I've found a few threads on this subject but most are focused on opinion of riding quality and whether it's for off road vs. daily driving.

My question is focused on what add-on weight warrants a heavy duty lift kit as opposed to medium duty.

On my 2002 Land Rover Discovery 2 I have a 150lb front bumper with an 80lb winch. I have 150lb rock sliders (side steps), I also have a steel rear bumper (not sure it's exact weight), 90lb bajarack expedition roof cage. With some other accessories as well, all in I'm over 500lbs with add ons.

Now I know these add-ons aren't anything out of the ordinary, basically every Rover Atlantic British or niche disco drivers post about has similar add ons with a roof cage, bumpers, winch, etc.

Is a medium duty terrafirma lift kit (shock absorber and coil) ideal for this set up with that weight threshold? Or does a heavy duty make more sense given the weight, although it is primarily a daily driver.

Thanks,

 

I'd say HD, at a minimum. I'm running a similar setup, and the rear is sagging ~2" behind the front. I'm looking into RTE springs to replace the terrafirmas.

 

Welcome to the site. Pictures of your rig when you get a chance, sounds nice.

Brian.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I had the feeling HD would probably make the most sense..

RTE sound nice but why an extra $1400 for the kit as opposed to terrafirma or OME??

I'm seeing the kits as (9/23/17);
terrafirma $550
OME $815
RTE $1900

RTE is a bit outside my budget. Would OME be a better HD option than the Terrafirmas? Not sure if you have an opinion on OME.

Thanks,

 

You're comparing apples to oranges. The TF and OME kits only come with shocks and springs, as far as I know. The RTE kit comes with a ton of other stuff to maintain proper handling. Sure you can get away with just adding springs and shocks, but I personally would not do it. Go big or go home, as they say

 

Actually he said it was going to be a daily driver. Are you really sure go big or go home applies to a DD?

 

What you havnt mentioned is what you want your nominal lift (over stock) to be.

Since you have such a heavy setup, you're only going to yield at best a 2" lift with an HD off the shelf kit. This precludes the need for any complementary parts, like radius arms.

If you want to go taller, you end up in a whole new ball park.

OME HD springs will feel soft but will last and resist sagging, Their shocks however are too short and you would be better off with something longer.

TF HD springs are stiffer but have been reported so sag prematurely and not necessarily all at the same time. However, their reputation seems to be on the ascent so they might be commissioning better springs as of late.

I have no experience with RTE. Parts retailers rarely make their own springs. It would behoove you to find out who makes what and research the source, not the private label that rebrands them.

 

Perhaps even more so. Being a DD or not doesn't really matter. He's already gone big with the front and rear steel bumpers, steel sliders, winch, and rack. He needs to get the springs that will support that. Now, if he doesn't want a huge lift and wants better pavement handling... MD or HD terrafirma's might be the way to go. Maybe he gets 1-2" of lift so upgrading the other components isn't entirely necessary. Personally, my TF HD's sag like a bitch after only a couple thousand miles so I wouldn't reccommend them for the weight he has.

But if disco2life is set on getting a 2"+ lift, then he will want the adjustable panhard, castor corrected arms, etc, to maintain good drive-ability. For my lift, I did TF HD springs, tf shocks and the adjustable panhard. Steering was terrible. Felt like a shopping cart. had to crank it all the way back after a turn. Then I got the castor corrected arms and all was well again.

There's is a lot more to do doing a lift properly than shocks and springs. Shock towers (arguable), extended brake lines, spring retainers, spring cones, adjustable panhard, castor corrected arms, rear panhard or cranked watts.. to name a few.

 

TF HD springs equate to a solid 3" lift. Too much for the factory radius arms, brake lines, Panhard, etc.

OME springs are 2" as long as you get the appropriate spring rate.

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-I hadn't realized the difference between RTE as far as parts total and everything included. Thanks for pointing out the obvious on that, my bad for missing it.

As far as my desired nominal lift. I would like to be at 2".

Frankly, all I'd like to do is put a 2" lift kit on my disco 2 to provide better off roading capability, create better stability/support for the added weight of my recent add-ons, not break the bank (I realize this is subjective), and yeah lets all be honest that we feel a little cooler sitting higher up on the road. The dilemma has appeared to be that I'm being forced to compromise on different aspects of that criteria based on what kit I go with.
Initially I purchased a 2" block (billet) kit from ProTuningLab that was like $150 but I did some additional research after the fact and identified that's not a good idea long term for my Disco.

So TF HD has a reputation of sagging (two guys on this thread have mentioned problems). and OME is too short? Not sure what that means as they advertise 2"...

I'd like to just go with the TF HD (Terrafirma Heavy Duty) and not fall victim to the sagging issue. But maybe that's too much to ask for.

Appreciate all the feedback thus far, and I apologize if I'm not replying appropriately to different comments .. Not sure how to tag people, etc. I've never been on a forum before. Also just purchased my Disco 2 four weeks ago.