I have been trying to decide if I should run +2 inch extended shocks or not when I upgrade from TF medium springs to heavy springs. I have a TD5 Diesel engine and ARB bumper with winch and wire rope. Trying to get a little more clearance under the front bumper and rocker panels.

It seems most +2” shocks are 2” longer when fully extended. This probably means the shock body and rod are each 1” longer so when fully retracted the shock would be 1” longer than stock. This makes me think that if I keep the stock shock turret I would need to increase the bump stop height by 1”.

This would give me a total increase in travel of only 1”, but given the heavy springs it will at least result in Similar down travel as if I had with the medium springs?

Will I need to also extend brake and abs lines? Seems they should be +2” longer.

How about the cross member, will I need to remove or drop it?

 

It depends. Will you constantly off-roading or mall crawling in it?

 

Assuming you also have a lift you will need to fully flex the axles out to figure out what size bump stops you will need. You want to avoid fully compressing the shock. What size tires are you running? To figure out what size bump stops you will need get the tire as far up in the wheel well as you can before it will rub. Then measure the distance between the bump stop Location on the frame and the pad on the axle. Double check the length of the shock when you do this. You want to leave at least 1” of extra space to be safe. Example if the length of the shock fully compressed is 20” then you don’t want to go past at least 21”.
Keep in mind that 2” extended shock will do you no good unless you are removing the sway bar links, run with disconnects or even extended links. In the rear the watts linkage could limit the down travel depending on how much flex you are looking for. Also keep an eye on your springs you may need retainers.

 

I have other vehicles for everyday use, but a lot of my dirt road trips require fairly long mountain highway drives to reach the trails.

On my last trip my front bumper did a lot of digging in, rear bumper hit a few times and the rockers were really close requiring a lot of rock stacking. So I need a little more height.

 

I am currently running 245 75 16 but will likely increase to 265 75 16’s.

I was planning on running trails with the front sway bar disconnected. I have found the truck whips side to side pretty violently compared to my friends D1 with the same age and type of shocks. I think his swaybars are not as stiff as mine.

I figured the best way is to actually test suspension movement, but is is a challenge for me on my driveway. Was hoping someone out there has done the hard work. I figure the best way is to remove the springs then fully articulate the axles and see what binds and hits?

 

When do you feel the side to side motion, it could be your bushing are shot radius, trailing arm or both

 

I suppose I should have said rolls from side to side. An outside observer would see the roof of my truck rolling side to side rapidly as the truck drives over rough terrain. At first I thought my shocks were worn out, but there was no oscillation after these hits so the shocks were dampening the roll. I believe the cause is the stiff front anti roll bar. Visually my front sway bar looks to have a much greater diameter than my buddies D1. We presumed this accounted for for my trucks erratic side to side swaying on the trail.

I would expect loose bushings would result in some clunking? My truck feels tight.

 

Well I have a D2 as well and the same lift and I do not roll at all, beyond what you would expect. The roll would be caused by worn components rather than stiff components, but to fair it is hard to visualize what you are seeing.

It maybe your springs are not up to the task any longer

How low do you air down ?

Here are 3 Disco's going through an obstacle, how would yours compare - 3 different lines

 

Nice video!

The video shows a cross axle situation. I guess I would look like the red truck. My rolling issue is more when a single front tire hits a large but short obstacle like a raised rock or step.

Perhaps after 30,000 km my shocks are in fact tired. Maybe not worn out but less aggressive than I want.

My observations on sway were directly comparing my buddies D1 following me on the Whipsaw trail (I see you are in my area). When my front right tire hit an obstacle with the vehicle at speed my truck would roll / tip a certain amount. When I watched the D1 hit the same obstacle his body stayed relatively level and the suspension sucked up the bump. The D1 driver often commented why my truck was rocking side to side so much. The rocking did not help traction on loose surfaces. Of course I still bettered the D1 with my traction control.

I imagined that removing my front sway bar would allow the axle to move more and the body to roll less.

I had my rear tires at 25 psi and the front at 20. On that particular trip I go some wood stuck in the bead on the rear. Did not loose air, but had to pull the tire off the rim to get it out.

 

Pull the sway bar will definitely make a huge difference in body roll on obstacles. It severely hinders articulation. One option is to run LR3 sway links in the front of your d2 and then move your d2 fronts to the rear and that should maintain the functionality and road manners but allow a significant increase in articulation.