Thread: Handling upgrades

ACE , SLS and Billies all round. Done.

Plus don’t be surprised if u have to redo all the bushes under there

Originally Posted by Pedro_The_Swift

ACE , SLS and Billies all round. Done.

Originally Posted by John_D2

Plus don’t be surprised if u have to redo all the bushes under there

Thanks gents! Is it worth getting HD steering bars, adjustable panhard and castor adjusted radius arms if a regular 2inch lift is in place with slightly taller tyres?
I've read plenty about the radius arms and understand it can be a vehicle by vehicle thing.

Will it get rid of wander? Are these worth spending money on in the long run?

Any other abstract things?
Thanks again 😊

Is it already lifted? If not, I'd leave it at standard height.

Listen shocks all round , dab t2 rotors and pads.

Hmm,, lifting a D2 x 2 inches and then expecting F1 handling is a stretch,,

build it to climb rocks and thats what it will be good at,
build it to go outback touring and thats what it will be good at,

neither of those make for a fun 1000kay interstate run,,
which a standard D2 is good at.

The more you make something great at whatever the less good it is at all the rest.

its just horses for courses/ its all a compromise.

The RR Classics were ( are!) awesome off road and great highway runners,,
but handling? not so much.

Originally Posted by Pedro_The_Swift

Hmm,, lifting a D2 x 2 inches and then expecting F1 handling is a stretch,,

Definitely agree, if you're after handling then lifting it is doing the opposite. Also get a set of the 18" wheels for it rather than the 16". But I'd have to wonder then why own the Discovery and not a more road focused wagon?

Originally Posted by Pedro_The_Swift

build it to go outback touring and thats what it will be good at,

neither of those make for a fun 1000kay interstate run,,
which a standard D2 is good at.

If your building up an outback tourer that isn't nice to do a 1000 km interstate run in then you've done something wrong...


I have a Sep 2002 built D2a HSE Td5 which has the factory ACE and SLS, in addition I've lifted it 3" using:
Bilstein +2" shock absorbers front and rear
Les Richmond Automotive front springs - purple/yellow
LRA White Tiger modified spacers for lifting the front a further 1"
LRA White Tiger castor correction plates
Nolathane adjustable D2 panhard rod modified shorter to suit the D2a to get the front diff central again
Spacers on the thread of the front ACE links to lengthen them a bit to suit the lift
For the rear modified LRA White Tiger 3" SLS airbag spacers
LRA White Tiger SLS sensor brackets
SLS height tuned through Nanocom Evolution
LRA White Tiger suspension dropper components for the watts linkage and rear shock absorbers to get them closer to standard alignment
Front ACE link pins fitted to the rear due to their longer length
Tom Woods custom driveshafts front and rear to better handle the increased angles
Dynamic steel wheels in 16 x 8" and offset to push out further
LRA White Tiger 75mm flares to cover over the wheels and tyres and keep it all legal
Electronic ACE deactivator/rough road mode module for when offroading


I'd hate to total the cost of redoing all that now, but the end result is a lift that provides much greater capability offroad, while still remaining amazingly flat for the height and weight when on road with handling that would impress most. On corners it can stick with other road cars that it really shouldn't and it's the tyres (BF Goodrich All-Terrain 285/75R16?) that are the weak point. I'd suggest it's definitely a more than capable outback tourer and a more than comfortable interstate 1,000km travel. But it comes at a cost...

I remember that mine wandered a fair bit when I 1st bought it. Turned out that most of the front end rubbers and bushes were perishing. After I replaced them (myself as it’s not hard and good fun) the car drove straight. I also put decent tyres on it as the dealer put cheap crappy tyres on it.