disco1 wheel past arches question !

jai_landrover said:

Depends how you lift your vehicle you can fit a lift kits that will LIMIT you articulation. Also Dependant on how the "kit" lifts your vehicle? stronger springs, longer stronger srpings, longer spfter springs Shorter softer springs the list is endless. Also by using standard or even longer shocks you can limit your available articulation.

ITS SIMPLY NOT A CASE OF FITTING A "LIFT KIT" WITH 6 INCH LONGER SHOCKS. la la

Shock mounts will have to be moved to make any great gain above 2 inch longer shocks All of this WILL affect you handling of the vehicle whereas a 1 inch body lift mabe 2 at a push (done correctly) checking you have not cocked up the steering column angle of the dangle and or any pipes wires etc will enable you to fit bigger tyres without fecking up LR hard work.

Seen so many I got a 4 inch lift kit and the car cannot get over a small hump. Also Articulatyion IMO is by far over rated its good to show off but an you actually drive up and over stuff?
How much weight is on the wheel hanging low enough for you to keep traction to keep moving?

The RR looks pretty standard suspension setup. A RR classic pre 1990 I think has the best spring rates and articulates lovley standard. The one in pic may indeed have more than standard slightly but I personally wouldn't have spent alot of cash for that extra gain. Just me I'm Tight!

Suspension setup is a whole science and compromise. LR have done the hard work adding OME springs without knowing:
Spring rates,
Spring overall length,
Shock compressed length,
Shock extended length,
Shock mounting posistion how much higher or lower the shock sits,
The angle difference from standard and obviously,
The damping rate

If you bolt on a "lift kit" without knowing the above you are just messing about bolting on ****e hoping it works out. Remember if you move the shock mount inbound or forwards more of an angle to upright you will get more articulation assuming nothing else rubs but you will loose dampening effect. So if you move the mounts you need better quality/higher dampening ability shock.

Good luck you may end up with a great looking car on a ramp or for a posing picture but possibly a piece o ****e when it comes to driving over things and road handling. On the other hand you may be lucky and get everything right but I doubt it!

2 inch Kits are common and TBH the best setup I've seen is Procomp +2 shocks and RR classic red/white springs depending on engine other kit fitted. That has been the triallers choice for a long time and has been the best out of the bunch IMO.

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Onya jai, and the money you save with body lift, can spend on locking diffs and still have enough left to do some other things as well.

right thats me put off jacking the bugger up,will it be ok to cut arches to clear going to be fitting 31 10.5 50 15 on 8x15 8 spoke steels,or am i being a ****...

dont forget to change the props.you will eat em for a past time standard...

2 inch lift is ok with a few other bits.use disco steels and 265 75 can fit.I have no problems but i did change the props and fitted caster correction.

so is it better to fit lift kit along with the wheels im getting,or will things wear just the same either way

Go for the lift kit, you wont regret it despite what others say, its cheap enough and easy enough to do, body lift is a complete time consuming nightmare, if not ring somebody like devon 4x4 who will give you specialist advise on what you want and need as obviously there are conflicting opinions in here, although i have been off roading for 10 years and have yet to see a "spacered/body lift vehicle" out do a suspension kitted one, you are not to know, get some advice and come back and let us know what they have told you and what you decide to do.... Good luck

my mate body lifted his D1 by 50mm with 3" suspension lift-drives like an arsehole!!!

approx 2" lift on a disco will let you go anywhere a defender can-do it!

Well Well Well...........3 holes in the ground.

Alot of people don't like to hear it but a propper suspension lift is great most kits are ****e! Slight body lift and lockers are by far better if done well. Any body lift is important to get right and quite some work thats why alot of people don't do it because it need to be done absolutly 100% right. When any home/hobby mechanic can spend £200 and bolt on a "kit" that seems to make a huge difference. Remember some kits are supposed to be good, some are very very bad.

Your better off driving the vehicle and learning it before doing any mods. Try trialling I have been involved in Trialling since I was 12. Marshalling and helping out. I was driving at 14 and built my first Landrover completly up at 19 as my first vehicle.

Right that said Trialling WILL improve your control and ability to out drive many other people that have all the gear and quite litrally no idea. A discovery with a 2 inch lift is nowhere near as good as good condition standard suspension setup 90 on the same tyres drivetrain its a simple matter of approach departure wheelbase and weight. Also a std disco without mods the biggest tyres that will fit without rubbing are slightly bigger than 205's. A disco simply not happening given both drivers are the same good standard the 90 will out do the Discovery 90% of the time. (I'm not here to start an argument) Discos are cheap now Hell I was given one just before xmas and they are a good all rounder family run around and weekend fun which it is excellent better road manners than a defender due to longer wheelbase and better sound proofing interior. To add to my point how many people trial or use seriously in Comps a Discovery? Not that many because of the above: approach, departure, wheelbase and weight.

A thing to remember is if you intend to lift your landrover by a lift kit is:
how much? over 1 inch you may need high angle propshafts, £££££ you will certainly need new shocks and or mounts, you will then need extended brake and breather pipes, also castor correction but this may or may not work dependant on how it is achieved. The list goes on and on and on................................

Yes you can throw on a £200 Kit and then spend a whole lifetime fixing problems and niggles that are being caused by the lift kit.

Where are you based? if you want to go have some fun learn some driving tips from real experts without destroying your motor go to your local Land rover club that run RTV trials to ARC regulations they will put you straight keep the bull****e to the minimum and hell you will be a better driver after some experience.

foss said:

my mate body lifted his D1 by 50mm with 3" suspension lift-drives like an arsehole!!!

approx 2" lift on a disco will let you go anywhere a defender can-do it!

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Be honest now:

Has the suspension been castor corrected after the 3 inch lift? (if so how?) bushes/swivels/rewelded axle brackets?
Does he run cranked arms?
Does he have wide angle propshafts?
Does he run Polybushes yellow/orange/blue?
What kit does he have?
What spring rates?
What shocks?
What shock mounts?
What extra weight does he have? Winch/Highlift/jerrycans?

Again I suspect another example of a not very well thought out suspension setup. That setup to get right should have cost a fortune just for the correct parts to get it back to being half drivable. The body lift alone will not cause too many issues. Most Disco 1's have saggy body mounts usually 10mm lower than they were when they left the factory. Hell some are 20 years old, the rubber bushes have decayed and caused the body to sag.

Hi Kev!
How was Wales?

Hi Jai.

Wales was fun apart from my alternator going tits up. Will bring lappy and show you photos at pub meet.

Anyways, back on topic!! Why lift your Landy in the first place??

If you're doing it just for "the look" well knock yourself out. I drive a standard RRC no lift and it is very good. I admit because of the limited tyre size it is often the first to get grounded but prudent use of power will get it through.

Equally, by understanding how my suspension works and its' limitations I have driven where I should have been well and truly stuck. I would rather look at a body lift rather than a suspension lift for lots of reasons but principally a body lift will enable a larger diameter tyre to be fitted giving the increased ground clearance.

A suspension lift DOES NOT increase clearance under your diff which is what you get stuck on unless like me you do it properly and hang it up on the chassis, then a suspension lift might be useful. A suspension lift is more likely than not to upset your on-road handling and it will certainly affect stability.

All I can say is you pays your money and takes yer choice. If you just go laning, personally, I'd leave it alone, especially if you use your landy for regular domestic transport.

Well said that Man

Well Jai you know how it is!!

At the end of the day it don't matter if you're lifted, gifted, rich or poor when you're stuck you're stuck and that's when you need to know who your mates are!!

Unfortunatly everyone goes on about lifting it will make it great. As said previously your best asset will be to learn to drive it to its limitations in its current setup. Then and only then change things to make it go beyond if you feel you need to. Trust me somone in a standard RR/Disco/Defender will at some point out drive you even with above modifications.
ClassicKev is a perfect example the RR he drives is absolutly standard and maintained regardless of cost to keep it in perfect working order. This is by far the best thing to keep ontop of. How many modded motors can you say drive like new and last. How many do you see in good condition? Not that many! The only mods are some well thought out mods Lights and most importantly decent tyres. The RR has its limitations but none should hinder any greenlane. If a RR classic on decent tyres cannot be driven down a legal greenlane then there are 2 questions to be answered: Iis the driver up to it? if the answer is Yes then the other question is: Should you be driving that greenlane?

Honestly "you need a lift kit mate" "You need 35 inch tyres" and "get a 6 inch body lift" are misconceptions and in real life most of the time can be over come with driving skill. I challenge that Disco with a 3 inch lift and 2 inch body lift to any offroad driving challenge I will prove that you do not need all that bolt on ****e just a well thought out suspension setup.

classic kev said:

Well Jai you know how it is!!

At the end of the day it don't matter if you're lifted, gifted, rich or poor when you're stuck you're stuck and that's when you need to know who your mates are!!

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Aye! Too true!

I think Loneranger has half invited a few of us to his small quarry as a gesture for ryder and myself dragging him out of Fernaux very early one morning. Might be a giggle. I'll try and get him to our pub meet where ever it may be.

I picked up a brane new wheel and tyre from southampton so almost a full set of new tread! woohoo! Also got a spare comllpete 90 front axle for 99p in Woking the vans been earning its keep today!

jai_landrover said:

Aye! Too true!

I think Loneranger has half invited a few of us to his small quarry as a gesture for ryder and myself dragging him out of Fernaux very early one morning. Might be a giggle. I'll try and get him to our pub meet where ever it may be.

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Sounds like fun!

Back to the OP I think really the best bet would be stick 235/70/16 MT's on it at first and play with it. You will get stuck where Defenders will get through sometimes but that is only because Defender has 750's (235/85/16?) and shorter over hangs but if you drive right......

I know exactly what Jai is on about and have to say I have the advantage of knowing the guy and seeing what he can do. Bottom line, he's right so take his advice on board. That said, I've pulled him out before now although I think he has rescued me more than I have him. There are two great things about advice on this forum; first it's free and second, you don't have to take it. Nuf said.

ye some very good points to be taken here,the reason for the lift is i have a set of 8w15 8 spoke steels with some 31.10.5s on them,was wanting to fit these without it tearing off the arches,i like the looks of the 2"lift kit,but i do use it with the familly quite alot,but was wanting a bit more ground clearance on the axles pretty new to the offroading side of it but have got a few mates that are well into it with heavily kitted out motors not landys right enough but would be good to eventually pull there g wagons out the dirt lol,
so basically was wanting to lift the axles up via bigger tyres ,picked theses wheels and tyres up at good price,and want to put them on without to much rubbing,
i have got bfg mts 235/70-16 on at mo and cannot fault them,just seem to get stuck on diffs alot...
hope this makes some kind of sence

jai_landrover said:

Be honest now:

Has the suspension been castor corrected after the 3 inch lift? (if so how?) bushes/swivels/rewelded axle brackets?
Does he run cranked arms?
Does he have wide angle propshafts?
Does he run Polybushes yellow/orange/blue?
What kit does he have?
What spring rates?
What shocks?
What shock mounts?
What extra weight does he have? Winch/Highlift/jerrycans?

Again I suspect another example of a not very well thought out suspension setup. That setup to get right should have cost a fortune just for the correct parts to get it back to being half drivable. The body lift alone will not cause too many issues. Most Disco 1's have saggy body mounts usually 10mm lower than they were when they left the factory. Hell some are 20 years old, the rubber bushes have decayed and caused the body to sag.

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none of the above-it gets trailered to p&p sites once a month & abused...spending a large sum money wasnt justifiable to him...he just wanted to have a laugh & not worry if he bends it :rolly:
but i imagine if done properly then yes it would be driveable on a normal highway

classic kev said:

A suspension lift DOES NOT increase clearance under your diff which is what you get stuck on unless like me you do it properly and hang it up on the chassis, then a suspension lift might be useful. t.

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it will if you up tyre size.i used to run 235/70/16's.
i couldnt have fitted 265/75/16's on mine without a lift as they caught the arches majorly on articulation.
I have gained diff to ground clearance & have no rubbing issues at all

ps i spend ALL my spare pennies keeping my car in top order & ALL my spare time doing so...just cos its modded doesnt mean i let it go...i have every intention of keeping hold of it permanently...itll probably end up like Trigger's broom!