After test driving several vehicles (including a 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee that literally started on fire during our test drive) we stumbled upon a Land Rover dealership. I never in a million years thought I’d step foot into a LR dealership, but saw a defender being unloaded and thought, what’s the harm. Before we leaving the parking lot, I was sold. Long story short, we purchased the vehicle (3 other people were waiting to drive it when we got back) but realized during the “intro” the sales person misquoted and led me to believe it had air suspension since this was the “only” option. I live in the PNW (Seattle area) and was extremely bummed to hear that after we purchased it. The ride is 100x better than the 2016 Porsche Cayenne we traded with air suspension, but my concern is the off-road driving and winter months we will certainly encounter. I’m looking into leveling kits, small suspension lifts, etc but realize I have a fairly rare set up and can’t find anything in the aftermarket for coil spring suspensions. Hoping to get some help finding options. I want to be able to still park in most commercial/residential garages so nothing extreme.

2022 Defender P400 x-dynamic SE
Tires - 255/60/R20 Parelli Scorpion All Seasons

2016 Cayenne GTS / 2022 Defender

 

nice looking defender! and that’s a real bummer about the misinformation you got about the suspension. with either suspension you have a very capable vehicle. yes, the air suspension can self-level, give you a smoother ride, lower for access mode and provide some extra lift in critical situations. that said, for driving in snow and on *most* forest service roads you’re not going to have any issues with the coil suspension. (you already noticed the coils feel a lot damper and have more travel than most other cars and suv’s.) the computerized terrain response capabilities might be of more use to you, but that comes in a separate option pack which is in addition to air suspension - part of either the advanced off-road or towing packs

i’m wondering about your use case (eg, small amount of extra clearance, tire fitment, towing, winch mount, aesthetics)? understanding this will help you wait and plan because i’m not aware of any aftermarket (and def no oem) lift kits… and i’ve looked around. i’m also hoping someone else knows of a solution.

good luck, and remember: if there’s nothing available then someone needs to be a guinea pig!

 

Sarek in Virginia has customized their coil Defender 90 and might be able to help give you some leads on how to think about coil changes. Maybe give them a call?

 

I live in the same area (looks like we bought from the same dealership) and for the service roads that I’ve been driving the past 6 months (both maintained and unmaintained) I haven’t ever had the need to raise the suspension. So assuming the coil height is the same as the normal mode on air suspension, I wouldn’t expect it to be a big deal unless you are looking to do more aggressive rock crawling.

I would say the bigger factor would be the tires that came on the vehicle.

 

There was someone on the FB owners group who had a factory order that showed up without air suspension....I think he had a converted my21 order that did not get converted correctly and he could not figure out how to raise the suspension. They remove the buttons for the coil spring versions so it seems like he was just trying to figure out how to make it work. His sales rep also confirmed he had it.

When I picked mine up a few weeks ago my sales rep did not go over many details of the vehicle other than getting my phone hooked up (which is something I did not need assistance with). I saw the air suspension buttons and the price I paid was the total price I had expected, but I would imagine some people who less involved in their purchase might not have caught the air suspension was now optional for my22 models and just missed out.

My sales rep was not aware the activity key does not require a physical key in the car. He told me I was wrong about that. I have yet to have the normal key in the car yet and only use the activity key.

 

Thanks, since this is my only vehicle, not super open to being the guinea pig

I’m actually looking for a solution that would allow me to fit a slightly larger tire. I’ve run Toyo MTs on a 4Runner, Tacoma, and F150 and would ideally like to fit on the defender. Having a bit more sidewall is the goal, and I’m trying to avoid changing out then brake calipers to allow for 18’s but that might be the only options for now.

 

Awesome, thank you! I’ll definitely reach out to them and post what I find.

 

My XD P400 HSE also got coil springs and same as you did, i realized that only when picked the vehicle.
So, given your concerns on lifting "a little bit", there is a solution .... however permanent. And by permanent i meant that there is a quiet a job to do, and once you have lifted it ... you wont be able to bring it back to normal height, unless you uninstall all the lifting parts. ---- > https://newdefendermods.com/collecti...39496353480893

 

Sarek is running the J Auston sub frame lift mentioned above, but I did enquire if a coil lift is planned - Sarek said "already working on it".

 

To date, Sarek has only changed to the stiffer OEM JLR springs (the ones you use when adding a winch). I spoke with Sarek last week and inspected in detail the work they performed and spoke with them and the quality level of the work is extremely high and their commitment to excellence is clear.