Blue Blood wrote:

Thanks for feedback everyone, that last link they are blue. Are you sure they are the same?

Chicken Drumstick wrote:

jst wrote:

Chicken Drumstick wrote:

Mdm wrote:

for the money terrafirma is ok. yes their paint is whisper thin but the springs last well and the shocks are not bad.

old man emu. shocks and springs are excellent

britpart shocks dont last 6mths of road use.
springs sag quickly.

bearmach stuff used to be very good and there is plenty of it around still.

not tried the extreme ones.

iron man work well and last well and their shocks are rebuildable.

dont rule out decarbon shocks or any other good brand names

Not sure I'd really agree with any of those points.

I agree with all Mdm mentions having raced them off road, taught in them and worked on them for last 30years

Have seen plenty of Terrafirma shocks not last, even ones with mild use. And while I know it is fashionable on this website to bash all things Britpart, it really is a rather dump take on it.

Bearmch is gone.... some bits you might find as old stock, but claiming they are all easy to get is utter nonesense.

Old Man Emu really depends on what you buy. Their catalogue is HUGE. And things like the shocks Gwy Lewis sells are not what OME actually list for a Defender. Some of the OME kit have been hugely stiff and hard riding in the past for the Defender. Very much likely aimed at overlanders in Oz with every accessory and a heavy roof rack on top.

Iron Man, don't see much of in the UK, although I have one of their bumpers on my Jimny. Kits are often quite generic and usually aimed at the Oz market for GVM upgrades.

Also been around Land Rover's for decades.

Chicken Drumstick wrote:

jst wrote:

I don't follow the logic lifting makes them worse off road and is not needed, bit each to.their own.

Lifting without increasing travel, just means you have less droop in the suspension. And are more likely to lift a wheel and become cross axled. Thus worse off road. I did mention about suspension flex.

If you go stiffer springs this only makes it worse. Other issues can be getting coil bound before full compression or too stiff a spring rate to allow full suspension flex.


Have been in and around doing Land Rover trials and competition all my life. It is very rare that a standard height vehicle will genuinely run out of ground clearance. Even with 100" wheelbase, let alone the 92.9" of a 90.

You can also fit 33"+ tyres on a standard Land Rover. Any bigger and you put the axles/diffs at risk.


Why do you think lifting is a good thing off road? And what have you been doing that stock height has been a restriction?

Chicken Drumstick wrote:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/263671421618?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=Qoo8DjUtQM2&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=D-qw6ZliQpm&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Plus stock springs.

Deep water wading is more than just a snorkel if you do it often though.

That said.... 100% stock standard Ninety bar the roll cage:


Click image to enlarge

jst wrote:

Chicken Drumstick wrote:

jst wrote:

I don't follow the logic lifting makes them worse off road and is not needed, bit each to.their own.

Lifting without increasing travel, just means you have less droop in the suspension. And are more likely to lift a wheel and become cross axled. Thus worse off road. I did mention about suspension flex.

If you go stiffer springs this only makes it worse. Other issues can be getting coil bound before full compression or too stiff a spring rate to allow full suspension flex.


Have been in and around doing Land Rover trials and competition all my life. It is very rare that a standard height vehicle will genuinely run out of ground clearance. Even with 100" wheelbase, let alone the 92.9" of a 90.

You can also fit 33"+ tyres on a standard Land Rover. Any bigger and you put the axles/diffs at risk.


Why do you think lifting is a good thing off road? And what have you been doing that stock height has been a restriction?

He already said he didn't want stiff springs as had them, but wanted a lift. Your response to a lift not being beneficial is based on a lift by going HD, which OP specifically said he didnt want.

Out of interest do you have any links to flatdog?

Flatdog springs: https://www.flatdoguk.com/def%2D90%2D%2B2%22%2D%2F%2Dstd%7E339

It was in my first reply to the op too.


Any lift with stock length shocks will result in worse off road performance IMO, unless it is just wading. This is as said, due to effectively loosing droop/down travel.

Theoretical situation.

You have 8" of suspension travel. At normal ride height the shock is 50% extended, thus giving you 4" of compression and 4" of droop.

If you lift the vehicle by 2", it will extend the shock beyond 50% extension. In theory you will now have 6" of compression available, but it will leave you with only 2" of droop. What tends to happen is, you will pick wheels up far more often and become cross axled a lot easier.

The extra compression sounds great on paper, but in reality is hard to always utilise. As a stock spring if you have used spacers will have more pre-load on it. A longer spring may have more coils. Both could result in becoming coil bound before full compression is achieved. And if you go for a stiffer spring in any combo of same length with spacers or longer. Then the roll resistance might just too great to compress well. So you could end up with 6" of compression from your new ride height, but only able to utilise 4.5" of it.

Which could mean your total of 8" of suspension travel, is now more like 6.5" after the lift.

In general, fitting a longer shock will overcome the limitation when lifting. But other things will need to be considered, such as retaining the spring or controlling it should it fall out of the upper spring seat.

Really long shocks will also need different mounting locations, else the body of the shock will be too long to allow it to compress without topping out the shock. Longer brake lines may also be needed with more travel. And getting the front end to flex more than stock will take other mods beyond just longer shocks, as the design of the front suspension can limit travel.

A lifted vehicle will be at risk of poor diff pinion angles, which can cause prop vibration and excessive wear. It will also impact the front caster angle.


I'm fully in favour of modded vehicles and even lifting them. But it is worth understanding what is going on and the pros & cons it can yield.

As an example and to demonstrate I'm not just making it all up.

This is my old Series leaf sprung 88. Which I modded. It rode pretty much at stock ride height, but flexed like you wouldn't believe.


Click image to enlarge

This is my current project, the front end flexes better than this, but I had to pick both rear wheels off the ground to get the front to extend further. It sometimes looks tall, but on the rear is running the +2" standard rate Flatdog springs (albeit they are actually front springs for the lower spring rate) and standard RRC/D1 red/white rear springs on the front. So suspension wise it only sits slightly above standard ride height.


Click image to enlarge


And lastly my p38 Range Rover, which currently has a 4" lift on! And doesn't flwex bad for what it is.


Click image to enlarge

However, we have messed about with spacers and different springs over the years. And at trials events I've seen many many setups. As a rule, the vast majority of lifted Land Rovers tend to perform worse than stock ones off road. Unless some additional thought has gone into the setup.


For the op, the easiest and most simple answer is a set of stock springs and some 2" lift spacers (like the ones I linked too form ebay). As you'll retain a mostly stock ride (slightly higher centre of gravity, so maybe a little more lean). But overall should work and improve on stiff HD springs.

Downsides are, they may end up with prop vibrations and need either a prop spacer or better yet some wide angle yoke props.

Personally I'd also be looking at running some longer shocks, to negate the lack of down travel off road. Although you may need longer brake lines too and perhaps dislocation cones on the rear or clamp the spring to the upper seat with large cable tie or jubilee clip/exhaust clamp.

Good shocks can also massively improve ride too. Lots of choice, although I'd personally rate the Britpart Celluar Dynamic shocks at their price point. They can be had in +2" too.

The Celluar Dynamic shocks combined with the long Flatdog springs work well too, but won't give the lift the op is after. So you'd still need to add a spring packer. Either 1" or 2". But the longer spring would mean you wouldn't need dislocation cones or a physical way of retaining the rear spring when used with the longer shocks.

Some different bushes would also improve the ride. Polybush offer 'comfort' grade (the blue ones) bushes. These will be softer than OEM rubber and help improve the ride further.

Blue Blood wrote:

That’s really good to know. Thanks for that Mr Stick.

I will be getting +2” shocks to accommodate the extra and was also thinking cranked arms.
I had not thought about the prop shaft but just wondered if I were to go down the spacer route what the ideal length/size would be for a 2” lift? I’d do a wide angle one ideally from Gwyn but that’s a bigger investment for another day. I’ll also be changing rubbers too as I think my mine are currently rock hard polys which doesn’t help.