Disco 1 Replacing 3” lift shocks/springs for lower lift

Hi

Recently bought my disco 1 and am was told it is fitted with a 3” lift kit. It also has bigger tyres (cooper discoverer stt pro) on modular wheels and its looks great.
Thats all fine however there is oil leaking out of one of the rear shocks so im looking at replacing those 2 as a pair ( brapest option). My questions (however silly) are:

1. If keeping the 3” lift, do i have to source appropriate 3” shocks? Any recommendations?
2. I understand steering elements are altered for a 3” lift- how can i tell that this has been done and what would i need to change back if taking away the lift kit back down?
3. Would i need to alter much if going to a 2” kit?
4. Do the bigger wheels and tyres necessitate a lift kit to begin with, and does that mean i am stuck with it unless i change the wheels/tyres for smaller ones?

Any help is much appreciated.

Having just checked - the wheels are 16”, dont know if this makes any difference to my questions

Nearly all discovery 1 wheels are 16" it's the size of the tyres that alter....
I have 265/75/16 tyres on mine with a 2" lift but it would depend on what the previous owner bothered doing, mine was completely standard apart from the extended brake lines but I've since sourced cranked trailing and radius arms.

mitutekh said:

Hi

Recently bought my disco 1 and am was told it is fitted with a 3” lift kit. It also has bigger tyres (cooper discoverer stt pro) on modular wheels and its looks great.
Thats all fine however there is oil leaking out of one of the rear shocks so im looking at replacing those 2 as a pair ( brapest option). My questions (however silly) are:

1. If keeping the 3” lift, do i have to source appropriate 3” shocks? Any recommendations?
2. I understand steering elements are altered for a 3” lift- how can i tell that this has been done and what would i need to change back if taking away the lift kit back down?
3. Would i need to alter much if going to a 2” kit?
4. Do the bigger wheels and tyres necessitate a lift kit to begin with, and does that mean i am stuck with it unless i change the wheels/tyres for smaller ones?

Any help is much appreciated.

Click to expand...

To be honest there are many many answers here and even more questions.

Your best effort would be to spend some time learning how the suspension system works and is designed and then examining what has been done to it. Some might find this a ball ache. But I find it all rather interesting.

The reason for saying this is. There are just so many things that may or may not have been done.

Ultimately there is no “right” way to lift or mod a Vehcile. But there are often better and worse ways. And largely depends on what was trying to be achieved.

However to give you some starters for ten

1. Shocks/dampers don’t lift the vehicle. They dampen the wheel movement. And ‘may’ affect how much wheel travel you have.

2. Springs are normally a way to lift a Vehcile. But there many other ways to do it.

3. There are lots of ways to alter or attempt to correct the steering/front suspension geometry. The only way to know is to understand the different ways. However it may not be essential or even necessary.

4. Lifting a Vehcile may bring some advantages. But it will also bring some disadvantages too.

5. Having something that looks awesome is not always the same thing as having something that performs awesome.

Marmaduke said:

Nearly all discovery 1 wheels are 16" it's the size of the tyres that alter....
I have 265/75/16 tyres on mine with a 2" lift but it would depend on what the previous owner bothered doing, mine was completely standard apart from the extended brake lines but I've since sourced cranked trailing and radius arms.

Click to expand...

That info helps - i have the same size tyres as you then. Brake hoses have been changed for flexi braided type i guess to make up the extra gap created by the lift kit

300bhp/ton said:

To be honest there are many many answers here and even more questions.

Your best effort would be to spend some time learning how the suspension system works and is designed and then examining what has been done to it. Some might find this a ball ache. But I find it all rather interesting.

The reason for saying this is. There are just so many things that may or may not have been done.

Ultimately there is no “right” way to lift or mod a Vehcile. But there are often better and worse ways. And largely depends on what was trying to be achieved.

However to give you some starters for ten

1. Shocks/dampers don’t lift the vehicle. They dampen the wheel movement. And ‘may’ affect how much wheel travel you have.

2. Springs are normally a way to lift a Vehcile. But there many other ways to do it.

3. There are lots of ways to alter or attempt to correct the steering/front suspension geometry. The only way to know is to understand the different ways. However it may not be essential or even necessary.

4. Lifting a Vehcile may bring some advantages. But it will also bring some disadvantages too.

5. Having something that looks awesome is not always the same thing as having something that performs awesome.

Click to expand...

Many thanks for the reply- ive already invested in a haynes manual to get me started and i intend to learn about the setup on my disco.
Its great knowing theres a wealth of knowledge and experience on this forum.

I guess i should have asked this about the shocks- would a standard set reach the mounting brackets given the extra lift?

Its going to be my ongoing project all being well for a number of years so hopefully i will pick up info as i learn

Standard shocks will work. But you may find they don’t have the most droop/downward travel. For on road use this won’t be an issue. But if you plan to really off road it might.

With stock shock mounts you can probably get away with +2” shocks. This means they are 2” longer rather than anything to do with lift.

Pro Comp and Rough Country are some good options to look at without breaking the bank.

300bhp/ton said:

Standard shocks will work. But you may find they don’t have the most droop/downward travel. For on road use this won’t be an issue. But if you plan to really off road it might.

With stock shock mounts you can probably get away with +2” shocks. This means they are 2” longer rather than anything to do with lift.

Pro Comp and Rough Country are some good options to look at without breaking the bank.

Click to expand...

Excellent- the front shocks are pro comp as are tye rear ones tgat im replacing so i will get a set of those in ready to go

In all honesty i will mainly be road driving with the odd but of off roading so standard shocks sound like a plan

mitutekh said:

Excellent- the front shocks are pro comp as are tye rear ones tgat im replacing so i will get a set of those in ready to go

In all honesty i will mainly be road driving with the odd but of off roading so standard shocks sound like a plan

Click to expand...

If it’s mostly on road. Then some standard shocks will work perfectly fine. Lots of choice from OEM to pattern parts. All depends how much you want to spend.