Rodewaryer

The importance of the garage needs situational understanding. Leaving a vehicle outdoors here (the desert) is committing it to a slow death. The sun is brutal, vehicles need to be indoors. Car covers help a lot but they are physically demanding especially if you are not at home in stormy weather and need to rely on the fit and method of attachment to stay on in wind etc. Needless to say, covers can work but are a LOT of trouble. I'd rather the Disco was in the garage. Also, one advantage is how I don't fit in the Joe average American category, the majority of whom have huge American trucks. Almost none of them fit in garages (mostly due to length) so it's another reason I am adamant about her being inside. I'm not sure how else a '96 could still look as good as mine does in this environment. Rubbing with the TX-1 wheels 'on road' (they have a rather outrageous offset, which I REALLY like and will take a lot to talk me out of) is under suspension compression in the rear, and it's literally tearing up the tires either from the lower rear corner of the wing or from the body seams at 12 o'clock position, or both. If I lift it a bit and retain the same stiffness I would think it would help/poss prevent the issue but there's no way to know without someone's suggestion who's tried it or by taking a risk by trying a best guess spring. I have a whole season where I don't go off road, hence the 'on road' wheels and tires getting a fair amount of use. Summers here are just too hot to spend time in the great outdoors, so the old girl gets used more for truck duties and bad weather from April to October. Off road I use the stock wheels and since I have the 245/75-16's (both sets use that size now, incl the spare) they rub a little where the 'camel cuts' have been suggested, I have not resorted to cutting this area yet since I see no damage, it's really just an annoyance when off road and even then it's only on the most 'articulated' situations.

Ok, I didn't say I didn't use the Disco off road. My 'exploits' are not serious, no trials, no rock climbing etc. On road the tires on my TX-1's rub, off road the tires on my stock wheels rub. I want the slight lift to help prevent this.

I've found I need to raise the beastie about an inch, maybe 1.5". I guess that's between 25-35 mm or so. Any higher and she doesn't fit in the garage anymore. Can anyone suggest a starting point for springs? Need them to be the same basic spring rate or possibly just slightly stiffer. When I do this will the sway bars need to go or....? My off road exploits are not that serious since I'm still on stock springs and shocks. It has worked fine for me for the last 13 years. The offset of the TX-1's (for road use) and the tire size increase on my factory wheels for offroading is the reason I figure a slight lift will help prevent the rubbing I'm getting. :-) Yeah, I'm just trying to save some searching time...thanks in advance!

Recently took her to northern Arizona for a week in the cooler temps. Put the TX-1's with Pirelli A/T's back on, installed a CB radio and a few other goodies. She performed a bit sluggishly but very reliable considering I went from about 1500' altitude to 6,000+. Didn't make it off road in all fairness, everywhere we wanted to see had normal access. It was just nice having the Disco up there and it was better at packing a weeks worth of gear. Accomodations were quite comfy:

EBC greens were disappointing on my Disco 1, esp in the rear, they squeeked horribly and wore rapidly. When I did rotors and pads X4 I went with factory and though the dust is a little heavier the performance and wear are back to where I expected so the dust compromise is easily justifiable. So far I haven't found an application for the greens that works for me. Not even my old Focus ZX3. I will probably get grief for this but I think they work best for, ahem, timid driving.....? I've read an awful lot of forums on Lotus, Focus', Lincoln LS, Sunbeams, Contours (Mondeo) and Land Rover and the general consensus is that greens are very limited in their performance scope. If you drive a point A to point B average-mobile, they might work for you. I use EBC reds on my SVT (same as ST 170) Focus with a BBK as well as my Esprit S1. They work wonderfully, I believe I'm on my 3rd set currently on the Focus. I live in a hot clime so the EBC reds are right at home. I'm using wilwoods middle compound on my Lincoln LS with a BBK also and they work very well since I'm harder than average on brakes.

I had three and as you can see all take a different approach. First the straight forward Bosch diagram and ignore my note stating 'park lights' on #5, that was for wiring fog lamps: Then the slightly more technically correct Cibie one: Then the quite simple Hella 'diagram': Hope one of them helps out.

Not sure about the Diode question. I always do a complete harness with my lamp installs (relay, fuse switches etc etc) and in order to have the lamps associated with the Main beam (high beam) circuit the #85 terminal off the relay would go to a main beam power wire. #86 goes to the switch and then to ground, #30 goes to main battery power via a fuse and #87 goes to the pair of lamps and ground the lamps however your particular brand suggests it. So with this method, when the switch is on, and you go to main beam the lamps will come on, and go off when dipped. They are still switchable independently (suggested) but the main convenience is that if an oncoming vehicle surprises you, when you dip the lights the drive lamps will go off as well without any fidgeting for a switch and dazzling that poor bloke coming toward you. I can scan any number of my wiring examples if you like......I'm just up way past my bedtime at the moment..... :-)

I just need to add credibility to skanny's post, my Disco 1 has ABS (and it's horrible) and has solid rotors. They are pretty good considering this but I would have more confidence if they were ventilated (and if the ABS were to suddenly go missing). What would be of value here would be the testimony of someone with experience using both types.......and possibly a kit by Paddock that's specifically for converting from solid to vented so all problems are dealt with in one kit. Buying the caliper and rotors/pads may well not be enough. One added point, If the cross drilled units are the same diameter as the originals I would advise against them. Cross drilled only work well if they're a big brake kit so the original mass has been increased, hence increasing the ability to retain heat. Many have found cross drilling stock sized rotors decreases brake life (and effectiveness in certain situations) since the mass has been reduced to less than the original due to the drilling.

We have a similar problem. I'm not sure mine goes flat in a week, it's closer to a fortnight, but still too soon in my opinion. I leave it hooked up to a charger on a timer. Since mine isn't a daily driver it's not an issue but now I think I'll give a go at figuring out the rate of discharge.......

I'm interested in the High output alternator route as well. I have already done the yellow top Optima battery on my Disco 1. This is a very good battery, I just think under certain conditions with AC on (I live in the desert) and a lot of lamps etc that the HO Alternator would be the ticket. I have done this to my Focus already, I installed the yellow top Optima battery, upgraded the ground cables with a kit (that also adds a few), and then I replaced the 105 amp alternator with a 180 amp unit. It's expensive stuff however but now that it's all done, I can cook anything within a couple hundred yards at night (with the exception of other vehicles of course) and have absolutely no worries how many accessories are running. I'm going to contact the place that did my Focus unit (in the central USA) and see what's available for the Discovery. http://www.highoutputalternator.com/online-catalog.aspx They do have a listing for the Series 1 Disco but require an email query for availability and price.

I'll have to look at what old leafer is saying more closely. My rub issue at the rear is the passenger side only and at the very top of the arch, just inside the arch under the door seam. It's a complicated area and I don't see any mods there being effective. I think the lift is all I can do. Thankfully these are not the off road wheels and tires, I use this size tire on stock wheels off road and the clearances are adequate so far. Is it possible to only lift the truck about 1.5 inches? I really don't want to ruin on road manners too much.....

I fitted the Australian TX-1 wheels to my Discovery. As you can clearly see, with that offset, they do have clearance issues with compression in the rear and turning in the front. I trimmed the plastic valance in the front so turning is no longer an issue, but the compression issue requires a lift. I doubt even stock sized tires would help at the rear so it looks like it's lift time......however, even having said that, after 12 years of the same stock wheels this is a refreshing change to say the least.

$195 ea. (they're $210 on the site) and I pick them up myself since the Superlite distributor is more or less local for me so there's no shipping charges. Not sure how many quid that works out to, a little under 100 pounds? I'm told they're made in Australia, so your costs may have been a bit more....... Other than factory and steel wheels, what's out there besides these TX-1's?

Who has tried these? At this moment mine are being painted in preparation for delivery. Black is kind of hard to properly evaluate but they're on a familiar product at least: Fitted to a Defender: Not a Land Rover but the only pic I could find that showed them in a manner by which they can be seen. Their site and they only list series Landies, Defenders and Series 1 Disco's. http://www.vtoperformance.com/acatalog/Land_Rover.html

I thought Disco II's were easier to find rims/wheels for than Disco 1's? I finally have some on order for my Disco 1 after all these years......looking forward to a different look.

Really good info guys. Thanks, sounds like a pretty serious project for less than proportional gains. It sounds like less trouble supercharging the 4.0 then? I took a look at that V8.org site and found it's V-8.org. I found one tidbit there on the 3.9 to 4.6 swap but it was a Capri with a carb and a distributor. He's not dealing with the same issues the Disco will have to.

Harding Steel appears to be quite prolific: http://hardingsteel.com/trilifts.shtml And then there's this one: http://hardingsteel.com/carparx.shtml And by the standards of the others mine is mickey mouse: http://hardingsteel.com/carlifts.shtml

Are you referring to Discovery II's? Pretty sure my series 1 has the pathetic 182bhp 4.0 in it (no insult intended, I have a 2.0 Focus that has 170 bhp, just seems a bit freaky to me a 4cyl of half the size has nearly the same bhp). What does the 4.6 have? Something like 215 bhp or so?

A bit off the topic of the thread but you have referred to 4.6 liter engines a couple times and now I'm curious what is involved and if the gains in BHP are enough to warrant doing it to my Series 1. Any reference to a thread (I looked, the search didn't like what I entered) or to someone that knows more would be greatly appreciated.

Wow, that makes mine sound boring. Brilliant idea you've worked out there. My hats off to you!

It's a morale imperative that I defend my buddy (Alpine) of 34 years. Every single Tiger is a cutting torched, modified Alpine. Simple fact. The Alpine is the actual British car, the Tiger is an Alpine taken off the assembly line and hacked with a cutting torch. All it takes is a look at the welds in the shock tower areas and the firewall (amoungst others) to suddenly see the reality of it. Faster, yeah it is in a straight line, hot rods usually are but mine has done well enough for itself. At a Tigers United autocross some years ago my Alpine was 12th out of 74 Tigers and (a few) Alpines. The lift was completed (moved) a week after the pics above were taken. It officially works as witnessed by my Focus parked fully under it. This thing is great.

Everyone has such serious/modified Disco's. Wow. Nothing radical here, just my very depended upon and dependable friend of 12 years now:

Cutting has been suggested, and isn't out of the question. The only reason I mentioned storage not being the option was because I figured about 99% of the forum members here would want one for maintenance rather than storage. I lived in the UK for 5 years, I do understand the small garage issue. :-)

I wish I could have seen the pictures in this thread, none of them are showing unfortunately. Can I just ask that if they are really cheap, how well are they going to work (range, spread etc)? I have a little saying I use all the time and it relates to how tyres and lights are two things you never want to go cheap on. I haven't found a lamp (unless a rare bargain is found on used items) that is worth it's salt unless you pay fairly well for it. It's a shame to spend a lot time mounting, wiring etc only to find the performance of the item is lacking. Just my opinion however..... I believe you CAN have your cake and eat it too, there are ways if a bit of time and thought are put into lamp type and all alternative locations are considered. Be careful on roof mounting that you don't get a lot of light on your bonnet that desensitizes your eyes at night......

I know this isn't of any real use to owners here but I'm just so OTT about it...... I didn't see an off topic forum so I thought I'd post this here. My garage is a residential type but has a fairly high ceiling (10' 3") and I've always wondered about putting a storage type lift in it so I could get my extra vehicle inside out of our notoriously harsh sun. I had never pursued this due to so many issues that always have priority over a garage 'embellishment'. About two weeks ago I got a call from a friend who's sister company had failed and was going out of business. They deal in garage outfitting and they had a demo lift unit that they wanted to sell but had to do so 'under the radar' since they couldn't announce anything publicly for fear of some difficulties with their building lease. I took a look and the $10k unit (yes a bit extravagant) had been assembled 3-4 times at shows and had been on display in the back of their shop. Long story short I got it for $4.5k and had them throw in the floor tiles that you can see in the pics. Most here won't understand the need for storage, or how I could justify a lift that is not for maintenance (the floor is solid). But the sun here is quite detrimental to vehicles (it was 112 degrees today) and this way I can get 4 cars in my 3 car garage and have better security knowing when I'm away my cars are all inside. BTW, for those who notice, the lift isn't all the way up in these pics as we just basically got it installed, it still needs to move back a bit (doing it in two days time) in order to clear the 'open' doors to allow a car under it.