A Smooth Ride..........

[jerryd]

I'm wondering if it's actually possible to get a half decent ride from a series vehicle ?? I've had my springs re set, new bushes and shock absorbers fitted and the ride wasn't too bad on the old Dunlop Roadgrippers.
However. I've just purchased a set of Michelin XZL's (cos they look good ) but it now rides like the tyres are filled with concrete , talk about one step forward and two back

It's making the vehicle rattle and shake to pieces, it's driving me mad

I'm now wondering whether to try parabolic springs on the front only, I've tried them on the rear but didn't like them as it was too soggy and it lifted the back by 70mm.

Would like to hear what everybody else uses and any hints to improve the suspension.

[Alpinerover]

depends on what you want from your vehicle and what you are compairing it to.
All our 109's are on standard suspension and we dont find it a bone shaking ride in the mountains at all, skinny tyres are best we have found, our 88 is on big fat 33's and they are fine on road or mud but can be painfull on the dry dusty tracks.

[flyingant]

G'Day Jerry - the XZL is an excellent expedition tyre BUT it hasn't beeen produced for several years, and if those are 7.50 x 16s, they must be around 10 years old at least. Also. these are reinforced tyres, designed to carry heavy loads. Try reducing the pressures to around 2 bar all round for fast road use. You could go down to around 1.5 if you keep the speed down to around 90kph, and the load to around 750 kgs. You seem to be using 130 (wolf) rims which are tubeless, so you could go lower off-road, but I wouldn't recommend that over 80 kph loaded. These are great off-road tyres, but not designed for comfort or silence!

The original Santana-type parabolic springs were an improvement over the original fitments, but the current cheap copies probably aren't. My old S2A Dormobile had the standard spring/shock absorber set-up, and it was as good as leaf springs can be. Make certain however, that you have the proper station-wagon set-up, hard-top and 1 ton spec will shake the fillings out of your teeth! If you are fed up with piles, get a Defender, as I did!

Cheers,
Tony

[jerryd]

Hi Tony,
These tyres are supplied on new 130 Puma Dual Cabs here in Australia, I purchased the rims and tyres from a guy who had fitted bigger rims and tyres to his vehicle, so they are as new.

Amazingly they cost $440.00 per tyre and a wolf rim is $220.00 (unpainted) Fortunately I got them at half price, I'll try lower pressures in them before I give in and sell them. At the moment I'm running 38psi front and 42psi in the rear.
Of course my other option is to cure all the rattling glass, cupboards,doors etc

[jock]

G'Day Jerryd, I come up with the airbag solution, after putting new springs on the rear (because of the sag) the ride was nice and stiff,and everything felt tight, good on your standard l.w.b. land rover, but on a camper with cups, plates, and pots and pans all rattling so I put the old springs back on, with a set of bellows air bags, you just have to make up the top and bottom brackets... Pic's on your curtain site page 2 ... With only 15--20 psi you get a nice ride, and with a bit more air you can load all the gear you want in the back... Also good with the trailer hitched up... Happy traveling .. Jock .....

[jerryd]

It's certainly something to think about in the future I've been trying different tyre pressures and I'm getting used to these tyres now, long term I think the answer lies in fixing all the other annoying items.........rattling doors, windows, creaking seats and cupboards etc. Not mention the pots and pans

[jock]

G'day Jerryd.
I run Pirelli scorpion 750x16 tubeless, a good ride with 38 psi in front and 42 psi in rear, on the blacktop. They go down to12-15 psi for beach and sand driving ( W.A. sandgroper country ) but the walls are fairly plyable and always on the lookout for rocks and sharp objects. They dont have the agresive tread pattern for bog holes or rock hopping, but go up sand dunes no problem. And i'm sure they must help on the suspension side of things. The rattles can just drive you nuts... Jock...

[jerryd]

Hi Jock,
I can't afford to change my tyres again as I want to get started on my engine / gearbox swap

I'm fitting 300tdi motor and am now wondering whether to re con original gearbox or fit LT77 with original transfer box


On another note, have you met up with Robin (RMS) as he's in your neck of the woods

[jock]

Hi Jerryd,
If you are in contact with Robin, leave me a note and we can meet up, this is a work computer so it's good Monday to Friday... And you are going diesel, sounds like a good all round camper in the end, but I dont think we ever get to the end, after the engine swap there will be somthing better to try... Good luck...Jock...

[RMS]

You have a PM from Canning Vale