VCU test result + Lift Kit

Hey all!

I have my Forever Land Rover and just want to let you all know what I have done and had a few question along the way. I will make sure to bold any questions so y'all can help without having to read me yap on

1. So this Saturday I performed a 1 wheel up test on my VCU and from looking at the forum for doing this I want a time under 1 minute to go from 1:30 to 3:00, now I am not sure but I used an 18" (1.5ft) Torque Wrench as my bar and 5L bottle of windshield wiper fluid as my 5KG, and it went from 1:30 to 3:00 in probably a couple seconds, literally no resistance, so my question is, Is such a quick time for the VCU test good or really bad? Any guidance here would be greatly appreciated.

Secondly I fitted a lift kit Saturday too as well as fixed the clunky gear change with some new rear diff mounts.

Glad to say the ride is so much smoother with those rear diff mounts. added a picture to show the centre and sides below;
What a pain in the a** it was to get that centre mount out of the bracket. replaced the side ones too as the parts were fairly cheap

The lift kit went very well actually after seeing some people have issues online, I only have one issue at the moment, which was that the camber bolts that came with muddymods was too short which I found out after trying to tighten it and ripped the threads off so now I have a lot of positive camber which while not massively bad not ideal.

I fitted 50mm to the front and 60mm to the rear, other than camber bolts, the track rods were very much stuck, got around this by simply removing them from inside the engine considering the 1.8 K Petrol has so much engine space it was easier, did need to grind the panel to the frame and painted it to make sure it did not rust.


Ignore all the tools, it was a long and hot day

Rear lift kit >

Rear fitted without the front:
Honestly could not be happier with the lift almost doubled the clearance on the car.
Could sit in the clearance if I wanted to

If anyone knows some good brand camber bolts that I can install to go get a wheel alignment?

Thank you all for reading!

Get your vcu checked (preferably by bell engineering) there's a lot of supposedly reconditioned vcu on the market that actually have no Viscous fluid in them. There should be resistance, no matter what test you do.

Contact muddymods regarding the camber bolts. It may have been a dodgy set in their stock and you were unlucky enough to get them

Dubtike said:

Get your vcu checked (preferably by bell engineering) there's a lot of supposedly reconditioned vcu on the market that actually have no Viscous fluid in them. There should be resistance, no matter what test you do.

Contact muddymods regarding the camber bolts. It may have been a dodgy set in their stock and you were unlucky enough to get them

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Appreciate the help! I have reached out to Muddy mods and will look at getting my VCU tested by bell engineering to ensure it is good.

The only Issue I had with my lift kit was it shortened the life of the front drive shafts. If yours give trouble do not by cheap aftermarket as they will fail almost immediately.
Make sure your track rod ends clear the chassis legs with the car jacked up and on full lock. If you are off roading having a wheel in the air on full lock is not unusual. I had to swap them from left to right which helped a bit but also I had to cut away some metal.

Muddy mods stuff is usually good so I'm surprised you had an issue, contact them for advice as the owner knows his stuff.

Wow that looks high at the back

damian46 said:

Wow that looks high at the back

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Once the shocks had some time to return to normal as they had been out of the car, it sits a little lower, I can still fit my head in between the wheel and wheel arch though, looking to get some bigger wheels once I have some spacers to clear the spring seat, not sure how much space I would need? Thinking 10-15mm not sure on the wheel either, I already have 195/85/R15 but the rims look a little small, looking to go something like 235/65/18 should be about 1inch extra clearance.

Alibro said:

The only Issue I had with my lift kit was it shortened the life of the front drive shafts. If yours give trouble do not by cheap aftermarket as they will fail almost immediately.
Make sure your track rod ends clear the chassis legs with the car jacked up and on full lock. If you are off roading having a wheel in the air on full lock is not unusual. I had to swap them from left to right which helped a bit but also I had to cut away some metal.

Muddy mods stuff is usually good so I'm surprised you had an issue, contact them for advice as the owner knows his stuff.

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Yeah I heard the drive shaft life is not normally as good with a lift, why is that do you think? could maybe whip something up to reduce strain on it where possible.

Reached out to Muddy mods, but have never had a reply when emailing before, not too sure on this one.

I do have another question for anyone that is able to help;

is the powerflex bushing kits worth it?

I keep seeing them around and the engine mounts and suspension yellow bushing kits do look good, not sure about the worth though, never done any bushing work before, would need a bearing press kit

xDParis64 said:

Yeah I heard the drive shaft life is not normally as good with a lift, why is that do you think? could maybe whip something up to reduce strain on it where possible.

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Erm, you could always take the lift out so that the CVs run at the angles they are supposed to.

On the back, I suppose you could lower the diff by 60mm.... and hope the UJs on the prop shaft don't give up or the diff gets collected by a rock. I'd have thought the fronts are the ones that go first though as they are shorter and the angles more acute.

xDParis64 said:

Yeah I heard the drive shaft life is not normally as good with a lift, why is that do you think? could maybe whip something up to reduce strain on it where possible.

I do have another question for anyone that is able to help;

is the powerflex bushing kits worth it?

I keep seeing them around and the engine mounts and suspension yellow bushing kits do look good, not sure about the worth though, never done any bushing work before, would need a bearing press kit

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The drive shaft joints are at a more extreme angle so need to work harder and are further out in the cups, the rubber boots have a harder time too.
You didn't say if you checked the clearance for the track rod ends. With a 50mm lift kit this is critical as in my experience they will catch on the chassis legs at full lock.

Powerflex bushes are supposed to be a little harsher as far as sound and vibration are concerned.

Alibro said:

You didn't say if you checked the clearance for the track rod ends. With a 50mm lift kit this is critical as in my experience they will catch on the chassis legs at full lock.

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Ah yeah, I did measure it all out, needed to cut out a bit at the bottom to make room for the 50mm, didn't have any issues being at full lock though, both track rods reached okay without any massive amount of strain, really all I need at the moment is some replacement anti-sway bar links as the ones on there now are going bad.

EDIT: I also painted over the cut parts to make sure they don't rust

Might skip out on the power flex bushes, really depends on what needs replacing.

Are there any videos on the muddymods slimeline 1.8, I don't want to bring a massive amount of attention to the sound of the car considering I want it for clearance, as looking under it, the exhaust is the lowest point of the car?