How to add an 2 inch lift to a p38?

Hey @Salisbury Nick , how did this get on?

Mark Piercy said:

Hey @Salisbury Nick , how did this get on?

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Hi Mark.

Well, now you ask. I have been driving for a year or two now. And almost everything everyone said is true. Even when they were mutually exclusive.

I did a 2” body lift. So it rides much higher, much less stable on the road. Extended lift sensor arms, and spacers under the shocks was all it took. I also added a valve kit. So I can answer the question about whether the pressure remains the same or increases to add height. It increases, normal pressure around 60psi but over 70 for extended ride height.
Replaced Dunlop air bags with the same but new.
New Toyo Open Country M/T 255/85R16 tyres. 33”!


Off road, amazing. Not been stuck once in the same places i used to. Goes over anything. Feels awesome to drive.
On Road. Terrible. Speedo is out by a couple of mph, no problem there. I just drive a bit slower than the speed limit and i do use a navigation app that shows my true speed too.
Overgearing led to terrible overheating problems. I‘ve fitted a new aluminium rad and an electric after market fan to fix this. That works well.
Overgearing is a real issue on hills - she does not have the power to maintain speed so drops down to crawling speed. That’s painful. Really painful.
Handling is poor - but given that I rarely drive more than 40mph around the roads near where I live, that’s ok.
Its on the longer drives to Devon or Wales that the speed issue arises.

It does gear it down noticeably but I had no trouble towing up hills with gigantic wheels until my lift pump stopped working, which is easy to test. I did have a manual gearbox though. Everything else sounds normal.

Salisbury Nick said:

Hi Mark.

Well, now you ask. I have been driving for a year or two now. And almost everything everyone said is true. Even when they were mutually exclusive.

I did a 2” body lift. So it rides much higher, much less stable on the road. Extended lift sensor arms, and spacers under the shocks was all it took. I also added a valve kit. So I can answer the question about whether the pressure remains the same or increases to add height. It increases, normal pressure around 60psi but over 70 for extended ride height.
Replaced Dunlop air bags with the same but new.
New Toyo Open Country M/T 255/85R16 tyres. 33”!


Off road, amazing. Not been stuck once in the same places i used to. Goes over anything. Feels awesome to drive.
On Road. Terrible. Speedo is out by a couple of mph, no problem there. I just drive a bit slower than the speed limit and i do use a navigation app that shows my true speed too.
Overgearing led to terrible overheating problems. I‘ve fitted a new aluminium rad and an electric after market fan to fix this. That works well.
Overgearing is a real issue on hills - she does not have the power to maintain speed so drops down to crawling speed. That’s painful. Really painful.
Handling is poor - but given that I rarely drive more than 40mph around the roads near where I live, that’s ok.
Its on the longer drives to Devon or Wales that the speed issue arises.

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Ashcroft do some 4.10:1 diffs that may help with the gearing issue. Although I'm surprised it is as bad as you say. I ran bigger tyres than those on a stock geared Disco 1 200Tdi. It was a manual, but less power than the diesel in the p38. But was still quite driveable on the road.

Salisbury Nick said:

Hi Mark.

Well, now you ask. I have been driving for a year or two now. And almost everything everyone said is true. Even when they were mutually exclusive.

I did a 2” body lift. So it rides much higher, much less stable on the road. Extended lift sensor arms, and spacers under the shocks was all it took. I also added a valve kit. So I can answer the question about whether the pressure remains the same or increases to add height. It increases, normal pressure around 60psi but over 70 for extended ride height.
Replaced Dunlop air bags with the same but new.
New Toyo Open Country M/T 255/85R16 tyres. 33”!


Off road, amazing. Not been stuck once in the same places i used to. Goes over anything. Feels awesome to drive.
On Road. Terrible. Speedo is out by a couple of mph, no problem there. I just drive a bit slower than the speed limit and i do use a navigation app that shows my true speed too.
Overgearing led to terrible overheating problems. I‘ve fitted a new aluminium rad and an electric after market fan to fix this. That works well.
Overgearing is a real issue on hills - she does not have the power to maintain speed so drops down to crawling speed. That’s painful. Really painful.
Handling is poor - but given that I rarely drive more than 40mph around the roads near where I live, that’s ok.
Its on the longer drives to Devon or Wales that the speed issue arises.

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Oddly enough @brianp38dse put a higher profile tyre on his (manual) diesel and said that he was lacking a bit of oomph when towing the tin-tent. I think the v8 has so much torque you can pretty much put what you like on it but the diesel is already near its limit unless you put a Tornado chip or similar in it.

Grrrrrr said:

Oddly enough @brianp38dse put a higher profile tyre on his (manual) diesel and said that he was lacking a bit of oomph when towing the tin-tent. I think the v8 has so much torque you can pretty much put what you like on it but the diesel is already near its limit unless you put a Tornado chip or similar in it.

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I have never had a problem towing with my P38 diesel auto even with another P38 on a trailer hitched up and that' in the hills of France. I find it hard to imagine that the bigger wheels should cause that much of a problem but if it's an auto, the change points will have altered, so down shifts may be late on an incline. I use the stick to force down shifts before momentum is lost.

Datatek said:

I have never had a problem towing with my P38 diesel auto even with another P38 on a trailer hitched up and that' in the hills of France. I find it hard to imagine that the bigger wheels should cause that much of a problem but if it's an auto, the change points will have altered, so down shifts may be late on an incline. I use the stick to force down shifts before momentum is lost.

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Brian's is a manual. Might be unrelated but he says he has to work it harder before the turbo picks up. He was going to check his wastegate when I last spoke to him.