I had a 1998 Defender come in needing new front springs and shock absorbers. On all the coil-sprung vehicles the front shocks sit inside a conical tower which is attached to the top of the spring seat with four nuts that screw onto studs. Not for the first time I found that someone had beenand had to be cut off. The retaining rings (into which the studs are pressed) had to be replaced which meant dropping the axle until the springs cleared the top mounts. This would have been all the more annoying if I hadn’t needed to remove the springs anyway as part of the job.
