To Lift 2" or 3" that is the question !!

[Chidders]

HI All,

Firstly I have to say this is my first post, so please be gentle !!!

I'm going to Lift my 98 V8i Disco !! Should I stay simple and go for 2", just the 4 springs & shocks, or be brave and try 3" with extras ?? Any comments gratefully considered !

[DiscoStu]

You can often get away with a bare minimum of modification with 2" lifts, springs and shocks as you say, extended brake hoses, bump stops and dislocation cones on the rear is all you will need (Probably).

3" can upset castor angle, steering wheel position, eat prop UJ's etc etc.

It really depends on what you intend to do with the vehicle, how extreme is your off roading, tyre size etc. Personally I'm coming round to the idea of a 1" lift with massivley long travel shocks, lowered mounts and tall tyres with significant ammounts of bodywork trimming.

I currently run a 2" as described above.

[Chidders]

You can often get away with a bare minimum of modification with 2" lifts, springs and shocks as you say, extended brake hoses, bump stops and dislocation cones on the rear is all you will need (Probably).

3" can upset castor angle, steering wheel position, eat prop UJ's etc etc.

It really depends on what you intend to do with the vehicle, how extreme is your off roading, tyre size etc. Personally I'm coming round to the idea of a 1" lift with massivley long travel shocks, lowered mounts and tall tyres with significant ammounts of bodywork trimming.

I currently run a 2" as described above.

Cheers Stu,

I'm running 2" on my old 200Tdi with no apparent problems !! Limited Off Road, only green lanes etc. but it needs to look the Daddy aswell !! which is why I'm considering 3" for the new one. I may be bying more problems than I can sort tho me thinks !!

[Pete Attryde]

Welcome to the forum,

Might I suggest doing a search as this has been covered many times before.

For what it's worth I intially tried a simple 2" lift (springs and shocks) on mine but found that I needed to get castor correction for the front end and a new double cardon propshaft, at the rear I ended up replacing the rear prop shaft for one with universal joints at both ends as I was destroying the rubber donut thing in about 6 months. I also had to replace the rear radius arms for cranked ones to get the chassis bush to work correctly. I also replaced all the brake lines for longer ones just to be on the safe side. You will also have to either remove the anti-roll bars or make spacers for the mountings as the links can reverse because of the lift causing problems. You may also still have to trim the rear wheel arches to clear the wheels at full articulation depending on what size tyres you have. (I have 31"x10.5"x15" on modular wheels on mine and I had to cut mine)

I have now dropped mine back to standardish ride height as I had problems with the springs sagging at the rear and I decided I didn't like the ride and handling with the lift.

You should also tell your insurance company about the modifications.

[Young bobtail Rhys]

I now have a 70mm lift (so 2 3/4") but this is only to accomodate 34" tyres.

It all depends on what size tyres you are intending to run, if you are running just the 32" tall tyres like the 235/85 or 265/75 then a 2" lift is perfect. 33" tyres will require arch trimming and depending on how much travel you are looking at to get from your suspension then that will also depend on how high you go with what size tyres.

HTH

[plasticbadger]

If you're more interested in the 'look' than the performance on or off road how about combining a simple 2" lift with a 30mm or 40mm body lift? You'd get the space for 33" or 34" tyres without the problems with steerings, propshafts etc and you could do it all for under £350. The centre of gravity will be lower than just a suspension lift of the same height, so handling will be less affected.

[firemannotsam]

Hi I have a 1999 V8 Disco I have altered a bit to look better and give it a bit more ground clearance, especially as I have underslung LPG tanks wich reduce my ground clearance by a couple of inches so the lift gives me the same ramp over angle and the larger tyres give me under diff clearence.

It has a 40mmHD springs (50kg) on the front with +2" shocks but looks like its lifted more as there is no HD bumper or winch and the V8 is a bit lighter on the front than the tdi so sits more like a 2" lift.

Steering Guard but put behind spoiler with shackles in front of spoiler for recovery

50mmHD (100kg) Rear springs with + 2" Shocks + 1" Spacers under the spring plate. So +3" lift on the back

+2" Goodridge steel brake hoses all round

Longer bumpstops on the rear to stop the larger tyres touching the top of the wheelarch on big bumps.

The extra lift on the back keeps the back level when loaded and keeps the towbar up when off road.

I like the look of the spoiler and want it to look fairly normal.

It self centers fine on the steering and I grease the props and UJs every service to stop them wearing too quickly

I use it mostly on the road so have left the anti roll bars on so dont need to worry about dislocating as the ARBs stop the springs dropping out on full articulation.

I have Cooper Discoverer STTs 235/85/16 fitted - IMHO these tyres are excellent off road and well beheved on the road almost as good on road as the BFG ATs on before them.

I did have to make a very small camel cut to stop the tyres catching on full articulation.

Other than the cut I have not altered the bodywork in any way and it still drives almost as well as it did before apart from the loss of acceleration from fitting the bigger tyres which upsets the gearing a bit - get a bit more noise from the agressive tyres and you cant chuck it around as fast as before but at normal road speeds its perfectly stable.

It looks cool and sounds cool and is quite good off road

Hope this info helps you decide.

firemannotsam

[old leafer]

before you jump to a desision think very hard about what you want and how you drive your car

if u do a lot of motorway miles or like to drive fast then i would go for a 2 inch with heavy duty springs

as you can still run anti roll bars

however if u want to go the whole hog and have an off road best then go 3 inch but you will notice your stering will alter slightly

i no 5 discos running 3 inch lifts without cranked castor arms and trailing arms perfectly well

i alsi no one with a 4 inch lift the main prob seems to be the steering will not self center

also you will have to check your bushes more often

to give you some idea of what you can do with a 2 inch lift mine just crused round the extrem course at eastnor with no probs

and as to just wanting it to look a beast lol attak the wheel arches with an angle grinder this will also stop tyres hitting them

regards old leafer

ps

if you tow think about the new ride angle of your trailor or caravan

pps

and as you have seen suspention is very much a matter of personal choice

you will strugle to get any two of us to agree whole hartedly on the subject lol

[Young bobtail Rhys]

Also may I add,

A 3" lift will not give you any more articulation than a 2" lift, if you are running the same length damper. To get an "extreme" kit, you will be looking at longer travel dampers with modified mounts, then modded props to allow for travel etc. These kits are not great on the road.

I have a mate with a 3" lift on a rangie, but because he had the same size tyres as me and same length damper, he did not get around any better, infact worst, as his springs are too stiff.