This weekend I 'av been mostly fitting.... my new suspension

[muddy_90]

heres mine with its surpension kit

[rollazuki]

OK....

[davidlandy]

I cant beleive how many people with this mega travel suspension seem to get stuck on the top of something.....

My motor has relativley standard suspension and I can drive right over such things!  

so there :D

[Bulli]

:lol: nice one!
It doesnt matter how much travel you have when you are upto your nuts in mud!!

[Porny]

Paddocks,John Craddock, G2f , scorpion

Wonder how much testing they do????  
Interestingly, if you have a look at Devon 4x4’s 90, it runs standard length bump stops in all the pictures…..

An update…  :D

Both Andy and myself have read all the comments/replies/suggestions/observations with interest and today have spent an enjoyable afternoon/evening (night!  :shock: ) taking various measurements, making calculations, adjustments and mock-ups… and drinking coffee and eating a Chinese!!  :D  

The front suspension set up is fine as is, however, the rear:

With the standard size bump stops, when the axle is jacked all the way up then it touches both bump stops just before it reaches the bump stop on the Dampers.

In a cross-axle situation however…. With one side of the axle jacked up, and the other side hanging low - as suggested the axle does not touch the bump stop.

In low speed applications this ‘should’ not be too much of an issue, but with a harder landing it could cause damage to the damper… so…

Andy has actually designed a new mount that is suitable for all coil sprung applications (thus will fit Defender, Discovery and Classic Range Rover), so we fitted a set of these and took various measurements.

From these ‘experiments’….
There will now be extended rear bumps stops (or spacers) supplied with the weekender kits (fronts are already included), though their length will be dictated by the vehicle set up (standard springs or longer – e.g. +2”) and will be dependant on which kit is chosen.

Some interesting things we found:
(Based on previous measurements as we didn’t have a suitability equipped Land Rover to re-measure)

With +2” springs and dampers (unless we can be proved wrong) there is no way that when cross axled the axle will touch a standard length bump stop.

With +2” springs and dampers and lowered damper mounts again the axle will not touch a standard bump stop, and even ‘some’ extended bump stops will prove too short…

So most people running round with said kits could find themselves ‘bending’ their dampers quite easily!!


Steve and Bulli, what length of bump stops are you running???
Any chance of a few pics of the axle cross axled, ideally with and without the spring in place if possible???   Both of you AFAIK are running lowered mounts, which is something we didn’t have to hand.

We'll have to try and meet up to compare. I haven't done anything with f&r radius arms on mine yet so it would be good to compare pre and post this mod on mine to see what difference it makes.

Sounds like a plan. :D


Ian

[Porny]

As a sneak preview....

The 'working prototype' of the new damper mount.... (needs a slight adjustment to finish it off)


After working on my brakes yesterday, have also picked up a 'jack-strap' off Andy.  Means I can jack my 90 off the chassis without needing a crane!!!
Will post pictures when I get chance.


Ian

[ben_haynes]

Here are some of mine

Standard Suspension :oops:

[Bulli]

Porny,
looks like you guys have been busy,Looks like some good work and a lot of thinking have gone into it.You arent a million miles away from me so if you are planning a brainstorm i have a few interesting ideas up my sleeve...
 I have 12 inch travel mx6 shocks on the rear with higher mounts not lowered.The reason is they have variable damping as you move the shock mounts forward they have greater leverage against the shock so standard procomps dont damp enough for my liking.
 The bump stops are extended and are about to be lowered again as i have some longer springs on order. I will get you a few piccies.

[Xtremeteam]

is it MX6's or mx6 with the remote reservoir your running bulli?

[Bulli]

The older version without the remote...same shock though so im told...the new ones look real nice though

[Tigger]

Interestingly, if you have a look at Devon 4x4’s 90, it runs standard length bump stops in all the pictures…..

Erm.. don't bring us into this !

You will also notice that our trucks only run about 9-10 inches of travel at each wheel.... and still win events.

Granted... we don't "look cool" on an RTI ramp though  :roll:

[Xtremeteam]

back to the look good on an RTI or be good where it counts offroad

[landy_andy]

Hi matey,

Things are going well with the new adjusted mounts, have them drawn up and just need to get a set lasered out to recheck for clearence issues. What I'm working to produce is a mount that will fit 90/110, RaRo's and Disco 1's without causing interference to bodywork. 90's are easy, it's the low rear tub line on Disco's that causes the issues and if you look at the picture above Porny posted you'll see the 25mm box section I was using as a gauge. We also need to consider the fuel assy on TD5's as it's bolted to the side of the crossmember and again is not something that's easily moved due to the number of fuel pipes involved. Finally, consideration must also be given to the arc that the pin mount travels over, as we don't want to over stress the pin or end up with an uneven angular movement from fully compressed / extended. Ideally the damper should sit neutural at normal road ride height or within an acceptable range for lifted vehicles.

So, to get a mount that fits all is quite an interesting and some what annoying PITA. But, I think the latest version will be OK and give the results I want. That being a mount that's a universal fit and provides good increased levels of articulation from 0" lift - 2" lift without major detremental effects to general handling.

As you say, tipping the dampers too far forwards reduces the effective damping due to mechanical advantage, this is why we haven't gone OTT with these mounts. If you want that, my 'Hi-Flex' rear system will stroke the 'A' frame ball joint out with room to spare. That's why I'm also working on rose jointed trailing arms & 'A' frame as well. The 3Link front system has also been tweeked to maximise ground clearence as there was a little more available in the middle and under the radius arm mounts. For those kits I'll be using Gaz dampers to my own spec as there rebuildable and offer adjustment on bump setting too.

Cheers,

[Bulli]

sound like its coming together.
Tim , depends what you want at the end of the day. At this point in time im enjoying playing around to get max travel, if i wanted (or felt capable) to compete then i would be concentrating on a very pricey modified winch....as that along with simexes seems to be pretty much what is required to win.
 Dont get me wrong the forethought and understanding of the guys who win is really the key. Planning and working as a team ,as well as good decision making ... and above all reliability win series.