Hey guys,
I built this Defender. I'll try to answer your questions.
The front suspension travel - the truck owner thinks he's an F16 pilot (you DO have F16s in Australia, right?
![The Finger :finger:](./images/smilies/thefinger.gif)
). He drives on the open road (offroad) at a speed you would not believe. Therefore, I planned the front suspension with a longer upper travel (to absorb shocks) than down travel.
All my explanations to him that this is a D90 and not an Impreza Turbo did not help. He's aware that he's in a high platform with mud tires - the last platform I would think of for speed, but he doesn't care.
The rear suspension is a 14" fox shock. On the reservoir we have 8 adjustable damping rates.
From my experience, up to 14" shock with a dislocated spring works fine, gives the truck extra grip, and more stability on the obstacle. (All tires are almost always on the ground, even if they don't have enough grip they still stabilize the truck - a thing that doesn't exist with a regular suspension).
We call the disconnected springs system in Israel Drop Kit. I've installed many such systems. In my experience, they isn't active on-road, open-road (high speeds) and work only when the truck is in axle-twisting.
Till now, after installing several dozen dampers, I haven't encountered any damage to the shock or the reservoir or the shafts. We drive a lot in the desert (dust, stones) an 2 very intensive months each year in mud.
But you do have something there, and I'd be happy to hear ideas how to relocate the reservoir.
Regarding the intercooler - it's a phase III Allard (if I remember correctly). The truck owner is a LR parts distributor. He sells these Allard intercoolers, which is probably why he cares more about showing off the intercooler than protecting it from possible external damage.
In addition to the intercooler he has a larger Garrett Turbo, headers, and an extra-size exhaust pipe. On top of this add 4.1 in the axles and GKN overdrive and you get the fastest and quickest accelerating Defender you ever saw!
Here are a few more pics of trucks with drop-kits :
![Image](http://imgsrv.pic4u.co.il/be80f648fa50ab35dd46a79fcd358310020000.aspx)
No..... it's not a jeep