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D90 suspension travel

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4K views 38 replies 12 participants last post by  Wanamis 
#1 ·
On a stock d90 suspension how many inches of travel?
 
#4 ·
To John’s point, the shocks are the limiting factor. You want the bumpstops to be reached before the shock is in full compression and the full range of axle movement not to exceed full tension (range of the shock).
 
#5 ·
Time to come a bit clean. New to the defender world but have started a Defender project with the guys at the Roadster Shop. They recently developed a chassis for vintage broncos that allows for modern drivetrains, brakes etc. The D90 is very close in size to the Vintage Bronco so I want to build and LS based D90 with a modern suspension and drivetrain. Mercury racing has an LS motor tha puts out about 750hp at the crank that I thought would be fun to use. See the pic below for the new chassis and motor at SEMA 2017. My issue is this chassis is designed for 12/14" of wheeel travel and I want to keep the D90 at stock height or even 2" lower. We are digitizing the d90 body now to test how it will fit and the approximate ride height when completed. The blue boronco is on the new chassis and the white and blak d90's are the stance I would like upon completion. I don't want to end up witha d90 that looks like green one here. Not sure how this will come out until we finsih digitizing the body but may be looking at a more conventional chassis situtatiuon to get the ride height I want. Any thoughts from the collective experts is appreciated.
 

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#14 ·
You may want to flip your view of axle travel. Just because it is capable of 12/14” doesn’t mean you have to take advantage of the entire travel. Springs, shocks, bump stops and even axle retention straps can all be used to set ride height and control axle travel. Since you are in effect creating a custom platform to then mount a stock Defender body, you need to work with the builder to select the correct components for your chassis. Almost anything is possible.
 
#7 ·
What are you planning on using the truck for? The blue truck already looks tight on ground clearance at the front differential cradle, so lowering might not be very practical if that height doesn't work for you. It looks like they're sitting awfully deep in the stroke of the shocks which, while keeping ride height low, doesn't give you a whole lot of usable travel.

I think a more conventional chassis will get you where you want to be, and ditching the independent front suspension in favor of a solid axle will help with clearance.

-Ash
 
#8 · (Edited)
I am not an expert and am probably a complete rube, but here's my opinion on what is on the wish list of an ultra-awessome-super-capable-eye-opening-thrilling-hype Defender:

1. Front and Rear Selectable Locking Differentials.
2. Much bigger and stronger front and rear halfshafts.
3. Increasing front articulation, probably from switching to triangulated four-link.
4. Keep the rear 3-link. Or improve it by switching it to the 4-link.
5. Lower final crawl ratio.
6. Do not lift the truck so that you can run stock driveshafts.
7. Do not increase travel so you can use stock shocks and springs.

As I have found in a very expensive lesson in Defender ownership, the suspension travel on the Defender is not the limiting factor. Perhaps someone else has dissenting opinions.
 
#10 ·
I am not an expert and probably a complete rube, but here's my opinion on what is on the wish list of an ultra-awessome-super-capable-eye-opening-thrilling-hype Defender:

1. Front and Rear Selectable Locking Differentials.
2. Much bigger and stronger front and rear halfshafts.
3. Increasing front articulation, probably from switching to triangulated four-link.
4. Keep the rear 3-link. Or improve it by switching it to the 4-link.
5. Do NOT lift the truck so that you can run stock driveshafts.
6. Do NOT increase travel so you can use stock shocks and springs.

As I have found in a very expensive lesson in Defender ownership is that the suspension travel on the Defender is nowhere near the limiting factor. I might even go so far as to say it's absolutely not the limiting factor.

Yeah, I'd say that the factory suspension works quite well if you're running anything below 10" of travel. The radius arms start to bind around 8" in my experience, and you start to get pretty bad rear steer over 10" due to the relatively short rear links.

4-linking the front wouldn't really fly on a street driven truck, but I do think a proper 3 link is a must have once you start going north of 10" of travel just to keep the truck balanced. For low-travel use, the radius arms really do a great job of keeping the truck stable on the street.

Honestly a set of lockers will make one of these trucks capable of going places that most guys aren't comfortable driving a Defender, so unless your use requires large tire diameters or greater ground clearance that's definitely the best use of your money.

-Ash
 
#9 ·
My D90 has an LS3 and a 2" drop. Drives great and even the wife can't believe I WANT to run errands.
 
#11 ·
Wheel travel is a lot more than 12 to 14" in articulation. Not really sure what you are trying to accomplish. IF you want an LS in Defender, get a Defender and install one. It is pretty straight forward and all the parts are off the shelf. The Defender suspension is well setup and well supported by the aftermarket.
 
#12 ·
The truck will really not be used off-road other than some pretty tame gravel roads. Really more of a city highway cruiser. The mercury racing motor puts out 750hp na and I thought they only built
Outboard Motors . Would it be a mistake to ditch the 4wd for 2wd? I have a new puma sw shell for the project.
 
#15 ·
Historical note. The Rover V8 was first spotted by a Rover employee while visiting the Mercury Marine factory. It was a discarded GM design.

The thought of a Defender with the horsepower of a Corvette ZR1/Camaro ZL1, scares the **** out of me.

Its a totally insane idea, except on a dragstrip.
 
#16 ·
Oh, and with 750hp, you want all wheel drive.
 
#17 · (Edited)
I want to build and LS based D90 with a modern suspension and drivetrain.
The Roadster Shop chassis is IFS with solid rear axle. It appears that the front mounting points for the Defender wings and radiator support will have to be fabricated and added to the chassis. Broncos use the steel fenders as the structural element for the radiator support whereas the Defender has all that sitting on the chassis. Its fenders are flimsy aluminum with virtually no ability to hold up the weight of a radiator. Similar situation for the rear. The entire back end of the Rover sits on a full width crossmember that is also the rear "bumper".
So, the amount of fab work needed to make the D body fit the bronco chassis is extensive, invasive and requires quite a bit of engineering.
There is already a kit available that will allow you to drop an LS into a Defender with little modification. It's hard to beat the Rover chassis geometry. It is one of the things Rover did properly from the beginning! If you want to make it a lowered street fighter, there are parts available for that. If you want it to be a sky-high he-man offroad beast on 44s there are parts available for that too.
You are pursuing a path of head-beating-on-wall booger engineering but hey, your dime.

I also just noticed that the tank fill is on the wrong side. Happy tank modifying!
 
#19 ·
Thanks Bill
Your analysis is excellent and points well taken. The chassis are all individually fabbed and we are digitizing my d90 body now to see what changes need to be made structurally and the appropriate pick up points. I think this bronco chassis is way overkill for what I will use the truck for. I live is socal and other than an occasional trip to the snow or a run up to a friends cabin on gravel fire roads I will probably never use 95% of the capacity of this chassis. I do want to improve the ride quality and handeling over the stock truck and like the idea of IFS. I am considering ditching the 4wd for 2wd and eliminating a lot of cost for something I will rarely use. If I really need 4wd I will go buy a new 4runner. I like your description as a "lowered street fighter" which would account for almost all of its use. Appreciate your insight and comments.







------ Follow up post added December 6th, 2017 11:36 AM ------

Not reallya "super consumer" when it comes to land rovers..I am not fractionaly knowledgeable enough about them to fall in to that category. I am a car enthusiast with an eclectic collection. I like building projects actually more than driving them.I appreciate the wealth of knowledge of the forum members.




basic superconsumer behavior, most likely.
 
#29 ·
But other than that they’re fantastic!
 
#31 ·
BTW, you have a very nice body.
 
#33 ·
That is exactly right.
 
#37 ·
Yeah, baby!

Raub, I hope some day you and I can share a beer. Mine may be drier, but we share a common sense of humor.
 
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