castor correction?
 

I have read that when you raise the suspension of a defender you need to adjust the castor angle to ragain the stability in the steering.
At what height do you need to do this? and what height can you get away with not?

Hi There,
General rule of thumb is any lift over 2 inches in a Defender you will need to correct the castor angle - This is also to make sure the stress is off the bushes so they last longer and can go through there full flex and to make sure the Uj's on the prop shaft are not at too much of an angle.

Though in my experience with the 90 I wouldnt go above 1 inch lift (HD springs) for overlanding - it puts extra stress on the UJ's before you hammer the vehicle over corrogations - not good.
With a 110 you can just about get away with 2 inch lift due to the longer rear prop shaft - though I have seen people with a 2 inch lift on a 110 have problems with shockers and front UJ's (front prop length is same on 90/110)
Personally for overlanding raising the centre of gravity with a 2 inch lift and then raising it some more by putting loads of gear on the roof - tent etc isnt a great idea.

Cheers
Grif



[This message has been edited by Gipper (edited 23 February 2006).]

My 110 has had the 2" lift on OME heavy duty shocks and the caster correction kit and inspite of carry several UJs across the length of Africa, had no problems on the drive train. Suspension packed in but thats a different story. There is reasonable logic in what is being said in the posts above, but having done it and run for about 5 years since the changes including 24000 miles through Africa, haven't experianced any of the problems. May be just good luck. Re the general height issues, I run 265/75/16 BFG MTs and these seem to add to the stability rather than staying on the narror tyres but may just be perception.

[This message has been edited by Toby2 (edited 23 February 2006).]

Toby2,
Yeah, nice to hear its working (was it OME shockers that failed ?) I mean lifting 2+ inches and not correcting castor is where you are going to run into problems - correcting it with a 2 inch lift it will act like normal.
What suspension components worked well and what didnt ?
Im trying some Scorpion Racing 240 front 300 rear HD springs with de carbon shockers and polybushes on the 90 at the mo - think I may be a little too overspung - but its hard to find any corrogations here in Dorset to try it over fully loaded !!
I also run BFG 265/75/16 MT on Disco steel rims - They feel stable - its a good combo and you definitely get better grip than most 7.50/16's and they last 90,000 miles !Cheers
Grif

[This message has been edited by Gipper (edited 26 February 2006).]