Ground clearance

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Paulpen

Active Member
Posts
115
Location
Somerset
Hi chaps - more of a lurcker here :(

After having a few days out in the 300 Tdi a few things have popped up as regular problems the I need to rectify so was wondering what route to go down !

Firstly my towbar seems to dig in almost everywhere but removing the towball will make no difference and if I removed the pate that the ball attaches to the framework that comes out under the fuel tank will still dig in. Are there towbars that are made for offroaders or is the some kind of secert fix ? I would remove the whole lot but the vehicle is used for towing alot aswell so its not very pratical :(

Second issue is that my big tyres seem to love rubbing the rear of both the front and back arches. Im nut really sure what I should do to the front ones as ive already cut the sill stimes back alot. I also "camel cut" the rears but they still seem to catch when the suspension starts to travel alot.
Im guessing that I either need to get a suspension lift on the go or cut the arches alot and add the wide plastic cover things ?

Any advice wopuld be warmly welcomed :)


Paul
 
ditch the plough, you can get tank guards with detachable tow ball drop plates. Guardian do one, I have it on mine.

Suspension Lift or body lift will give you more clearance in the arches.
 
battenberg said:
ditch the plough, you can get tank guards with detachable tow ball drop plates. Guardian do one, I have it on mine.

Suspension Lift or body lift will give you more clearance in the arches.
Click to expand...


Do you have any pictures of how it attaches to the vehicle ?
 
Suspension lift WON'T give you more clearance for the tyres. When you're off road and fully articulate it, the spring will still be fully compressed into the UP position. The thing that does give more clearance, is extended bump stops. But you might not need these (and the reduction in articulation) - what size tyres and what wheels do you have? Also, what make/model tyres, since different ones have slight variations on sizes.

Towbar - I use a regular towbar but with a modification to allow it to follow the line of the fuel tank more, and when needed for towing a 5" drop plate brings the ball to the correct height. Do you have pics of your towbar, there's a few different types and some allow you to slide over obstacles, while some are waiting to dig in.
 
battenberg said:
no, but i can take some....
Click to expand...

If you could it would prove helpful so I know what im getting into :)


LouiseLandRover said:
The rubber arches make no differance to clearance as they only make it look cleaner when you cut them to buggery!!! also for the tow bar I do a lot of towing with a big horse box with two horses. I am getting on from guardian as well. here is the links i was looking at

Discovery - Guardian Offroad Products - Winch Bumpers, Rock Sliders, Steering Guards, Lighting Bars, Tank Guards - Offroad Protection

Southdown 4 x 4 Detachable Towing
Click to expand...

I understand that the arches wont make the clearance but it will allow me to cut for more clearance without making it look horrendous. Or will it still not be enough ?

paul_c said:
Suspension lift WON'T give you more clearance for the tyres. When you're off road and fully articulate it, the spring will still be fully compressed into the UP position. The thing that does give more clearance, is extended bump stops. But you might not need these (and the reduction in articulation) - what size tyres and what wheels do you have? Also, what make/model tyres, since different ones have slight variations on sizes.

Towbar - I use a regular towbar but with a modification to allow it to follow the line of the fuel tank more, and when needed for towing a 5" drop plate brings the ball to the correct height. Do you have pics of your towbar, there's a few different types and some allow you to slide over obstacles, while some are waiting to dig in.
Click to expand...

So what is it that I need then - lift and bump stops or something else all together ?

Im not 100% on my wheels and tyres as they came with the vehicle. I think the wheels are Greenway steels and the front tyres are Insa's and the rear are Annacondas. Both are 235 85 16 114K I think

Would you be able to dig out some pictures of your towbar modifications ?

I cant get any pictures of mine as its now dark but can tomorrow. It basically has a thick plate coming down vertically from behing the rear bumper and a supporting bracket geing from the bottom of that the a bolt through the chassis rail each side. The brackets almost make it into a triangle shape.

My descriptions are poor so ill get a pic tomorrow :D
 
There you go...


IMG_2535.jpg

IMG_2539.jpg

IMG_2533.jpg

IMG_2532.jpg
 
Awesome !

Looks ideal but id better get saving them pennies going by the prices !

Have you had any issues with the fitting or anything ?

Also where have you moved the towbar electrics to ?
 
I understand that the arches wont make the clearance but it will allow me to cut for more clearance without making it look horrendous. Or will it still not be enough ?
Click to expand...

Yes you can hack them to pieces then hide all the rough edges with the extendable arches
 
Ideally the tyres need to tuck into the arches, rather than hitting them. Mine do, albeit on very slightly smaller tyres and on standard steel wheels. The downside is the poor steering lock from having to wind the turn stop bolts so much, to avoid tyre contact with the radius arm. Given that you'll need to trim rear of rear arch (camel cut) and front of front arch (ie lose the bumper plastic trim, for example by fitting a heavy duty bumper or cutting it away).

I don't know for sure, all I can tell you about is my own experience with my own Disco, on 265/75R16 tyres. With yours being narrower you in theory have more clearance.

But, there's an optimal wheel offset out there that allows the tyres to tuck into the arches yet not increase turning circle (via needed adjustment of turn stops) too much.

The towbar mods are really simple, I'll get a pic soonish.
 
Fitting is easy, it's getting the old plough off thats the difficult bit!

you can fit the electrics to the bumper or the right wing under the light cluster (easier for wireing there)
 
Plenty of ideas floting round in my head now :D

Im not too sure on the details of my setup to be honest but the previous owner says that he did not have to adjust the bump stops when he put them on and I can confirm that they do not rub on lock. Also I made a better front bumper the other week so I have no catching there now :D

I only seem to catch on the rear of both arches when getting 70%+ articulation and its at about the 40 degree point of the wheel.

Getting the old one will be a bit of a challenge but I know a man with oxy and air tools so im sure he will have a plan lol

Ill have a lookie tomorrow for good places to put the sockets as under the spare is out as my spare touches the top of the bumper :doh:
 
Here's mine:

Dsc00359reduced.jpg


Dsc00362reduced.jpg


I also took some measurements. With the drop plate in place, the ground clearance (without the ball & pin fitted, its removeable so I remove it when not needed and keep it in the boot) is 275mm, and if I unbolt it its 405mm. Yours looks like the traditional plough style.
 
In theory I could unbolt the upper plate and use an even smaller one there, but at some point the bolt hole area of the horizontal sections are going to meet at an angle instead of flat, compromising the strength if/when I bolt it and torque it up.
 
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