Thread: Range Rover Sport GVM Upgrade Question

Originally Posted by haydent

re armoured, last time i looked into it, its different spring(bag), have you found a source for this ? im sure it will be pricey if even available any more ?

also where are the stats for this variant ?

i know a qld engineer, so will ask him regarding crossover between states.

I feel like getting all of the parts for the b6 armour version might be too hard if even possible, and you might be better going for something more achievable and affordable like the d4 rear axle weight, but id be interested to see if you think there is a a way and the cost/availability.

The armoured variant has a different strut assembly part number, so we can't verify by part number alone whether it is the same, although I suspect the air spring part of the it is and that the difference is in the damper. What I am planning to do is use some information available in the D4 workshop manual that gives us burst pressure for the air bags (35 Bar), and working pressures for front (10 Bar) and rears (8 Bar). I can calculate what the working pressure on the rear bags will be at 2350 kg (9.4 Bar) and then you can compare this to the stated burst pressure (35 Bar) to get a factor of safety. We use the factor of safety from the front springs (3.5) to show that the rear spring working pressure is OK.

Picture 1.jpg

Other than that, it's the control arms (once again different part number but we can see they are the same as the standard discovery ones which are easy to source). I've summarised the part numbers below:

Screenshot 2025-04-05 at 6.03.33 am.jpg
Another thing to look out for is I have the larger brembo brakes which have a different knuckle part number to the smaller ones - this conveniently aligns with the armoured variant, however if you don't have these brakes it could be another hurdle to overcome.

I've downloaded an owners manual for the armoured variant from Topix - weights section below:

Picture 1.jpg

Thanks for the various challenges, its good to find out if my logic is watertight before I go spending a bunch of money on this.

Originally Posted by Tombie

2350kg is only 1175kg per wheel.

CSA does one that exceeds that - they’re not that badly priced.

Well spotted - I hadn't seen those ones. Good to have options, I also trial fitted some 18" American Outlaw rims and they fit, but they'd need the centrebore enlarging a bit.

I have non-brembo brakes.

You realise those rear strut/bags are like $3k each without shipping or import duties ?!

Also the actual sway bar and bush is a different part number. And RRS have a dynamic sway bar ?

Originally Posted by haydent

I have non-brembo brakes.

You realise those rear strut/bags are like $3k each without shipping or import duties ?!

Also the actual sway bar and bush is a different part number. And RRS have a dynamic sway bar ?

Yep, those struts are expensive - if I had to go down that path I would probably choose another vehicle. As I mentioned before I'm planning to use the existing struts and demonstrate that they are up to the task.

I did notice the sway bar was of a different type as well and queried this with my Engineer - it seems that as its not directly load bearing they don't consider it in the assessment.

Originally Posted by haydent

I have non-brembo brakes.

What year is your vehicle? 2010 onwards RRS seem to have been fitted with the right knuckle part number anyway (LR045824).
Range Rover Sport 2010 - 2013 (l320) / Rear Knuckle And Suspension Arms (rear Knuckle And Hub)((v)fromaa000001) | Jaguar Land Rover Classic Parts

Hey im back interested in this again, have mine all fixed up and running smoother than ever, turns out i had a couple of leaking injector return orings hiding behind the covers.

I also not ready to rush into buying a 50-60k LC200 and then have to spend another 10k on the gvm & fit out and switch over.

So im back to trying to lighten the load in our caravan and going to test weight distribution hitch, and call an engineer to see if any options for an upgrade.

I even had the idea to ask about air bag deletes, as there are coil kits available, i know its drastic and blasphemy to mention it, but if it meant you could turn the l320 into a much better towing machine with HD springs/shocks it might be worth it and pretty cheap.

Mine is 2010 tdv8 with non-brembo brakes.

With the van attached, do you have enough spare front axle capacity for a WDH to be of any use?

last time i checked with a weight bridge, i had enough appx 100-200kg spare