90 suspension mods

[Gav_T]

Right this is gonna be a long one but here goes......

My mate is planning to fit new suspension (lifted) for his 1990 td 90 and has asked me to sort it all out. He thinks the same as me as in 'buy cheap, buy twice' so would rather spend a little more for less hassle in the long run, but doesnt want to pay over the odds just for the name.Oh yeah we are doing everything in one go - dampers, springs, new turrets, brake lines, cones, poly bushes - anything else?

Im thinking about this for it.....

Old man emu +2" dampers
bearmach +2" springs
2" lowered hd turrets and lowered damper mounting points
goodrich +4" brake lines
extended bump stops
front and rear cones

What bushes would you recommend?We arent bothering with castor correction arms or cranked trailing arms yet because of the mixed views about them on a 2" lift. Most of the stuff will be coming from paddock because it local unless anywhere can beat their prices with postage added.

Also he is after new tyres 265/75/16 insa turbos or 33/12.50/15 kumho kl71's - which is better? He does all kinds of off roading so a good all round tyre would be best.

Sorry for the long post!!!

Gav.

[anaxemurderer]

Cranked trailing links are definately a benefit. Personelly i'd forget the lowered mounts and get longer shocks instead. You might find the bearmach springs are a bit stiff but without spending £60 quid a spring you'll struggle to find any that aren't. You could consider fitting genuine part springs, maybe red and white rangie springs. You'll probably get better flex with a decent set of genuine rubbers than any polyurethane bush.

What type of insa turbo's do you mean?

Nick

[Gav_T]

Its the special track ones, the simex copys. How long could he go with the dampers on +2" springs? Where is a good place online to get extended dampers?

Gav.

[Xtremeteam]

insa turbo special tracks are miles better than the KL71's offroad but on road they are the other way round
depends what he wants to do with them

[clbarclay]

If you are getting longer dampers then don't bother thinking about lowering the damper mounts, you will just end up with the suspension constantly bottoming out which won't do it or the ride any good.

The idea of lower damper mounts is to increase useable suspension travel with standard length dampers when fitted with lift springs. Most extended bumpstops arn't extened enough to cope with longer dampers combined with lowered damper mounts.

Not all bearmach springs are HD, they also produce softer springs intended for off road, though most places only seem to stock the HD springs.

Red/white stripes are a good option for off road being longer and stiffer than most aftermarket springs plus they are a lot cheaper as well. IIRC they are softer than standard defender springs so you will get a bit more body roll.

[davidlandy]

go for the OME springs to compliment your shockers.

[Gav_T]

I asked at paddock about ome springs when i went last and they said that they stopped selling them because of problems. Are their britpart springs any  good?I have heard mixed reports on these so im a little wary.

The only time it will be driven on the roads is to and from offroading and maybe nipping to the shops so on road performance is second to off road.

Is there a really good,good priced 33" tyre on the market?

Gav.

[clbarclay]

I've have britpart yellow springs under the VM and I havent had any problems with them. Incidently if memory serves me correctly then birtpart yellows free length and spring rate the same as OME.

[davidlandy]

there are different rates - my OMEs are d44 spec and I have had no probs, and tbh you dont hear of many, if any, issues with them either.

I have seen many yellow and blue springs that are rock hard and dislocate all to easy when some other springs would expand a bit more.

if u do go for britpart then be sure to fit re/dislocation cones as well.

[iomlr]

Give Gwyn Lewis 4x4 a ring or look on his web site plus 5 1/2 ome and all his products are VERY SOLID and well worth the money you pay. I'm SO incredibly happy with the challenge kit i bought off gwyn and it does half work well..... No one else competes with gwyns sets up for the money.

[clbarclay]

there are different rates - my OMEs are d44 spec and I have had no probs, and tbh you dont hear of many, if any, issues with them either.

I have seen many yellow and blue springs that are rock hard and dislocate all to easy when some other springs would expand a bit more.

if u do go for britpart then be sure to fit re/dislocation cones as well.

Going by the data on both springs on discoparts web sight
http://www.discoparts.com/files/old_man_emu_spring_application.htm
and
http://www.discoparts.com/asp/products.asp?CatID=8&SubCatID=52
(click on the individal britpart spring for its spec)

Then:
OME761 and DA4201 are near enough the same spec
OME751 and DA4202 are near enough the same spec
OME764 and DA4203 are near enough the same spec
OME762 and DA4204 are near enough the same spec
OME763 and DA4205 are near enough the same spec
OME754 and DA4208 are near enough the same spec

Not sure what spec OME springs d44 supply, but it would appear all the britpart lift springs are based on OME springs.


As far as i'm concerned they are all a bit short and stiff but then I don't have to deal with the weight of a fully equiped challange truck.

[SteveG]

Another recommendation for the Gwyn Lewis set-up. You can buy it all online plus brake hoses at http://www.llama4x4.co.uk/

Front kit including shocks, +2" turrets, cones and spring retainers is £149.90
Rear including shocks, +2" mounts, relocators and spring retainers is £197.90

You won't need extended bump stops

I think the negative views on Britpart springs are mostly hearsay, personally they've worked fine for me on a couple of different vehicles. Going by peoples reports, the bearmach ones seem fine too. OME are good, but are 2x the price and the D44 Challenge Springs are £300 for a set of four delivered. They are well specified giving a level 2" lift with long travel and I would guess that they are in the 190-200lb/" rating. They work really well off and on road but are an expensive option.

Do you need a 2" lift? Consider a 1" or 1.5" lift. With a 2" lift you do you risk front prop vibrations/wear and steering will be slightly less precise. Both a 1" or 1.5" lift will be fine with 33" tyres.

I would fit cranked rear trailing arms to get full benefit of articultaion. There is no drawback to doing this that I am aware of.

After messing around with various set-ups I ended up selecting some standard LR springs to give me a ~1" lift all round with 33.5" tyres ....


The springs I'm using are..

    * NRC9448 Blue/Red         15.31" 225 lbs/inch on rear
    * NRC9449 Yellow/White    14.80" 225 lbs/inch on front (winch bumper and ep9)

On the rear I'm using X-Eng's X-Springs instead of relocators and these work extremely well at giving extra articulation and traction. To fit these I turned the spring cups round and fitted RR rubber isolators to top of spring.













Just need to move the TD5 fuel filter forward by a couple of inches, so that I can finish it off and fit the rear Gwyn Lewis mounts and the rear Rough Country shocks.

Hope this helps

Steve

[anaxemurderer]

Yeah special tracks are much better offroad, not really the same sort of tyre. KLs are a quality tyre with compromise for off and on road where as ITST are aggressive remould, cheap but designed to work well offroad. KLs may perform better on rock though and the increased size is a benefit.

Have front challenge kit bought from Llama on my bobtail, its good stuff and well priced.

Bear in mind when looking at springs that standard 90 is 175lbs front and 225lbs rear.

There is a lot of stuff been said about this in the past so you might want to try doing a search.

Nick