Defenders are very capable trucks off-road but there is always a bit more performance you can squeeze out with the right mods. When I bought this truck it came with stock OEM suspension and wheels but very wrong tires. The ride was ok but adjustments were needed. It was clear the prior owner didn’t know how to match the right tires for this truck or set up the suspension properly.
Since I needed to replace the tires anyway I might as well get slightly larger. I decided to go with 305/70/16 BFG KO2 All Terrain. I also knew I wanted a winch and that means more weight on the front which means some adjustments are needed to ensure the truck doesn’t nose dive. For the wheels I was torn on what to do. I really like Hutchinson Rock Monster bead lock wheels but they cost a small fortune so I decided to keep the stock wheels for now. I might powder coat them matte black if I decide not to buy the Rock Monsters. But let’s be real…..I will end up with the Rock Monsters at some point. DOT legal bead locks designed for military applications? Who could resist that?
All of that meant we needed the following suspension upgrades:
30mm wheel spacers
OEM HD springs
Old Man Emu shocks
Old Man Emu steering stabilizer
1” spring spacer in the front to prevent nose dive when the winch is put on
Now the truck looks proper (in my eyes) and performs much better on-road and off-road.
UPDATE:
After driving around with this setup I decided to remove the front and rear sway bars. What I found was that the springs and shocks are stiff enough to give me the stability I need on the road so the sway bars were not as important. Also by removing them I will get better articulation off-road. This mod is not for everyone because you are removing a safety feature to some degree. But for how I use this truck this seemed like an acceptable tradeoff.