Springs & shocks or body lift??

[ian101]

Am in the process of fitiing 33's onto a 5 door Disco 1, I had originaly planned to go with +2 OME, but this involves cutting the back doors and reciprocating arches.(BIIIG job) which was when somebody suggested a plain and simple body lift kit.

What are the disadvantages of goin with this as compared with longer shocks? and are there benefits (other than cost)

Confused :doh:

[Jake]

A body lift is quite a bit of work too
Fuel filler will need to lengthen'd
The steering shaft might need some changes and the rad might have to lifted too
Plus when its done both bumpers will stay at the same height but the body will be higher.
Which might look odd if you cant fabricate the changes
I've never done a body lift personnally so there might be more to it than that.
Go for the arches and the suspension  ;)

[ian101]

Yeah that was my original plan, does anyone have any pics of the cutting involved? I know that you get a template with the arches but it would be handy to see what was involved beforehand.

[Range Rover Blues]

A body lift or a suspension lift, you will stillneed to trim the arches.

[wizard]

Both jobs are easy enough.So why not do both.
Adding plus 2 springs and shocks can be done 1 weekend and a body lift another.

Heres a gude to doing a body lift for a Disco



The first job you need to do is replace the five flexible rubber brake lines.

There are two on each front wheel and one over the back axle.

If you install a two-inch body lift I would recommend having plus 4 inch extended brake lines fitted.

 

Below is a list of “other” parts required to do the job.

10 body spacers

10 long bolts (3/8 unf x 6 inch long)

4 rear floor support spacers

4 extended body tie rods

2 radiator mounts

2 rear bumper brackets

2 front bumper brackets.

 

A few days before you begin your body lift its advisable to spray the mounting bolts with a good quality penetrating oil.

 

Begin with taking off the bumpers, or just the plastic end caps if you want to lift the bumpers at a later date. Bear in mind that the bumpers are attached to the chassis so once you have lifted the body you will have a 2-inch gap between the body and bumper.

Remove the 4 body tie rods; these attach the seat belts to the chassis.

Slacken off the steering column bolts; don’t remove the bolts, as the splines on the shaft will only need to move about 10mm as the body is lifted.

Undo and remove the 5 body mounting bolts on one side, and remove the nuts on the bolts on the other side (leave the bolts in position)

With the aid of a Hi Lift jack begin to lift the side with the bolts removed. Periodically check that no electrical wires etc are being pulled out of place; also keep an eye on the air filter pipe work as this is mounted on the body. The clutch pipe work will need to be kept in mind as this is also attached to the body. There is enough slack in both of these components so no extra modifications should be required.

 

Once you have gained enough lift you can start putting in the spacers. When one side is complete continue with the other side. Secure all the body mounting bolts once all the spacers are in.

 

The rear floor support spacers bolt onto the brackets on either side of the rear suspension spring, and support the floor !

 

The radiator is chassis mounted so when you have lifted the body fit the two top mounting spacers onto the two pins located on the sides of the radiator.

 

Attach the extended body tie rods.

Check the steering shaft and re tighten the bolts. Lift the bumpers as and when required.






Regards
wizard

[mentalmoshio sophs V8i]

just cut the archs and save time and trim the rear door with a grinder taking roughly 10 mm off . oh run 10.5 wide and u wont need arch extentions

see pic with 285s

[clover]

As wizard says both these jobs are easy.

I did my body lift in a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon. You should replace all 5 flexi hoses but in reality the rear one does not have to be done. I've not done mine and I've driven some pretty extreme lanes and I still have brakes! The brake hoses is actually the worst part of the whole job. Especially if they are anything like mine and required removing the the angle grinder spanner and new brake pipes also.

Here is a guide I wrote -

http://rangie.com/articles_topic.php?id=1758&cat=3&subCat=6

The only differences are slight

1) If you buy a kit from Wizard you get special extensions for the radiator (which saves moving the brackets and drilling new holes - although actually moving the brackets helps with relocating the PAS reservoir) but most importantly you get specially made floor spacers for the rear boot floor which require no welding. Just drill a hole and bolt them on. Much better than getting 2" box section and welding in place!

2) As far as the bumpers go - be warned you will need to cut a notch out of the end caps to allow the body to rise at the back and you will have to remove the plastic cover on the rear cross member and then having done that you will probably need to weld patches on all the big rust holes that the plastic cover has been covering up.

The steering will need moving on the splines. No big deal.

You will have to put some of the bolts in the wrong way up but this does not matter.

You also will need to so some relocation work, if you use Wizard's extenders, with the PAS reservoir or the pipe is under too much stress and pulls off and you get PAS fluid all over the floor! Ask me how I know!

The diff lock lever does drop down a bit and this is a bit of a PITA. I tried the lever extension but it did not work for me (what it needs for the extension to work is to bend the lever forward. I did not fancy the idea of this as I was afraid it might break something so wimped out in the end and left it as is. I ended up just cutting about 10MM off the bottom of the knob so it did not foul against the gaiter and the center console.

Cutting the arches is also easy -

http://rangie.com/articles_topic.php?id=364&cat=3&subCat=6

The worst bit is re-shaping the rear doors. You should make sure you get a proper aluminum cutting disk for your grinder. You will get flaking off of the paint at the bend (or worst if its had a skim of body filler!). But just touch it up (it is a working 4x4 after all).

I am a big fan of the body lift as you don't alter your steering geometry requiring castor correction arms and prop UJ correction spacers.

[ian101]

Thanks a million for taking the time with those replys, alot of good information.
Cheers
Ian

[Range Rover Blues]

I'll have a 2" lift for sale soon.