I run my 90 HT for work but don’t carry much weight in it and it spends 70% of its time on tarmac and 30% of its time on narrow country lanes and dirt tracks. So no real off road seriousness.
I find the ride really choppy compared with my last SW and I think it may of had heavy duty springs fitted.
It’s horrible on the road and crashes and bangs over every imperfection in the road.
I’ve had it checked out and all is working properly so it’s not bushes or worn shockers etc.

I just spent ages trawling through here on suspension set ups for a road bias and there are lots of conflicting opinions on the best set up. It looks like Alive comfort springs are the way to go even though they are twice the price of everything else. But it’s dampers/shocks I’m confused over. Some say Bilsteins are good but crashy, others say Fox others say standard shocks with the comfort springs. Some say Konis.

I’m also on a really tight budget as this COVID Malarky has given my self employed income a real bashing but I do need to sort out the ride as a matter of urgency.

Any suggestions welcome or if anybody has any springs/dampers they want to sell even better!!

Cheers

Jez

I went for NRC2119 for the rear of the Puma. I also added a spring isolator ANR2938G between spring and chassis.
See my comments on https://www.defender2.net/forum/topic75758.html

Very good improvement in ride quality even though it is a CSW and the original springs were dual rate. I am still on the original dampers. 1988 90 Hard Top, 19J Diesel Turbo, Shire Blue - Restoration ongoing
2012 90 CSW, 2.2TDCI, Santorini Black

Thanks Dinnu,

Are they Range Rover classic springs?
Did you change out the fro at on yours as well?

Cheers

Jez

NRC2119 seem to be Discovery and RangeRover fronts. When I was searching for a good setup I used the table from this site:
http://www.red90.ca/rovers/springinfo.html

The Lb/inch is how much weight in pounds will compress one spring by 1 inch. The lower the rating, the softer is the spring. 133lb/in is the lowest as offered by Landrover.

If you go for a softer spring, you will need to compensate with free length else it will sit lower. My calculations were that a HT should sit within a few mm of the original height in NRC2119. If it is sitting a bit lower, can add the isolators. Gives about 10mm extra height.

I have not replaced the fronts on mine, but just replaced the fronts on family members Defender He now has 150lb/in front and 175lb/in rear. And he is so happy with this setup compared to stock.

One point to add.. I removed my front anti roll bar. It makes it better on rough roads. I do not use it at motorway speeds, so I cannot tell at speed. Body roll however is adversely affected. 1988 90 Hard Top, 19J Diesel Turbo, Shire Blue - Restoration ongoing
2012 90 CSW, 2.2TDCI, Santorini Black

My 110 had the HD springs, with the helper spring inside the normal spring. I've never gone near a tonne of weight in the back so the ride was very choppy. I've just changed the springs to the white/green/green springs with standard shocks and the difference is night and day.

Although, I've not tried the Alive comfort springs I did look at them but they seemed expensive for my budget so I went for the genuine Land Rover springs and Britpart shocks. I looked at the isolator as well but forgot about it by the time I fit them!

Mine is a 110 Puma so will be different to yours, but hope that helps. 2013 2.2 TDCi Puma Hard Top

https://www.defender2.net/forum/topic72473.html

Yes at £400 plus vat that’s a chunk of money even if they have incurred development costs.
I’ve messaged Extreme 4x4 as rafter lots of reading they appear to be well respected.
I’m waiting for their response ..

Also,Excuse my ignorance but what advantage does the isolator have on the ride?

Many thanks for both of your suggestions!

Changed the rear of my 90 to 2x NRC8044 with a spring isolator top and bottom. Very comfy ride but it was a bit wallowy so i fitted bilstein shocks and for me its perfect now

The isolators are not to improve the ride. They're designed to improve harshness. It's a subtle improvement but considering their minimal cost it's worth doing. Darren

110 USW BUILD THREAD - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER THREAD - Instagram: @landroveranorak

"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia

I think the isolators do not do much to the ride itself, but isolate high frequency vibration from axle and road wheels to be transmitted through the spring to the chassis. So should add comfort.
I also considered the NRC8044 springs, but since they are dual rate and no idea where the transition is, had no idea where the ride height would sit. Hence the single rate NRC2119. Admit that with 2 heavy adults in the back, it was sitting pretty low on the back.. but that does not happen very often and never for long distance. 1988 90 Hard Top, 19J Diesel Turbo, Shire Blue - Restoration ongoing
2012 90 CSW, 2.2TDCI, Santorini Black