Big plans in the works! I'm starting to draw up plans for my next D2. I've got my serious off road D2 that's getting more aggressive and less road-worthy every time I touch it. Hell, I can't even drive it on the road because of the failed inspection sticker. I'm starting to look into buying a D2 with a trashed transmission/bad engine/broke axles/driveshafts/busted diffs; pretty much any drive train or electrical issue or combination there of but with a good body and frame. It would become a daily driver/beach & desert vehicle with maybe some occasional towing.

The actual build would be a 5.3 LS mated to a 2wd 4l60e. It would have independent front suspension either swapped from a donor truck or fully custom long travel. Probably 3-4" of suspension height added and 33s or 35s depending on where I decide to go with it. If I did a donor truck I would likely swap the rear axle. If I just got everything separate I may still, but I may not. I know of a GMC work truck nearby I could probably snag for a donor, but I don't know how many miles are on it or what its problems are.

So here are my questions. I know nothing about designing and building an IFS suspension. Anyone have any good resources? Those more experienced, would you recommend custom IFS or swapped out of a late model full size truck? Most of what I have access to are Chevys, but I could probably find a Ford or Dodge if I really tried. A swapped stock suspension wouldn't have as much travel I know, but if there is a great increase in cost and ease I'm willing. If its custom I will likely have to outsource a lot of the work to a shop owned by a buddies dad because I don't have a mandrel.

That's my biggest question right now. This is in the infantile stages of thought right now. I'm really looking for any and all opinions, info, and insight that I can find. This will be the first time I take on a project this big and I want to do it right.

 

Well when I had my H3 Alpha 5.3L V8 most of the hardcore wheelers went with a SAS vs the IFS so it was the opposite of your idea, but I know they had to totally redo the steering from rack & pinion to a worm gear setup like the D2 (once again flip flopped) but in your case you'd have to figure out how to mount a rack & pinion, then you'll be adding upper control arms, and lower control arms and due to the D2's weight probably a torsion bar setup IFS.

IMHO I'd do more of a 2WD Jeep setup like on the Cherokee/Grand Cherokee/07 Wrangler 4DR, which uses a hollow solid axle setup (no pinion). That way all the steering would remain the same, along with the suspension.

Honestly for the cost of all of that work you could find yourself a decent 05-07 LR LR3 SE/HSE. It'll get better MPG (I can get up to 20MPG on trips), and it can tow very good.

 

Given the fact that you have no fab experience, I would call this a no go.

A crown victory ifs swap on a ford f100 is one of the easiest ifs conversions in history, and still requires 100+ hours of fab work for a novice.

You are talking about completely uncharted territory (that I'm aware of) for a D2. To have your buddy fab this from scratch would cost him (and therefore you) thousands of dollars in time, and at least $1000 in materials. utilizing a factory suspension from another vehicle MIGHT get you ahead in initial cost, if you can find something with a removable k member that closely fits the disco frame rails, otherwise you are just re-inventing a factory setup and might as well have gone custom.

Not to mention the steering system, which will have too be completed re-engineered as well.

If you had the notion that you wanted to attemp this on your own anyway, you better invest in a race chassis build manual and bone up on your geometry because you are going to be doing A LOT of math.

 

I do have fan experience. A pretty decent amount actually. Just nothing on this large of a scale. I don't need it to actually run any time soon, so i have the time to spend. As for the math and cutting, those I can do or at least figure out. I'd just need to have him do the bends before I can weld it up.

Any recommendations on manuals?

Thanks!

 

Solid axle is beefier for hard core off roaring, but IFS iis better for the road as well as on sand which will be this D2s primary uses. Steering I'm not too worried about. That I can figure out. Not terribly worried about weight either because I can get a set of Silverado struts used pretty cheap. I have since more or less confirmed I have access to a donor truck and definitely confirmed it runs fine. Just doesn't stop and the body is trashed.

Suspension would probably be the last step. I'd get her fixed up and running with the factory font axle/suspension until I decided to finally do the swap.

I've looked into the lr3, but I just love the look of the D2 and the feel of the interior so I'm pretty set on it. This is really (initially) for more of a big fan project. Until its done I still have my 08 Silverado for a daily driver. Plus, 20 highway could be achieved from a RWD 5.3 swap and both Silverado and D2 tow capacities are 7500-7700 lbs. Even stock the D2 tow capacity is there.

Thanks!

 

My H3 Alpha with the 5.3L V8 never got past 14MPG. It certainly could tow & stop better than a D2 and of coarse it didn't use 93 octane.

D2 Towing wise isn't the 7700LB in low range?? I know Uhaul always tells me NO whenever I try to tow with the D2 so I always used the H3 Alpha or the LR3 now.

I agree the LR3 is nothing body style wise like a classic LR D90/RRC/D1/D2, but it'll grow on you. In the right color combo with nice 18inch or 19inch AT/MT tires it can look really really nice. I absolutely love how it drives, handles, the seats are comfy & supportive, and that 4.4L V8 is truly amazing. People complain it's under powered & all I can say is it is 300HP and so was my 5.3L in the Alpha and that 4.4L with the six speed transmission can run circles around the 5.3L and 4spd auto. Not to mention if you remove the middle resonator it sounds more like a Jag Type F on full throttle acceleration vs a LR.

It would almost seem easier if you could find say the frame from a Chevy Tahoe or Ford Expedition, and modify it to fit under the D2 vs trying to add that stuff to the D2 frame. I know from the H3 guys work with going SAS if they were off by just the slightest bit they had death wobble, or steering issues. Most of them were trail rigs so it didn't matter, but the ones that tried making it street friendly ran into problem after problem.

If you're happy tinkering go for it, but be prepared for some speed bumps. I've never had issues in the sand with any solid axle 4x4, but I also had the proper tires and if it was really bad sand I lowered my PSI.

 

Is it possible to create a section for threads about motor swaps?

 

D2 is rated for 7700lb in the UK. in the US it's rated for 5500lb or 7700 in low range, but I've been going by the UK rating. I've had 7300lb behind her with mountain roads as well as highway and without trailer brakes. A certain level of caution has to be observed, but that's true for any trailing and she has never given me an issue

No doubt on the H3, but it's also 4wd and weighs a hair more than the RWD D2 would. Not to mention the ECU would need a tune if it was getting swapped, so a performance tune would be added at the same time which adds a slight MPG increase.

Body swap is definitely an option, but where's the originality? Haha
In all honestly though, I'm in a pretty rural area. Tahoes are rare as hens teeth in junk yards and I want to stick with coils in the back vs the leaf springs in the back of silverados and sierras. It also helps that I've been hankering for a big project, specifically either a D2 project or an LS swap project, for some time. The combination there of seems like the best of both worlds to me.

I will agree that the LR3 can grow on you, but this is a swap I've wanted to do foe a while. In fact I like them quite well and looked into them briefly before I got the silverado. And I'm definitely happy tinkering if that's what needs to happen. And honestly, I like the D2 seats as well as any other seat I've ever sat in. So much that I put a set in my silverado because the silverado seats cause me to have quite a bit of hip pain after about half an hour.

 

Probably wouldn't do much good. I'd say it would rarely see any traffic and engine swaps would get posted here anyway. Plus, its not like engine swap questions are daily or even weekly events anyway. I'd also argue that this thread is a little more than an engine swap thread.

 

Yeah in TX I see a lot of Tahoe/Escalade/Yukon's in the junk yards. I agree about the originality but service down the road would be a breeze.

Yeah PCM of NC has tunes for most GM products, but on the H3 Alpha it's real handicap was the 4spd transmission. The power was there, but that transmission was clueless on how to apply it. It would stay in first to long, then it would jump out of OD if you went up a 2% grade. I learned not to have a heavy foot off the line, and to just treat the cruise control like it didn't work because as soon as you enabled it and that 2% grade magically appeared = a gallon of fuel just got dumped lol.

Had Hummer stayed in business after 2010 I'm 99% certain the next H3 Alpha would have been truly amazing. It was a very good footprint for a midsize SUV. It had power (Alpha Model), available locking F/R diff's, 4.1 transfer case, a very well protected undercarriage, and for IFS the TC/Stability Control, did a nice job of keeping you moving forward. Lots of people complained about the CV's breaking. I never broke one, and all the video's I ever saw of them breaking = a LR half shaft would have blown the same way as they were spinning the tire in the air, then slamming it to the ground. Nothing can really survive that kind of abuse, and if you were to say slap in some $$$ RCV shafts then your driveshaft, and transfer case are the next things to explode.

I hated to see my H3 Alpha go, but I needed a third row of seats and the LR3 fit the bill for that. I'm not a big fan of EAS, but it does have massive amounts of travel vs the OME Coil Spring LR3 setup, and it's no where near as delicate as a RRC/P38 EAS system.

If I had kept my H3 long enough that it was retired from family duty I'd have done the SAS conversion and it would have been a true beast off road. It was so nice to just be able to slap on 35's with just a small steering stop adjustment. I'm having aggressive 32's rub on my 99 D2 and I've tweaked all sorts of stuff and the aftermarket rims I slapped on with a wider offset helped in one spot then totally stabbed me in the back in another lol. I'm probably going to go back to the OEM Rim with 255/70R18's or just slap on my steel wheels with 265/75R16's and call it a day.

I know what you mean about having a project. That's what my 99 D2 is 100% project/toy. It's mechanically flawless so I'm concentrating on off road stuff, and clearances.