Thread: LT230 High Range Gearing Change

Originally Posted by alexturner

Thanks for all your assistance guys, because I'm a cheapskate here's what I'm going to do:

1) Remove the stock intercooler and centre the radiator in the mount
2) Source a decent intercooler from a Jap car and mount it in front of the Radiator
3) Replace all hoses with silicone hoses
4) Drill and tap a hole in the inlet manifold and screw a barb in the hole, run a hose from the inlet manifold to the waste gate actuator to compensate for the resistance in the new intercooler.
5) Tune the IP

What do we reckon fellow AULROians?

Alex

You may regret fitting a front mounted intercooler without fitting a larger radiator.There are plenty of instances where restricting the airflow with a front mounted intercooler has lead to overheating ,particularly in summer

Wayne

Alex, have you got the radiator fan and temp gauge sorted since that Turon trip?
x2 what Isuzutoo-eh said - get the stock setup in top shape so that you have a solid baseline prior to making mods.

For some reason my Disco high range gears work well in my 200tdi Defender, and I tow a Trak Shak camper trailer everywhere I go.......

Standard size tyres running MTs. When the wind carries on a treat I can still hold 4th gear at 100km/h comfortably and 5th cruises really nicely.

Only downside is the extra 'riding' of the clutch on hill starts but it's not really that bad. Well I've been doing it since 2005 so I'm probably used to it. Still to replace the clutch since I've owned the vehicle and I have some real serious km's on it.



Mechanical sympathy makes a huge difference!



Cheers
Chris

Never say Never, I said I'd never drag a Van and I just ordered my 2nd off road van. Anyhow my TD5 Defender has standard Gearing with 235/85R16 tyres and I'm as happy as larry with its towing performance & economy and absolutely craps all over my 100 series Toyota in both respects. I might add I do have a Tombie chip and a free flowing exhaust.

Just got home from a 2500klm trip towing 1.3 tone Jayco Outback Penguin , sitting on 100 /110 kph as applicable & returned 12.5 l/100km and I certainly do not drive for economy. The Toyota gives about 16.5l/100km & no where near the power.

Originally Posted by isuzutoo-eh

Unless you have already done it recently, flush your ic out, get everything else in great condition, then work on improvements once you have a 'best stock' baseline to work from. That'd be my plan anyway...

^ wise words.

Also look at injectors.. made a huge difference to my old tdi getting them done

A bit different but when I do my clutch I am going to do similar with my TD5 Defender. I have the transfer case waiting to go. So will se how it goes. However I will not be parting with the Defender trans case in case it does not have any benefit and I can change back.
I find the Defender revs to hard at 110 in stock form, around 2800rpm, if I can bring that back to 2600rpm I will be happy.
It was mentioned that the Disco and Defender run different tyre and wheels sizes. Not sure on that as my Tdi300 Disco, RRC and Defender have all had the same size wheels and tyres as standard.
My advice is go down the complete trans case route, because if you dont like it it is an easy change back and you can on sell the trans case.
The Tdi may struggle a bit, but may be worth a try.

Originally Posted by CraigE

...

Not sure on that as my Tdi300 Disco, RRC and Defender have all had the same size wheels and tyres as standard.

...

Impossible.

All defenders have ~31-32" diameter tyres as standard. No disco or RRC has ever come from the factory with tyres that large a diameter. They typically need mods to fit tyres that large!

Originally Posted by isuzurover

Impossible.

All defenders have ~31-32" diameter tyres as standard. No disco or RRC has ever come from the factory with tyres that large a diameter. They typically need mods to fit tyres that large!

I can straight up state that the Defender and RRC tyres & wheels were the same size as I keep the alloys off the RRC for my camper and had the Defender & RRC at the same time. Now I do remember the tyre sizes may have been different as stamped, but rolling diameter they were identical (stood side by side) and I could interchange them as spares. These tyres fitted under the RRC no problem, though it did have a 2" lift. Wether they were standard or the technically correct tyres I do not know for sure. I also had a set of 15" Sunnys for the RRC and even with those the rolling diameter wasonly about 5mm or less difference. After I got rid of the Disco I did keep some tyres that were the same size as the RRC but these were a set of BFG ATs, I think the original Michelins were somewhat smaller rolling diameter, so I had to get 5, but ended up giving the Michelins away aand that may have been why. All 3 were 16" wheels, but may not have had standard size tyres. I just know they were all interchangeable and when laid side by side were same rolling diameter. I do know the ones on the Rangie tyres looked quite tall for a RRC.
What are the standard sizes?