Replacing Springs and Shox on Disco 1

[Telaren]

I have just bought a set of +2 Springs and shox for my Disco.

What is the easiest way to remove the old ones and fit new ones?

(Especially as I do not have a set of spring compressors)

Cheers All

Taz

[beast5680]

1. get a set of spring compressors  :lol:

no you dont have to but you will need some axle stands and a good jack you can jack up the car and rest the chassis on the stands then remove the wheels and lower the axle using a trolley jack to allow you to get the springs out hopefully

[Dr Neil]

Depending on what kind of tools/equipment you have,If you have a decent trolley jack simply jack up one corner at a time and remove the wheel,then put an axle stand under the chassis.Remove the lower shock bolt/nut and carefully lower the jack allowing the axle to drop extending the spring until it is at it's full extent.You will then be able to remove the top shock mount,then slide out the spring and shock,on the front you can remove the turrets if you want to make it a little easier,at the rear you will need to unbolt the lower spring clamps.

hope this helps

Neil....

[driftwood]

when doing the rear, dont forget to chock the front wheels just on the safe side

[BigA]

I recently fitted new sprigs and shocks to mine (+2"). I also put a jack between the chassis and axle on the corner i was working on at a time, to get the maximum space i could. Unfortunately i found that i still had to use spring compressors to fit the new springs, and the old fixings were that seized and hard to get at that i eventually just cut the old springs out and ground/cut the fixings.

Also don't forget your ARB's if you are leaving these on, they will, i think, need spacing, and will also reduce the amount of drop you get when replacing the springs.

I removed the turrets when doing the fronts, a word of caution here, the old turret ring fixings may break if you do this, so may be worth having new fixing rings in case, i did this and the old ones came of OK typically.

The front bottom shock mountings were a real pain to undo too.

Don't want to put you off, it was well worth it when done.

Hope this helps.

[mdw1uk]

i changed mine a couple of weeks ago,
i found that the fronts were a [person of questionable parentage] only because things were rusted tight. you will need compressors for the fronts as they were a real tight fit even with compressors the backs were a doddle tho, i just jacked it up put it on axle stands removed the wheels and then managed to push down on the axle enough on my own to change them, i did soak every thing in diesal like a couple of days before i started the job and it made things slightly easier.
be careful not to snap the rear top shock mounts they snap quite easily if theve been there for some time. if you going to do some offroading with plenty of axle twisting i would think about getting extened brake hose's. i wasnt gonna buy any but im glad i did as on full articulation i found tht they were plenty long enough, the new ones this is. and they were quite a lot longer thn the old ones. entirely upto you.
matt....

[seabo]

Currently swapping 2" lift of my old disco onto new disco - so haveing to do the job twice!!! (Need to get some 33's on!) - Struggling to undo bolts to remove - on my fourth can of WD40! :oops:

This weekend a friend with a bigger spanner is helping out!

[BigA]

if you going to do some offroading with plenty of axle twisting i would think about getting extened brake hose's. i wasnt gonna buy any but im glad i did as on full articulation i found tht they were plenty long enough, the new ones this is. and they were quite a lot longer thn the old ones. entirely upto you.
matt....

I brought extended braided hoses, and as far as i can tell they are the same length as the existing one's ? and so far i haven't swapped them over yet? but yes agreed hoses worth checking.

Struggling to undo bolts to remove - on my fourth can of WD40! :oops:

This weekend a friend with a bigger spanner is helping out!

that's why they invented Grinders  :D

[Skibum346]

that's why they invented Grinders  :D

Not grinders... Land Rover special tool 32c!

 :lol:  :lol:

[chris.hunt22]

Hiya mate!  I did mine about 2 weeks after seeing you, you don't need spring compressors, just put your LR bottle jack (on the fronts) in between your radius arm and chassis and it will give enough clearance for the spring to drop out.  The back will droop enough once the shocker has been removed, don't think yours will have anti roll bars being a 200 tdi but if it has they will need spacing 2" (i used some 2"x2" box section), you will definatley need +2" brake pipes (about £40) and n the rear you will need to put some jubilee clips over the top of the springs as they WILL drop out of the top at full articulation (or dislocation cones but clips are cheaper!!)

On the whole it is a fairly easy job but rusted nuts will make your life hell, get some turret rings as you WILL snap at least one of the threads clean off and don't throw away the old nuts as they are a unusual thread and metric won't fit!!

GOOD LUCK (mine took about 8 hours with the brake pipes and everything)

[Telaren]

Cheers Chris and everyone else.  My parts are due early next week.  Will order some Turret rings just incase and some extended brake hoses.

By the way does anyone know what length standard and extended hoses are?

Just fitted new head gasket and CV joint, including the pin roller which had totally disintergrated.

Also just fitted my Rock/Tree Sliders,as provided by Guardian.

Dual charge system waiting to be wired up this week and lift next week. All going well.

Will post piccies soon.

Cheers all

Taz  8)

[chris.hunt22]

Not sure of the length, got mine off ebay, they are Goodridge braided ones +2" and I think they were about £40 with p&p, mine needed 4 as it has ABS but yours might only need 3, they took a while to come as anything over standard length are special order (they would do any length for the same price - within reason!!) It was from jwracing777 ebay user