Coil Springs for my LR4 in the future as it ages

Was at our local independent Santa Fe British Motors shop and was inspired to hold onto, and years from now build my LR4 to be a serious off road beast. Rather than going with the finicky Johnson lifts I would go with the coil spring set-up that he says could handle a lift, bigger wheels etc. He also mentioned that the as this vehicle becomes a classic that some car wizard will come up with an HD package that moves beyond the computer limitations now imposed. Good news to hear! I'll enjoy the air springs for now but seriously as stated by a number of LR off road enthusiasts you don't want to be in the outback with an older vehicle with air springs. As the years pass....

I wouldn't worry about it. In future years you won't be able to drive off road.

Put an extra front and rear strut in your kit.

You can change it on the trail. 4 bolts, 3 tools.

Some pros and cons from 2017 but

ktm525 said:

I wouldn't worry about it. In future years you won't be able to drive off road.

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Who would want a new Defender if there is no off road? Soccer Dads? LOL

Also... Pros and Cons of Coil Spring suspension from Lucky 8. Although this is before the coil springs were available for the LR4 as shown to me by the indy shop here in Santa Fe. He also showed me the rods but stated several times tat everything needs to be in good order with the computer frills or it can be finicky about raising and lowering the body of the vehicle. I love the air spring ride quality so I'm just rabbling some thoughts after seeing Bryan trying to put 33s on his ride.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...DC64429175EEEA16EA22DC64429175EE&&FORM=VRDGAR

avslash said:

Put an extra front and rear strut in your kit.

You can change it on the trail. 4 bolts, 3 tools.

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Interesting. Can you clarify for the uninitiated? I'm just now getting around to looking at the shop owners manual that runs almost 2000 pages, so I'm not completely familiar with changing out the air suspension. I will be soon tho.

Changing the air strut on the LR4 is really no different than changing a strut on any other vehicle, with the addition of plugging an air line in.

Jack up the offending corner of the vehicle until the wheel comes off the ground, pull the old air strut, put in the new, done.

ryanjl said:

Changing the air strut on the LR4 is really no different than changing a strut on any other vehicle, with the addition of plugging an air line in.

Jack up the offending corner of the vehicle until the wheel comes off the ground, pull the old air strut, put in the new, done.

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In fact it is somewhat easier and safer as there is no spring compression required.

Fugi Snow said:

Interesting. Can you clarify for the uninitiated? I'm just now getting around to looking at the shop owners manual that runs almost 2000 pages, so I'm not completely familiar with changing out the air suspension. I will be soon tho.

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I can replace one in under 2 hrs in a driveway or on a trail. These really do not "fail" like you make it sound. Many big industrial vehicles are on air springs including buses running millions of miles on them.

The weakest points on the lr are not the struts but if the compressor gives out or somewhere in the lines or a valve block fail.

The best way to safe guard a failure is to install the strut spacer or to use stock size to 31.5" tires. Though the strut spacer plus a 32-33" tire provides the most ground clearance even without air in the system.

Fugi Snow said:

33s on his ride

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You seem to be missing the point in that whole deal. You can put a 33 on no problem with minimal modifications or cost. You just need to be smart about size choice and stick with an 8" wide wheel and under 11" section tire, so something like 265/70-18 or 275/65-18 or 275/70-18 with the first two being much easier to fit and still use with no air.

I use an almost 34" tire no problem with the standard mods that people used for 32" but adding the strut spacer allowed this to work. One big thing that allows a 33-34" work in 100% of flex situations is staying with a prudent width. Trying to be cute and use a 12.5" wide section is just reducing the potential you could've gained.

Unless you're just trying to look cool to the soccer moms at the school pick up line, a wider tire like that serves no useful purpose whatsoever and it actually limits the size you can get away with.

So, to reiterate, you can get a bolt on 18 like the compo, a 275/70-18 and fix the rear fender well "bump", cut back the "frame horns", slide the wiring harness cord "up", use an aftermarket bumper or trim yours, add the strut spacers, and boom you have 33 that will work fully off road in all situations.

he coil struts do not have the range of travel which is why from a movement purpose, are inferior to the air struts which have 13" range in the rear! That's like what you get on an older discovery with coil cones to keep it aligned when you pull the axle too far away from the body after removing the sway bar in the rear to get crazy articulations.

The lr3/4 coils cannot do all that and with the suspension design, i cannot imagine how scary the handling would be on the highway if you removed the sway bars. Could be cool as **** on trails though.