainly work out cheaper and quicker to source some from near you.

I bought mine from BACO Metal Centres Ltd in Avonmouth nr Bristol.....  that company is now called Blackburns Metals...........  and they have branches all over the UK.........

Including in TIPTON.

Look here......

http://www.blackburnsmetals.com/blackburns/31/uk_branch_locator.html

Hope this helps.  I can of course sort you out if you can't get it from these guys.

Damon

[ne jones]

thanks for that, its less than a mile from me so i'll try them tomorrow.
Great.

[doris]

Nathan (spotted your real name now)

The spring mount is specially shaped/dished/pressed to hold the spring in position.  If you put a spacer above the seat you will have to go to great lengths to mimic the shape of the seat.  In placing it under the seat, where it kinda sits in a socket formed by the pressed shape of the seat, and wanging (technical term) the bolts up tight you have effectively just lifted the whole assembly off the axle and kept the same lateral integrity etc.

D

[ne jones]

Just thought about this.
How will a spacer under the spring seat lift the body?
Doesn't it need to be between the spring seat and the spring?
BTW i'm a shop assistant not an engineer!

[doris]

I too am mechanically inept, but I found the job of putting the spacers in dead easy.

If the body mount is shot, then clearly you are best off sorting that  (I think its an MOT failure). YRM Metal Solutions sell replacement mounts for around £20 (they come up on Google and also sell on ebay........  but that's a welding job.

But to answer your question.........  the spring spacers each lift a corner of the chassis, and the body sits on the chassis via the body mounts (10 I think).  If you have a droopy spring, or some other LR foible in the chassis, then spacing one corner may get around it.

I must stress that I have only installed spacers to BOTH SIDES of my shed to get a modest lift and keep my old soft springs........  but I have heard of people curing the leaning problem by packing one corner only........  and as others have said; some Disco springs are different for each corner......  which gives the same effect after all.

[Disco-Ron]

The rear drivers side of my truck has an inch spacer in it, with the springs off, they are the same length, if you swap them over, side to side, the spacer needs to go on the other side...... so it's a total mystery....

No saggy body mounts either........ yet......

[doris]

That is a mystery.....  unless the springs are different rates maybe and the 1 inch gives a 'base' lift to one side............  clutching at straws.

[ne jones]

Just phoned them and they wont do such small pieces only 4 or 5 metre lengths.

Metal Supermarkets have 4" or 106mm ally bar, Doris do you think that extra 1.6mm will need to be turned down or could it be left sa it is?

[lee celtic]

Park on the curb and forget about it

[lee celtic]

Does anyone have a good drawing with sizes of the 4 spring spacers ie.2 solid rears and 2 with holes for the front dampers . :?:  

As I have access to a couple of cnc lathes and a programmer :twisted:

[philcooper]

I use a cnc at work and could make you some out of mdf or you could push the boat out and have oak veneer :lol:

[doris]

I just used 4inch (100mm nominal) bar sections............  there's plenty of room for the odd mm or seven.

D