Thread: Nut up and lift the thing....

I have 235/85's on mine. I tow an O'briens offroad camper which is about 1000kg all up and we tow it EVERYWHERE off road. I generally have no problems with it but a reflash is very much on the agenda to make up for the loss of torque from the larger diameter tyres.
You also need to adjust your thinking as far as the speedo goes... it reads 10% OVER ie 91kmh is 100kmh according to my GPS.
Much cheaper and easier than the other options you've described I think.

Originally Posted by gusthedog

Yes its me again. I have changed my mind. Again. I've been thinking about going the whole hog with the d2. I said before that I didnt want a lift and I was going with standard this blah blah.

Well now Ive decided to nut up and give the D2 a lift. I am going to get tombie spacers for the back, dobinsons coils for the front and some billies for the front and rear. Anyone else got billsteins with ace and sls??

Now I am going to get bigger tyres too. Was thinking 265 75 as I both like the look and the availability outback etc. Now the problem - Ive got a tvan in the shed and tow it on weekends/trips away. I am worried about wrecking the gearing by whacking on the bigger tyres. So my options are:

1. Get a bigger intercooler and maybe step up from a level 1 ecu upgrade to a 2
2. Put in a defender transfer box or 1.2 gears (vs the std 1.4)
3. Change the diff ratios (to a 4.11 or mabe 3.8??).

So apologies for going over the same old stuff again. But want people's advice who have a similar setup in the real world and tow etc. Ah, my vehicle is an auto too.

I use Bilstein extended shocks and Dobinson Extra Heavy Coils, came out to just over 50mm lift.

Works well with the ACE (SLS removed earlier) but I will be going to 12" short body Bilstein 7100 shocks soon as the suspension is still being limited by the shock length.

I have the V8 with 245/75 R16 with no issues and a lot of people run the 265's with stock gearing. Should not make too much of a difference but the retune would probably make a big difference.

If you do change diff ratio's 4.12 is std gearing for 33's and 4.37 is std for 35's.

Check out the Ashcroft Transmission website, they have a gearing calculator.

Thanks for the quick replies guys. Some good info. Was thinking of fitting a truspeed (to correct the speedo) when I put the larger tyres on. 235 85 or 265 75 seem to be the go then. I have a davis chip currently which goes 'nothing-nothing crazy' when you hit the go peddle. Might have to fork out for a better re-map perhaps to bring on the power a little earlier. The forth gear lock out is worth its weight in gold though - no more hunting between 3rd and 4th. I suppose I wont know what 32 inch tyres will do to the rig until I put them on. Its just a freckle clenching moment when you fork out over a grand for new tyres and hope they work on your car .

Also was looking at Jack McNamara's website (Jack McNamara - Differential Specialists) and noticed that they do a 3.9 diff gear - this would be about perfect using 32 inch tyres. Does anyone have one of the McNamara vacuum hypoid locking diffs? Would be a good time to get it installed if I bugger around with the diff gears.

And cheers CJT - I've been a hunting on the ashcroft website for a while - it seems the 4.11 gears are a bit low for 32's and the 3.75's still a bit high perhaps. It would be good to nail it straight off.

EDIT "Just read some more and should have done before I posted - realise that they no longer do the vacuum diff only the air one - thanks slunnie and the crew from old posts!"

Originally Posted by gusthedog

And cheers CJT - I've been a hunting on the ashcroft website for a while - it seems the 4.11 gears are a bit low for 32's and the 3.75's still a bit high perhaps. It would be good to nail it straight off.

You could go to 285/75 R16 tyres, then the 4.12 would be perfect

Even with 32's though your revs will be slightly higher with 4.12 than std which would be a benefit if towing I would think.

I am looking at going 4.37 in mine with all the Ashcroft cv's, axles and air lockers and running 305/70 R16 (33's) normally and 35x11.5x16 Simex Extreme Trekker 2's for play.

Will raise my revs by around 200rpm at 110km/hr with the smaller tyres on.

Sorry,no SPacers from me for at least 6 months

Work has prevented even trying to make my gear...

I can get spacers at a good price though if you like.

Originally Posted by Tombie

Sorry,no SPacers from me for at least 6 months

Work has prevented even trying to make my gear...

I can get spacers at a good price though if you like.

If you could give me someone to contact or get some I'd be most appreciative tombie. Also was interested in one of the intercoolers you recommend so pm me and let me know.


CJT - will the 285-75s rub with just a 2 inch lift ? I only want to go 2 inch so I dont have to worry about castor correction, abs extensions etc etc. I suppose I could always get out the angle grinder...

Originally Posted by gusthedog

CJT - will the 285-75s rub with just a 2 inch lift ? I only want to go 2 inch so I dont have to worry about castor correction, abs extensions etc etc. I suppose I could always get out the angle grinder...

They will rub with a 2 inch lift unfortunately but should be solved with an angle grinder and some flexi flares.

Hi Mate,
I'm running Bilsteins with Tombies lift kit and dobinson HD coils up front, I am very happy with the setup, the front lifted about 3" because I don't yet have any barwork up front. I run 245/75R16 and will look to run 33's in the near future (if funds permit), and of course change diff ratios as I noticed a change with my auto when the 245's went on.
Cheers Matt