The Rover-Landers of BC

Hi guys I need new shocks for my 97 Discovery, also a steering stabilizer.
Should I go OEM or after market and why?
Any local vendors in Lower Mainland, or Internet?

Hi Paul

In the technical articles tab is a how to do & what I put on my 97 Disco from Safari Guard.
OME Stage one, 2" lift. The truck has settled down to about 1.75" lift after two years.

This info is from discoweb.org

Number Brand Axle Application Length (DS) Length (PS) Rate
inches inches lb/inch
760 OME Front Light Duty - up to 20 kg extra weight 15.0 14.6 180-250
761 OME Front Medium Duty - up to 50 kg extra weight 16.2 15.2 200
757 OME Front Old MD 761 replaces 15.9 15.6 200-230
751 OME Front Heavy Duty - 50 to 110 kg extra weight 16.0 15.2 230
Stage 1 Bearmach Front Medium Duty 15.5 15.5 195
2105 Bearmach Front Heavy Duty 17.3 17.3 195

764 OME Rear Medium Duty 17 16.75 220
758 OME Rear Old MD 764 replaces 17.0 16.5 ?
762 OME Rear Heavy Duty - 100 kg constant load (Disco, RR)
200 kg load (D90) 17.0 16.7 300-340
759 OME Rear Old HD 762 replaces 18.1 18.1 260-300
763 OME Rear Very Heavy Duty - 200 kg constant load 16.7 16.4 360
Stage 1 Bearmach Rear Medium Duty 16.4 16.4 240
2102 Bearmach Rear Heavy Duty 17.5 17.5 295


Suspension modifications available:


Old Man Emu (OME) springs and shocks: replacement for a bit stiffer and taller coil springs, results in better handling. Shocks are nitrocharged. Very popular setup without driveline problems.
Land Rover HD springs: mainly for heavier load
Old Man Emu springs and Bilstein shocks: stiffer bilstein shock valving is more suited for hwy driving.
Rockware: practically, OME springs with longer shocks and spring guides. They offer Rancho or Bilstein shocks. Lot of articulation for the money, plus noise and other unwanted strength loss.
Safari Gard: Stage I, II, and III. Stage III uses SG custom springs and remote reservoir Fox shocks. The custom longer softer springs allow extreme articulation without the need for spring guides.
Coil-Overs: Choice of shocks... unlimited... Fox, King, Sway-A-Way, Bilstein, whichever shocks that offer coil-carrier kits. Aside from the nice riding valving, and ride heigth adjustability, advantages are the extreme articulation without having the springs coming off the seats... (CLUNK!)

Best bang for the buck are the pro comp 3000s $60 bucks each, from north shore off road and guaranteed for life and they usually have them In stock. Been running them for the past year and a half.

Cheers
Andrew

Hi,

Welcome to the forum and the world of Landrovers!!

You should consider the suspension as a system. The stock suspension works very well on and offroad. If your shocks are wornout you can easily replace them with the same genuine Landrover parts.

If you you want to modify the truck from stock so you can run larger tires there are many options. I put the OME heavy duty springs and shocks in my Discovery which has worked well as an all round replacement and gives a 1.5 to 2" lift for bigger tires but I also had to trim the body panels. I have noticed that they tend not to be as flexable as some other options and this may be because they are heavy duty.

I have had problems with Bilsteins and I don't recommend them. You could easily do a 1 or 2" spring lift using spring spacers and a rear shock drop kit and if you want more lift do a 1 or 2" body lift (I did a 1.5" body lift on my disco) this way you keep the genuine Landrover springs and shocks and that ride quality you've been talking about.

Anyways, there are lots of options hope this was some help. Let us know what you decide!!

Later,
Don