Discovery 1 HD overland suspension

Upgrading my Discovery 1 suspension

When I bought my Discovery, I knew from the start I would be changing the suspension.  The reason why I was thinking this way, was because I knew it was likely that at some point I would be carrying extra load and going off road and over land travelling at the same time.

Also, I felt that as the Discovery 1 was always sold as a hybrid car, 80% on 20% off road bias and therefore there would be some compromise with the suspension.

This little blogg holds my thoughts behind what I ended doing with Larry's suspension.

Which type of suspension to select for you Land Rover

After a lot of reading and looking at other peoples cars, I put the suspension upgrades into two types;

Type 1; 2"+lift for disco owners who are looking to improve the off road capability of their car, and fit much larger tyres than standard.

These set-ups come in standard and heavy duty shocks and springs, with cool stuff like dislocation cones etc for extreme off road action.  However the need to have the caster angle of the steering re-aligned to ensure the stability of the car remains in place is also a requirement with higher lifts. Apparently without caster correction (3 or 6 degree) a 2-4" lift  will make the car go all over the place and not be very stable, and can be dangerous.

Type 2; 1" or no lift and standard or heavy duty shocks and springs.  Big advantage here is there is no need for caster correction.  However, tyre choice is limited.

Also there is an advantage with keeping the height of your Landy as standard as possible.  A lot of people report failing bushes and drive train components after fitting a big lift.  I personally do not now anyone who has had this issue; but there seems to be a lot of people this has happened to on Land Rover forums.


I know I'm over simplifying the suspension choices a bit but that's how I think suspension lifts works.  Type 1 improves off road capability and looks super cool, type 2 improves load carrying capability and is less cool but more functional for overland travel.

Obviously like any car suspension set-up there are hundreds of manufacturers of suspension parts from the top range Old Man Emu to cheaper Britpart kits.  These range from an upgrade of say £100 for just springs to £1,000+ for a really exotic set-up.

What I selected

After a lot of research and also a couple of trips off road I decided that as standard a Discovery 1 is more than capable of tackling anything I would tackle anyway,  I take back the 80/20 bias I said earlier. You would be surprised just how far they can go if you do some free mods, like a bumper cut and learning t drive off road.

But as standard my suspension was a bit low under load and also a bit wobbly (possibly just a bit old like me) in an unladen state.  So I thought would lift it a little and also make it a little stiffer to reduce the wobblebility (is that a word?).

I decided I would fit Bearmach HD Blue Springs with a slight lift of 30mm on the front and 20mm on the back.  This would mean no need for a caster correction kit, also in theory I would be able to carry a heavy load in the back of Larry without the suspension getting low.

I also decided to put some Armstrong Gas HD shocks on Larry as well.  The complete set-up was about £363.00. The fitting process was really simple, I put Larry into a garage to get it done.  I know, but I had just spent all my spare time repairing the front end and I also wanted to get him checked out.  The fitting only cost £45 anyway.  I kept my old shocks as spares for when I go away.

After the suspension was fitted

So how is Larry now with his HD Springs and new shocks?  To be honest I was worried the springs would be so hard Larry would become uncomfortable to be in, but this is not the case.  He was wallowing before I got the suspension replaced, when I picked him up and drove home he felt a lot more stable and also higher, a lot higher, as in I could not put my foot flat on the floor when I got out.  What I found out was the old suspension was in fact tired and was sagging and Larry was now a good 2" higher than when I started.  Part of the lift will also be due to the HD springs not compressing much as the original springs.

I have now done about 800 miles since fitting and I must say I prefer this suspension than standard anyway.  Only time will tell how good it will be in Morocco later this year under load and off road.  I assume I will lose some articulation with the HD setup, but gain load capabilities.

Here's the suspension, sorry its not a good photo.

Bearmach Blue HD rear

And a wheel sitting in the rear arch, notice the big gap between the top of the tyre and the wheel.

Bearmach Blue, is it now time for bigger tyres?

That's it, the easiest upgrade so far.


Update !
3000 miles in a I'm used to the harder suspension now, on a smooth road there not a lot in it from the standard soft springs, on very bumpy roads it is noticeably harder.  The lift definitely has remained and is good.

Further Update !
Having now completed several motorway trips I will say that the HD suspension really adds to the noise in the cabin, this is most noticable when there's no load in the car, I'll see what happens when it is fully loaded for Morocco, 

Final update!
 I might have to change this setup, after 6,000 mile overland the setup is not right, to hard at the front and to low at the back.