The Vehicle - Up To OverLand Spec

Tyres Tyres Tyres     Suspension     To Winch Or Not To Winch

The next thing that gets a kicking after the tyres on trips like this is the suspension. So it was important for it to be in good condition. Being a working vehicle it came supplied with heavy duty springs, so they were sorted. The dampers on the other hand were not good. The standard dampers had been retained at the rear and they could not cope well with the heavy duty springs rebound after going over things like speed bumps. The front dampeners had at some point been replaced with up rated ones. But these had suffered badly under working conditions and one was starting to leak. So all of them had to go. I replaced them with high pressure, heavy duty gas shock absorbers (Delphi, De Carbon). This made a big difference to the handling. No more nasty kickbacks from the rear and the front had become firmer, so good for cornering. I was so impressed by the performance I went a brought the steering dampener as well. This again helped improve the driving comfort. Well worth it! As part of sorting the suspension I had always intended to replace the rubber bushes with polybushes. The kit was bought and it took a whole weekend of swearing and fighting to get the old ones out and fit the new ones. But again the results were worth it, as it has helped to reduce body role further. Whilst not giving you a rough ride. Hopefully they will last longer than the standard rubber ones as well. Also in this whole process I also replaced the front shock absorber turrets, as the old ones were looking dodgy.

Real World

After 24,307 Miles of tarmac and African pistes one of the rear shocks failed and leaked all of its oil. Finished off by the extreme off road driving in Angola. Also I feared that one of the front shocks was on it's way out as it was not damping correctly any more. So I figured it was best to changed all four and I did this in Namibia. The Delphi ones were not available so I chose to change the shocks to Monroe gas dampers. As I was fitting these I found the fixings, bolts and cases to be superior to the Delphi De Carbon's, far thinker and tougher. The difference was immediate and the Landy again handled like it should. These shocks then lasted fine all the way to Djibouti with out a problem and are still on the Landy.

The Poly bushes also didn't last the whole trip and where also knackery by the time I had arrived in South Africa. These I had changed a 4x4 Mega world in Johannesburg and this set lasted the return trip. The main problem was that with the large amounts of axle articulation that the suspension had experience lead to some bushes being pinched and torn. Their wear was further spend up by dirt ingress (because of their split design) which ground away at the bushes. In my opinion these ploy bushes are not the best option for long distance off road overland journeys. Even though they do help stiffen the suspension and reduce body roll. I think that it is better to stick with the standard rubber bushes with there metal casings, as they are less prone to dirt ingress and easier to find replacements. Poly bushes no doubt have their advantages, one of which is there resistance to perishing, and I would happily use them on the road, with occasional off road use. But for the purpose of off road overlanding, not the best option.