Double shocks, it's the way of the future....

Regarding rear shocks for overland travel, I don't think there is a realistic (price) answer. I recon the best thing to do would be to fit the double kit, and use 4 x standard shocks (or koni, whatever), but I think what ever shock you buy they'll break under the extreme conditions of overland travel, corrigations etc. So, why not accept that and use cheap non genuine standard ones. Of course, this plan does mean carrying a load of spear shocks!! Not so good maybe.

I can get shocks that would not break, but these are £300.00 EACH!!! And they're the cheap ones!

Hey, back to these darn springs, I have been selling Land ROver parts for years and years, and I can assue you that the 110 hard top rear springs are the same as the 130 rear springs (but 130's have the helpers, oh, the camels are the same as the 130's with the same helpers etc).
110 hard top/pick-up rear spring part numbers are, NRC6389 drivers, NRC6904 passengers. 130's exactley the same!
Don't get me started on part numbers....... I'll bore you to tears!!

Cheers,
Matt

"Do you think any of your problems were caused by speed?"

No, I didn't take any ;-) Seriously - it probably had an effect, but the speed on difficult terrain was mainly to avoid sinking in the sand. The 2nd rear shock broke crawling up a pass in the Atlas in low 2nd gear. NB I got a replacement rear shock in NDB for the first one that had failed on the way over from Choum - the replacement was a front Santana shock with the top bolt fitting cut off and the loop fitting from my broken shock welded on. This made it all the way home. (I drove home with one rear shock, which was fine on the road).

"Whats a xr650 by the way?"

A Honda motorcycle, 165kg (fuelled with big tank) + 50kg rack. Think of it as a desert lifeboat.

"When you say 130 springs, are they with or without the helper springs? The 130 springs (no helpers) are not as strong as the 110 HD ones according to the chart I looked up"

I'm with Matt on this one. I said 130 springs as this came to mind easily. Looking at my workshop manual, they are the same as the 110 unlevelled (3050 kg vs 2950 levelled) NB the heavier payload 110s(3400/3600) have the same springs, but with helpers. Maybe the chart difference is due to the extra weight of the 130 which reduces it's payload by 100kg compared to a 110 with the same suspension.

"Mmmm... well I bought one spare rear Koni of Scorpion today, and thought I'd take some of the landy ones as spares...?"

Too right - the Landy ones are not as effective as posher gas shocks - they work ok, but they have less heat to dissipate (as they are not working so hard - a coat of matt black may help too). I didn't take any spares because I planned on taking my old ones - but I had to cut them off & I omitted to put them on my shopping list. Has anyone tried Wolf rear dampers (STC 3087)?

"Duals sound nice - what is the best or cheapest way of adding the dual mounts at the rear?"

There's a couple of different kits I saw - but I'm not sure about removing the rear anti roll bar, which could be a requirement. There's also the option of a 2nd rear axle ;-)

Good luck with your preparations, I hope you get time to test, but thinking about it logically, it's far easier to remove 2nd shocks and helper springs on the road if it's too firm than add them if it's too soft. But if I had no choice but to set off again with the same loading and suspension, then I would - it didn't ruin my trip.

Regards,

Ian

Do you think any of your problems were caused by speed?"

No, I didn't take any ;-) Seriously - it probably had an effect, but the speed on difficult terrain was mainly to avoid sinking in the sand. The 2nd rear shock broke crawling up a pass in the Atlas in low 2nd gear. NB I got a replacement rear shock in NDB for the first one that had failed on the way over from Choum - the replacement was a front Santana shock with the top bolt fitting cut off and the loop fitting from my broken shock welded on. This made it all the way home. (I drove home with one rear shock, which was fine on the road).

** Well, I think I will at least take a 2nd rear shocker now.

"Whats a xr650 by the way?"

A Honda motorcycle, 165kg (fuelled with big tank) + 50kg rack. Think of it as a desert lifeboat.

** And here I am feeling guilty about taking 300 odd minidiscs so I have someting to do when I break down.


"When you say 130 springs, are they with or without the helper springs? The 130 springs (no helpers) are not as strong as the 110 HD ones according to the chart I looked up"

I'm with Matt on this one. I said 130 springs as this came to mind easily. Looking at my workshop manual, they are the same as the 110 unlevelled (3050 kg vs 2950 levelled) NB the heavier payload 110s(3400/3600) have the same springs, but with helpers. Maybe the chart difference is due to the extra weight of the 130 which reduces it's payload by 100kg compared to a 110 with the same suspension.

** I'm with Matt as well. He does me great prices and his new venture in Ocean Liners is sure to be a success.


"Mmmm... well I bought one spare rear Koni of Scorpion today, and thought I'd take some of the landy ones as spares...?"

Too right - the Landy ones are not as effective as posher gas shocks - they work ok, but they have less heat to dissipate (as they are not working so hard - a coat of matt black may help too). I didn't take any spares because I planned on taking my old ones - but I had to cut them off & I omitted to put them on my shopping list. Has anyone tried Wolf rear dampers (STC 3087)?

** I'll ask Dunsfold about them - I'm camping there this week. They had some HD lr shocks, but subtly suggested the Koni's would be better for me. And they are very pro LR original stuff.


"Duals sound nice - what is the best or cheapest way of adding the dual mounts at the rear?"

There's a couple of different kits I saw - but I'm not sure about removing the rear anti roll bar, which could be a requirement. There's also the option of a 2nd rear axle ;-)

** Yeah, spoke to Matt over the phone and I run into trouble with the exhaust - it would need to be moved.

** I also spoke with Colin at SR - he said be careful as you can make it too hard so that your shockers don't break. So the chassis does. Which is what I had read on a few overland trip sites.

** Think I'll try just 2 Koni rears and see how I get on.


Good luck with your preparations, I hope you get time to test, but thinking about it logically, it's far easier to remove 2nd shocks and helper springs on the road if it's too firm than add them if it's too soft.

** But it's cheaper and less hassle to stay the same :-)

But if I had no choice but to set off again with the same loading and suspension, then I would - it didn't ruin my trip.

** Exactly.