Disco 200tdi Supension and wheels

[IainDB]

Hi everyone,

I currently use my Disco about 50% on road and 50% off road, I currently have road tyres on which is not good!!! I am looking to get some A/T's but also would like to get a lift kit for her.

My main reason for the post is to try and ascertain what to do. I want A/T's suited for 50/50 use but would also like to increase her overall ground clearance without loosing too much of he comfortable road driving (doing about 600 miles a month). What lift kit should I buy? Should I be looking to increase the rim size and if so what to? What tyres would be best to buy?

Would be really great to get a shopping list (lift kit, tyres and sizes, rims and sizes, spacers if needed, eyebrows if needed, body modifications if needed.) compiled from some people so I can get a better idea as to what I am up against!

I don't have a clue and don't want to be miss sold products from some random person, I am not bothered by brand names and I am happier buying CHEAP quality parts.

Any help will be greatly appreciated in my quest!

Iain

[discojmz]

for one thing, lifting the suspension wont increase your ground clearance except between the axles. the ground clearance on a discovery is between the bottom of the diff and the floor and in standard form isnt as good as most of us would like. it will allow increased articulation at the expense of a raised centre of gravity and possible drive train problems. it's my feeling that you have to know you need a lift to have one. the only way to increase ground clearance is to fit bigger tyres. lifting the suspension is also not necessarily the best solution to being able to fit bigger tyres.

what size are on there at present? how much bigger would you like to go? chances are you're on 16inch rims as it is so increased rim size is not necessary, in many cases, people run more rubber less metal, so there are a lot of guys running 35+inch tyres on 15inch rims.

spacers may or may not be needed depending on the offset and width of your wheel/tyre setup. eyebrows, or wheel arch flares as they are commonly known are only necessary if the wheels to be fitted are physically bigger than the current arch hole and are wider than the bodywork.

a lot of people will fit a 235/85R16 or 265/75R16 tyre with a 2 inch lift and some bodywork trimming, usually the front valance has to go and a camel cut to the rear of the rear arch. however, in order to keep full articulation and increase my track, I'll be fitting 265/75R16 tyres with arch extensions and defender offset 8 spoke steel wheels. that way i'll keep steering lock and articulation. suspension upgrade for increased droop travel etc can follow as funds allow and with the arch flares on, i can think about bigger wheels at a later stage too!

as im sure you're realising, it's all very subjective!

[JimAttrill]

8-spoke wheels look ok on rice-burners.

[discojmz]

always nice to know

[RRX]

I like my 8 spokes, look better than the top of a pepper pot

[Wanagetmuddy]

Hi everyone,

I currently use my Disco about 50% on road and 50% off road, I currently have road tyres on which is not good!!! I am looking to get some A/T's but also would like to get a lift kit for her.

My main reason for the post is to try and ascertain what to do. I want A/T's suited for 50/50 use but would also like to increase her overall ground clearance without loosing too much of he comfortable road driving (doing about 600 miles a month). What lift kit should I buy? Should I be looking to increase the rim size and if so what to? What tyres would be best to buy?

Would be really great to get a shopping list (lift kit, tyres and sizes, rims and sizes, spacers if needed, eyebrows if needed, body modifications if needed.) compiled from some people so I can get a better idea as to what I am up against!

I don't have a clue and don't want to be miss sold products from some random person, I am not bothered by brand names and I am happier buying CHEAP quality parts.

Any help will be greatly appreciated in my quest!

Iain

Well I drive to work in my landy 140 miles a day on bfgoodridge Mud terrains, on 255/85/16. This will give you an equivalent of 33 inch diameter, it will therefore raise your diff about two inces off the ground. also I have a two inch lift. I have tried a few types of tyres and I found this to be the best combination.

[TheRecklessEngineer]

I might have some 2" lift disco springs coming up for sale

[IainDB]

for one thing, lifting the suspension wont increase your ground clearance except between the axles. the ground clearance on a discovery is between the bottom of the diff and the floor and in standard form isnt as good as most of us would like. it will allow increased articulation at the expense of a raised centre of gravity and possible drive train problems. it's my feeling that you have to know you need a lift to have one. the only way to increase ground clearance is to fit bigger tyres. lifting the suspension is also not necessarily the best solution to being able to fit bigger tyres.

what size are on there at present? how much bigger would you like to go? chances are you're on 16inch rims as it is so increased rim size is not necessary, in many cases, people run more rubber less metal, so there are a lot of guys running 35+inch tyres on 15inch rims.

spacers may or may not be needed depending on the offset and width of your wheel/tyre setup. eyebrows, or wheel arch flares as they are commonly known are only necessary if the wheels to be fitted are physically bigger than the current arch hole and are wider than the bodywork.

a lot of people will fit a 235/85R16 or 265/75R16 tyre with a 2 inch lift and some bodywork trimming, usually the front valance has to go and a camel cut to the rear of the rear arch. however, in order to keep full articulation and increase my track, I'll be fitting 265/75R16 tyres with arch extensions and defender offset 8 spoke steel wheels. that way i'll keep steering lock and articulation. suspension upgrade for increased droop travel etc can follow as funds allow and with the arch flares on, i can think about bigger wheels at a later stage too!

as im sure you're realising, it's all very subjective!

Ok, more confused now !! Currently I have the standard disco alloys (7Jx16x33.0) with 235/70/R16 Road Tyres (Nearly bald!!!). So if I got some 265/75R16 tyres would they fit onto these alloys without causing too much problem or would I need to get these offset steel's?? I like the sound of your idea without initially lifting the suspension.

[IainDB]

Oh and if this size is a problem on these rims what is the biggest size I could comfortably sit on the rims? I am happy to cut the arches and remove silly pointless valances!!!

[freeagent]

The other point you want to consider is bigger tyres = buggered gearing... your transfer box will ideally want swapping for a lower ratio Defender item if you go any bigger than 265/75 R16...

[Pete Attryde]

You should be aware that a 2" lift could affect the high speed (50+mph) handling of your Disco as it will change the castor angle on the front axle making the steering feel very vague and less inclined to self centre. Not all do it but mine did. If it does effect the handling you will either need to replace the bushes at the axle end of the front radius arms for castor corrected ones or buy new castor corrected arms. Having corrected the castor you will then probably find that the front propshaft will have picked up a vibration which is cured by fitting a double cardon propshaft from a discovery 2 or a custom made one from the likes of propshaft clinic or devon 4x4 etc. I also had problems with the rear propshaft as the steeper angle on the propshaft destroyed the rubber coupling at the axle end within about 3 months of me fitting the lift and then a second brand new one in about 6 months. To cure this I ended up fitting a high angle Universal joint at both end propshaft (from Devon 4x4) which involved changing the pinion flange on the diff. I then also had to correct the flange angle of the rear diff as I then had a vibration on the rear this was cured by fitting new rear radius arms that were longer than the originals. You will also definately need to change the front brake pipes for longer ones and may also need to change the rear ones as well.

All in all in my opinion I (having done it on mine) would say that if you can avoid fitting a lift kit if at all possible do, as it could be a lot more expensive and a lot more hassle than just trimming the body work slightly and adjusting the steering stops.

This is just representative of the problems I encountered when I fitted a simple 2" lift to my 1996 300TDI discovery and may be different to other peoples experiences.

HTH

Pete.

I lifted this from a post I made previously to someone asking about suspension lifts. I would just clarify that this is only my experience with my own vehicle and not everyone will have the same issues.

Pete.

[discojmz]

265s will fit fine on stock alloys no problem but that's about as big as you can go. only reason mine are going on these steelies is that the offset is such that it will push the wheels out further to fill the arches better and keep the amount of steering lock i have currently. (wider tyres on stock rims with no spacing means less steering lock due to tyres rubbing on radius arms.

so to recap in bullet point format

265s will fit standard rims

steering lock will be slightly diminished unless the wheels are 'pushed out' with spacers or different wheels

cutting the arches and fitting 265s will look fine and retain stock articulation (any further modifications can follow later)

the slight difference in gearing may take off a bit of acceleration but will lower engine revs at cruising speeds on road, off road you're in low box so its less of an issue anyway imo

if it makes your speedo UNDER-read, fit the speedo gear from a defender into your transfer box (only a few quid, i think it's a 'blue' one?) as i think it was mid 90s defenders came with factory 265/75R16 tyres

hopefully that's cleared a few things up

jim

[IainDB]

Thanks everyone for your help and advice.

I have gone for some Insa Dakar's 265/75x16. Will look a lot better and give me the freedom I need. The suspension lift seems a little too much work to worry about with all the other bits that would need to be replaced. Still I can dream of it...... Hmmmm.....

Will go and get my tracking checked prior to installation to be on the safe side!

Thanks once again. And here's to off roading properly!!!

[wrcwrc]

I am wanting to to exactly the same at the moment and could do with a bit of advice on this...

I am just about to give my 200 tdi a lift of 2" via springs - so clearance of the body is a bit better. But I have 2 choices on tyres that are both availible to me for quite a good price.

I am more on road than off road as its my everyday car aswell. I literally wanted to do springs and tyres and dont want to go mad with uprating lots of

things.

Ive got the choice of 235/85/16 - I was going to go for these as this will obviously give the whole car a lift i.e. axle's and all.

OR

225/70/16 - Keeping with the standard size tyre, but gaining no lift from that?

What is going to be my best bet? I could really do with some help on this one.

Thanks guys.

[discojmz]

mine's my daily drive too mate. thats why im doing the tyres bigger and cutting the arches but not changing the spring height etc as yet. I get better clearance, better off road ability, but keep the ride exactly as it is now.

keeping stock 235/70R16s will look a bit odd with a lift, but with the 235 85 profiles and a lift, you're still going to be having to cut bodywork. plus standard shockers on a lift will give less droop off road and the springs will change the ride perhaps for the worse, but maybe for the better. you could also end up causing yourself problems with caster angles, prop vibration not to mention raising your COG slightly.

ive no problem with lifted trucks. mine will be when i can afford it/deem it necessary. I just think a lot of people do it without thinking it through completely and then realise the can of worms has been opened.

[Pete Attryde]

I believe that 235/85/16 's will fit with out a lift (just requires some trimming to the rear of the rear wheel arches and adjustment of the steering lockstops.)

fitting these will give you around about a 1.5" lift under the diffs which is more useful than just lifting the body/chassis.

When I fitted the lift to mine originally I was thinking like you and did not want to have to replace/upgrade lots of parts either but I ended up doing it to make my vehicle driveable (it is my daily driver) in all honesty I would avoid lifting the suspension at all costs as you may find that you end up spending a lot of money you really didn't want too.

As I said above this is only based on my own experience with one vehicle.

HTH

Pete.

[wrcwrc]

So obviously a spring lift is best avoided for me....i am happy with that.

do you think im going to be ok with the 235/85's? Like you said, need to cut arches for them (especially without a spring lift). I would like a little lift off the tyres, but what are the modifications going to be if i go for them? Major cutting of arches etc? Where are they going to foul?

Its either that or i just stick to the 225/70's and dont get and lift at all and just deal with it?

I'd prefer the 85's, but am cautious about the work needed - could someone go into it in slightly more detail?

Thanks again.

[discojmz]

well im fitting 265/75s which are as tall, but a tad wider. if you had a lift, you could get away with losing the front valance/bumper endcap modifications and a cut to the rear of the rear arch, but without i would imagaine a cut all round both arches could be advantageous. otherwise the tyres will fill the arches completely. I shall be cutting the whole arch back and fitting smallish arch flares which always look good. pretty easy to do tbh! unless you have a 5door??

just a small other point, but standard tyre sizes are 235/70s so you're down on stock sizing already if you're rolling on 225s

[wrcwrc]

yeah ive got a 5 door

she's got 235/70's on at the mo, but was only gonna go for the 225/70's as they were good off road tyres going cheap.

but im gonna go for the 265/85's and see how i get on, dont mind a bit of trimming. just hope the steering effects arent massive. end of the day could always go for a small 1 inch lift?

another thing i was thinking aswell is that most older disco's have 205/80's on, so surely the 85 size tyre isnt going to make massive difference over those?

[Pete Attryde]

235/70-16 and 205/80-16 are both approximately 29" diameter 235/85-16 is approx 32" diameter and 265/85-16 are just under 34" diameter .

this Tyre size calculator is useful.

Pete.

[discojmz]

yeah ive got a 5 door

she's got 235/70's on at the mo, but was only gonna go for the 225/70's as they were good off road tyres going cheap.

but im gonna go for the 265/85's and see how i get on, dont mind a bit of trimming. just hope the steering effects arent massive. end of the day could always go for a small 1 inch lift?

another thing i was thinking aswell is that most older disco's have 205/80's on, so surely the 85 size tyre isnt going to make massive difference over those?

265/75s!!!

85 is NOT the height of the tyre, it is the height of the tyre sidewall as a percentage of the tyre width, which is why a 235/85 and a 265/75 are the same height 265/85 will not fit on without arches being cut back a lot and flares fitted. not a bad sized tyre, just not what you really want i would say. thus a 205/80 is the same height as a 235/70 and a 235/85 is 3 inches taller

hope that made sense

[wrcwrc]

wow that is quite a difference, thats a really good page cheers.

well i spose all i can do is see how it goes - im hoping they will go on stock suspension, if i get real problems, i'll have to get some 1" lift springs on i guess.

[wrcwrc]

doh really???

so the 265/85's im gonna have no chance with???? not even on a bit of a lift?

they are cheap, near and great condition, and bfg's too!

[discojmz]

theyd go on a defender fine, theyd be a nuisance to fit on a disco for starters. youd ideally want full arch flares and a lift. could fit them with flares without a lift but not with a lift and no big style arch cutting

due to the sheer size of them, they would put your speedo out a lot and be bordering on too much for the normal transfer box and stock power. most people once they have 33inch tyre height and up fit defender transfer boxes

[wrcwrc]

dammit!