So I am considdering lifting my defender a few inches and wanted to know if there is anything I sould watch out for or is a 2 inch lift fairly straight forward.
I have heard a few people have had problems with lifts changing angles and creating leaks (more leaks)!! This has been in the case of large lift jobs though in excess of two inches.

Also wondering how much it is likely to compramise my on road handling and dynamics.

Thanks in advance all.

More info- What Defender do you have?

Xav

2" is about the limit before you have issues. No two Rovers are the same, but generally it should steer OK with this loss in castor. Try it & see. Above 2" & you'll probably have to do some castor correction.

Similarly the front driveshaft will probably be OK. Try it & see. If vibrations have set in, you'll need to re-align flanges, or fit a DC shaft.

If you're buying a matched set of springs & shocks e.g. OME, it'll possibly steer & ride better. In theory the centre of gravity is higher, but in practice the lifted springs are firmer and suit the car better in my opinion.

I prefer the 2" lift setup on outback roads. Theres 2" more uptravel, it doesn't bottom out as easily.

If your mixing stuff, its up to you to sort out spring rates, shock rates, shock lengths, bump stops etc. Often lifted springs don't compress as well - there might literally be an extra coil, so it gets coil-bound on full bump earlier.

Similarly if you go above 2", there's a whole lot more work involved to get it setup properly, for both on & off-road.

The leaks thing is a furfy. Yes you can induce leaks with constant use of full articulation. Look across the roof of a Defender that's fully crossed up, & you'll see a slight twist in it.. But that's not unique to a lifted Defender.

Regards
max P

Like the others have said it depends. I would see 2 inch as ok. Handling depends on the setup. My 130 had a sway bar fitted to the rear with it's 2 inch lift. Handles beautifully and doesn't notice loads. Draw back of the sway bar is it lifts it's rear easily when off road but the rear locker solves that issue.

the defender in question is a 94 300tdi Xav and as of yet it has very few mods but as I venture further afield I am finding it wanting in some areas.
Good info guys and thanks for the pointers. Do you find a big difference with a few extra inches particularly on clearance. i suppose im asking if 2 inches is a good height or should I look at more or less to make the excercise worth the effort.
The car is used in the mountains on rocky trails a fair bit so its not so much mud or sand that I am concerned with. The shasy rails have already found a few rocks.

2 inch seems to be perfect on a 'fender. It allows for slightly larger tyres too which may be of interest to you if your going to change a few things.

I recently drove one with a tough dog lift and it was superb.

All the best and hope you find what your after.

Xav

Yes you'll notice a big improvement in clearance with 2". Approach & departure angles much better.

It has to be said when you thrown them on, the lift will be more than 2". I daresay yours has sagged, as they all seem to do. It'll seem like a huge lift initially.

Regards
Max P

2 inches should not give you any dramas, my 130 is raised 2" by simply unbolting the spring seats and bolting them back with a two inch spacer underneath, easy to do and with the added bonus of not having to spend big bucks to try it out. No steering dramas that i noticed with 33's and offset 8" rims.

Who does the spacers and how much?

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