Advantages of a suspension lift?

[beanie_205]

My d2 has done 210ks on original shocks and springs and is due for new springs and shocks especially since the bullbar & winch went on:). So the plan is for heavy duty springs to lift the nose up again and bilsteins all round as well as steering damper. So should i get a lift or not? What advantages are there? I am wanting to be able to drive some pretty rough tracks and do some touring, is a lift necessary/worth it? Thanks for your thoughts :cool:

[Shamo]

Definitely is, for a couple of reasons;

1. You can fit bigger tyres when you get a lift - this will increase your offroad ability by giving you more clearance under your diffs and more grip to the ground

2. Your cars body will get more clearance from the ground - i.e when your rear bar may drag and bugger itself up on some tracks, with a suspension lift it will decrease the chance of this happening, the same going for the front end plowing into the ground, and also the rest of the body, like the sills etc.

3. Also will probably give you a better ride with less suspension bottom outs on rough roads if you are touring.

Shamo

[beanie_205]

thanks Shamo, it all makes a lot of sense and I'm leaning towards going for it. When i've searched the forum here Ive come up with the occasional 2" lift that seems to have caused issues like vibration and springs rubbing- is that pretty rare then? Any proven spring/bilstein shock combos?

[td express]

thanks Shamo, it all makes a lot of sense and I'm leaning towards going for it. When i've searched the forum here Ive come up with the occasional 2" lift that seems to have caused issues like vibration and springs rubbing- is that pretty rare then? Any proven spring/bilstein shock combos?

I have Kings Springs, (2'' lift), with Bilstein shocks and damper, and it's great. Feels like a whole new car.
My shocks are same length as standard..

There is alot of good feedback from ''Suspension Stuff'' with their spring and shock set ups also. Got a set of polyairs from them and they are good blokes. Really helpful.

;)

[Hendrik]

thanks Shamo, it all makes a lot of sense and I'm leaning towards going for it. When i've searched the forum here Ive come up with the occasional 2" lift that seems to have caused issues like vibration and springs rubbing- is that pretty rare then? Any proven spring/bilstein shock combos?

Not really vibrations as such, you will only get rubbing with the springs really if your springs are catching on the mounts, which could mean you have some worn suspension bushes. But I did my lift at around 250k kms and it was the 2nd best thing I've done, the CDL being the best. My old shocks were badly worn, they are still pushed in from when I did the lift about a year ago now. The springs were ok, but the lift made a big difference to the handling of the car. I went with the suspension stuff kit being dobinsons and lovells, which work well. The Dobinsons Shane sells with the kit are quite stiff, but next time I'd ask for softer ones as I now have Polyair bags in the rear too. I would also go further and spend a bit more money and get the Billsteins. The Lovells work well, but I've found that they do have a very fast recoil when travelling bumpy roads at slow speeds. Some have also run King springs with Billsteins, also with good results.
I'd ring up Shane from Suspension stuff and tell him exactly what accessories you run and are planning to run which will add weight to the vehicle, and also what sort of ride you are after. He knows a lot of about suspension and would work out the right kit for you.

[beanie_205]

Thanks Td and hendrik, exactly what I needed- a couple of first hand experiences. Interesting TD that you run standard length shocks with 2" lift- I say that because ideally Id like to run standard length bilsteins which i can get from the US for just over half Australian cost, and match with 2' coils. Has anyone else successfully run standard shocks with 2"coils?

[Hendrik]

Personally, I would go with the +2in shocks, this will allow for more travel but your abs/brake lines won't be overstretched. You might find that with standard length shocks and 2in springs, that the shocks will bottom out a lot more as the spring extends out during the articulation of the axle.

[Buncha]

I have an ARB +50 kit on mine. The only negative is not being able to get into some under-cover car parks due to the height. I have been caught out a couple of times when I was already entering the ramp to the car park before I could see the height restriction sign and had to scrape under the swinging height warning bar, so I've got marks on the roof rails.

[Slunnie]

Thanks Td and hendrik, exactly what I needed- a couple of first hand experiences. Interesting TD that you run standard length shocks with 2" lift- I say that because ideally Id like to run standard length bilsteins which i can get from the US for just over half Australian cost, and match with 2' coils. Has anyone else successfully run standard shocks with 2"coils?
Yep, King front springs with OE shocks works fine. OE rear shocks doesn't work with aftermarket springs - these will top out with a bang.

[biggin]

Yep, King front springs with OE shocks works fine. OE rear shocks doesn't work with aftermarket springs - these will top out with a bang.

Hmmm, thanks Slunnie, glad I read this.
I recently installed a 2" lift to the rear of my D2 using the sls spacers but kept standard length shocks.
Yesterday the vehicle had its first heavy workout since the lift.
The problem I experienced was that when there was heavy going, a clunking noise came from the back end on a regular basis. I thought it may have been the diff. After reading your comment, I now suspect the cause could be the shocks topping out (at the time of the clunking I was in off road mode, meaning an extra 40mm lift on top of the 2").
I hope I'm on the right track here.
Cheers,
Alan

[Traco]

I have Kings Springs and Bilsteins all round which works well. Got the latter from eshocks in the States - AUD610 landed including a Bilstein steering damper; locals wanted more than a grand for the same.....

[beanie_205]

I have Kings Springs and Bilsteins all round which works well. Got the latter from eshocks in the States - AUD610 landed including a Bilstein steering damper; locals wanted more than a grand for the same.....

Yep, that's the plan, but did you get a 2" lift? If so are you shocks the extended ones? I have had trouble, as have others finding the extended ones on eshocks or shock warehouse etc. Seems you can only get them locally, which means a lift is going to cost me $4/500 over a standard setup with new bilsteins and coils. Can't argue with that US price, just wish we could get the extended ones! I'm wondering if they exist over there under another part number/code?

[beanie_205]

Found this thread which covers the whole US extended Bilstein shock thing pretty well

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/discovery-2/82567-bilstein-extended-rear-shocks-5.html

And sounds a bit complicated!

[foss]

Hmmm, thanks Slunnie, glad I read this.
I recently installed a 2" lift to the rear of my D2 using the sls spacers but kept standard length shocks.
Yesterday the vehicle had its first heavy workout since the lift.
The problem I experienced was that when there was heavy going, a clunking noise came from the back end on a regular basis. I thought it may have been the diff. After reading your comment, I now suspect the cause could be the shocks topping out (at the time of the clunking I was in off road mode, meaning an extra 40mm lift on top of the 2").
I hope I'm on the right track here.
Cheers,
Alan



I have 2" coils & shocks on the front & air bag spacers rear-std rear shocks got torn to shreds so i got extended ones & all is well