front end flex

[custom hauler]

hey guys i want to achieve more front end flex in my 2door rangie

so far it has a 2 inch suspention lift and a 2 inch body

ive been playin on a like gradualy retaining wall out the front of my place and when i drive the rear wheel up the car stays level and the articulates perfectly
but when i throw the front wheel up on the wall the whole car feels like its gunna tip over and when i get out to look the front axel hasnt budjed an inch.

how will i go about ataining more front end flex?

would it be changing the radius arm bushes? or changing spring rates???

cheers sam

[swamp]

The front is tight to give good on road handling, any thing you do to free up the front will reduce this. Although there are many tried and true methods
it depends where you want to end up , do you get stuck offroad alot because you run out of front articulation.
Start with longer shocks and religious bushes.
Then custom 3 link.
I don't know what comes after this.

[Philip A]

so far it has a 2 inch suspention lift and a 2 inch body

Well The first question to be asked is how stiff are the 2inch front springs?

They should be 160Lb per inch if articulation is the aim, and
this is LIGHTER than most if not all rears, and should articulate just as well.
If you have bought some dodgy springs that the vendor has not told you the spring rate it may be as simple as that. Standard spring rate at the front is 133Lb per inch. See this for most specs.

http://members.shaw.ca/jbarge/springinfo.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Next question is whether the antiroll bar is connected. Removing it will obviously give better articulation and more rolly poly on corners.

Regards Philip A

[Philip A]

Helloooo, anyone there?

Geez its mildly annoying when someone asks a question then just disappears when you have used valuable drinking time and worn down fingers on trying to help..

Regards Philip A

[custom hauler]

hey mate sorry ive been on holidays the past few weeks. im not exactly sure wat the spring rates are as they where in the truck when i bought it.

if i start running 160 lb springs and they are softer than the rears. isnt that just gunna put the car out of balance the other way then what it is now......??

cheers sam

[Philip A]

isnt that just gunna put the car out of balance the other way then what it is now......??

No not really.
Land Rover HD springs for RRC are 160Lb per inch front and 180Lb rear with a working hydromat.
Discos have 155/215 dual rate rear springs to give theoretically a good ride and then load carrying once the soft rate is compressed. Their front standard springs are 133Lb, same as RRC.
So Land Rover usually have softer springs i n the front to give good ride and articulation. They only later added anti-roll bars to reduce on road body roll but this reduced articulation.
Before any arguments I have personally driven through Wombat holes on a test course in my old 2 door then watched a Disco with bars lift front wheels 20MM on the same hole.

My experience over 20years,( owning 3 RRCs and being a member of teh Range Rover Club, then the Discovery Club, so seeing scores of setups) is that relatively soft springs all round give the best articulation and heavier springs are only needed for high speed off road work to reduce bottoming in sharp dips or shelves, or heavier rears to handle big loads.
If you want to stay with a relatively stable car with a 2 inch lift and 31 inch tyres(245.75x16) then 160 front and 180 rears with load leveller are ideal for most mountain trail work.

I use LRA springs with 160 front ( green band) . these give 11/2 inch lift as I bought mine down from the 2inch lift from genuine OEM green band, with a load the front goes up and the car became twitchy at speed due to no caster.
My rears are LRA ( orange) which give 2 inch lift and 180 Lbs.

To me a good test is to drive some mountain tracks with your normal load that use articluation and have a look at the bump stops afterwards. If the bumpstops are not marked the springs are too hard. If they are marked heavily but you do not have a sensation of the car bottoming all the time on bumps then you are getting there. Also if you hear the front springs going "Booing" on articulation then they are too short and heavy, as this is the spring unable to bend as the axle goes down. You will soon know if the rears are too short vs the shock as the spring will fall out if not retained which I have seen on the Nissan trials when I was a competitor.


Once you pass this point you are into heavily modded territory , which is generally illegal and degrades on road performance greatly. I am sure there is someone else who can advise on this. Once you get past this anyway , the best traction aids are lockers which decrease the need for articulation. if you go bigger than 31 inch tyrees you will generally need heavily and expensively upgraded axles , or you will break axles and diffs all the time.
I had bigger axles and a Detroit in my 2 door and have a rear Maxi in my 4door.

In my experience ARB , King, and Lovells springs have always been too stiff.
The ARB guy once wrote that he disagreed witrh Rovers spring rates and that is why he made them like Jeeps at 220-250Lbs or more. Crazy to me and destroyed the ride. Also very arrogant.

Regards Philip A