Magna, no problem. My buddy is a LR Tech, so hes doing most of the work on my rig and showing me how to do it as well. If you need anything, just shoot me a PM and I can see if he can help.

 

Thanks, Motorvated. I'll take you up on your offer and PM you when I'm due for next oil change. I'm at 191,200 now, and I'd like to change oil and oil filter at about 195,000 or less, especially with driving in the Phila and Jersey shore heat this summer. If you haven't yet read this Forum's thread on "Ending all stupid oil questions", that is definitely worth reading. I switched to the Rotella 15/40 diesel motor oil and the large filter shown in that thread about a year ago, and I've been very satisfied with my Dscvry's performance.

I'd appreciate if your buddy could help me out with maintenance like that. My son is a MechE, but he's gone alot now for work. He actually has a buddy in your town, also a MechE, but he's away in Pitt right now for grad school.

Small world !

 

I'm trying to get my hands on some 7100s or fox 2.0s. Sounds like you have a solid plan. Its quite refreshing after all the "do I need new shocks with a 2" lift" questions.

 

haha Thanks CUpgt. I come from years of lifted trucks, mostly jeeps ( GASP!!!) so I know a thing or two of what needs to be done. Plus my buddy has been giving me loads of info. Trying to build it properly the first time around so I dont waste time or money!

 

You may be aware of this but I'll say it anyways.....
3" is usually the tipping point for these trucks. In other words, going with 3" lift vs 2" lift usually requires a host of other upgrades such as:
-Trailing arms. Not just any arms but cranked arms or johnny jointed ones. When you push your axle that far down you are putting a great deal more stress on your chassis bushings. Your bushings will bind far more often and will fall apart much faster with stock trailing arms. Also, as you lift the axle will swing down and towards the back doors. Most aftermarket arms can be spaced or adjusted to correct for this.
- Pinion angles. As you lift your pinion angles get more and more jacked up. The front driveshaft on a D1 is already pushing the limits at stock. At 3" of lift you're guaranteed to need a DC front shaft. The rear can be played with by using trailing arms spacers and maybe an A-arm extension to get you to where the stock shaft may be ok. But you may need a DC shaft back there too.
- Radius arms. As mentioned you'll need a DC front shaft. However, 3" of lift on stock arms alone is not ideal for the stock shaft or even for a DC shaft. Cranked radius arms will correct your pinoin angle to where it needs to be for a DC shaft.
- Castor. Your castor will be off. Your steering will not return to center like usual. You can either get drilled swivel ***** that correct this, or just live with is like most of us do.
- Brake lines. You will need longer ones, period. Check out www.paragonperformance.com for their 25" long SS ones. Ask if they have a Land Rover Forum discount. I got mine for about $92 shipped. Best deal around for lines that long.
- Diffs. Your diffs will be the weak point with 33's. I've chewed through spider gears on 32's with stock open diffs. You'll need to go VERY easy on the skinny pedal. Having a wheel spin then suddenly grab will lunch your diff.
- Tires, axles, diffs. They all kind of go hand in hand and its hard to do one without the others. To run bigger tires you'll need to upgrade the diffs which means some kind of lockers. To run the lockers you'll need upgraded axles so you don't break the stock ones. I had 35's sitting in my garage waiting to be installed for months. But I waited till I had the cash to upgrade both diffs and axles at the same time. IMO, doing it all at once is the best move.

 

35's or even 33's may have more drawbacks than benefits for fishing and expo uses. Camel trophy navigated the world with skinny 30s because the benefits far outweighed the costs.

Expeditions West: Tire Selection for Expedition Travel

If you're able to use a smaller tire and lift, you can save tons of cash and time and spend it on armor, winch, lockers, and recovery tools.

Just some food for thought.. Do whatever floats your boat.

 

True, for expo type stuff you don't really need 35's and 3" of lift.
And I'm not sure what LR's reasoning was for using the set up they did. Could have been that just no one was modifying Rovers that much back then. Regardless, I'm sure they could have benefitted from running larger tires. Ever notice just how much they use their winch?

 

So today I've discovered that I haveca bad MAF. Womp womp. There's a Disco at the local junkyard, I'm going tomorrow to snag its MAF and hopefully fix my issues.

 

Also, the Camel Trophy drivers beat the ever living snot out of those trucks. They didn't care because the trucks just had to last through the competition. If they had to worry about driving them home when done they might have outfitted them differently.

 

True. It's funny how many of them were missing trim pieces and entire rear bumpers. Then again they thrashed them way harder than most of us would.

In addition to the old little jeeps doing the rubicon trail there's:

The corvairs that crossed the Darien:

And the Crown Vic on Moab: