So whats wrong with a couple of spacers on a lift kit then?

A set of spacers under the springs for a 2 inch lift. No spring upgrade and no body lift.
20 mins job!

Or am i missing something here?

your missing 2" of shock absorber travel unless you fit 2" longer shocks

johnlad said:

your missing 2" of shock absorber travel unless you fit 2" longer shocks

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Interesting!
My local Mechanic who has a Discovery which must be about 6ft high (well you know) and just about everything else told me you really don't need them as the 2 inch spacer needs nothing else to be bought or adjusted and it will be fine.

Just saying what he said

what a load of bollocks ive had mine fitted for well over a year useing standard shocks and springs and brake pipes with no problems .......... well only 1 the prop uj,s seem to wear much quicker

Bars said:

A set of spacers under the springs for a 2 inch lift. No spring upgrade and no body lift.
20 mins job!

Or am i missing something here?

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Depends what you are gonna be using it for

robint said:

what a load of bollocks ive had mine fitted for well over a year useing standard shocks and springs and brake pipes with no problems .......... well only 1 the prop uj,s seem to wear much quicker

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it stands to reason if you lift your springs 2" higher then the standard shocks can not drop the axle as far as in effect they are 2" shorter now

johnlad said:

it stands to reason if you lift your springs 2" higher then the standard shocks can not drop the axle as far as in effect they are 2" shorter now

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like the answer before yours says depending what ya want to do with it

I do pest control so i do some shooting,trapping etc and it takes me to quite rough muddy tracks so to answer the question i guess it's not that drastic off roading but i could do with the 2 inches, also the tow bar at present can get a bit bogged down.

Also where would i just get the spacers from all i can find is the whole kit (springs etc) or a body lift?

Bars said:

I do pest control so i do some shooting,trapping etc and it takes me to quite rough muddy tracks so to answer the question i guess it's not that drastic off roading but i could do with the 2 inches, also the tow bar at present can get a bit bogged down

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take the tow bar off then or get a detachable one
for the price i would suggest getting better 2inch extended shocks if your going through fields it should improve the ride, and will also increase your articulation over shandard shocks

V8_Disco said:

take the tow bar off then or get a detachable one
for the price i would suggest getting better 2inch extended shocks if your going through fields it should improve the ride, and will also increase your articulation over shandard shocks

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I use the towbar so that's not an option.

Extended shocks has also been a option but then we are discussing on whether spacers under the original shocks would be good enough as reccommended.

Perhaps there is someone has only used the spacers and can comment.

Lots of options and all very useful ...Cheers

When ah got me white bus there was spacers on the rear springs... also the top shock mounts had been lowered to suit ....







Incase ye're wonderin' what the spacers are made from... they were originally a hydraulic ram

Bars said:

Extended shocks has also been a option but then we are discussing on whether spacers under the original shocks would be good enough as reccommended.

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Doesnt the shock go through the spacer? and this wouldnt work on the rear anyway I dont think

Edit.. Unless of course, as above you buy lower shock mounts/turrets...... but then you are getting into +2inch lift cost anyway, but like i said before, depends what your intended use is, if its as described then spacers will probably do, u MIGHT need a dropper plate for the towbar, depending on what you are towing, this will put you back to square on with the towbar digging in.... maybe a detachable/quick release

johnlad said:

your missing 2" of shock absorber travel unless you fit 2" longer shocks

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A friend of mine has done exactly this, he made some spacers from big aluminium bar and also modified his shocker mounts to allow the axle to drop down a bit further. The great thing is he's still on standard parts which are cheap to replace if something breaks.

To be honest some extended shocks allow a little too much travel. The ones on my disco allowed the axle to drop so far that the springs could fall out. Once you've got to that point then you've bugger all grip on that wheel, as the only weight on it is that of the axle itself. I ended up fitting dislocation cones just to stop the spring popping out.

landy.man said:

A friend of mine has done exactly this, he made some spacers from big aluminium bar and also modified his shocker mounts to allow the axle to drop down a bit further. The great thing is he's still on standard parts which are cheap to replace if something breaks.

To be honest some extended shocks allow a little too much travel. The ones on my disco allowed the axle to drop so far that the springs could fall out. Once you've got to that point then you've bugger all grip on that wheel, as the only weight on it is that of the axle itself. I ended up fitting dislocation cones just to stop the spring popping out.

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thats fine but the original post was just spacers without mention of lowering the rear shock mounts

robint said:

what a load of bollocks ive had mine fitted for well over a year useing standard shocks and springs and brake pipes with no problems .......... well only 1 the prop uj,s seem to wear much quicker

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would one of these be any use for the prop robin? 10mm propshaft Prop spacer Land Rover Discovery Tdi on eBay (end time 11-May-10 22:53:27 BST)

been following this thread with interest as it looks like quite a cost effective way of being able to fit bigger tyres allowing increased ground clearance but wouldnt you still need to replace other parts like trailing arms etc?

After reading lots of threads about lift kits it always seems the suspension is just the tip of the iceberg if you are going to do it properly and not wear out your bearings and other things or have I missed something

I have spacers fitted on the rear of my 90 i also have longer springs and STANDARD shock and mounts (bring on the slaughter) my articulation IS limited. I also have lowered the bump stops on the rear to limit the upward travel.

People will ask why I have done this and the people who do not know all that much will no doubt be saying its a terrible offroad Setup.
Well.........

My mota is quite often used for recoverys, quite often used at comps as an official vehicle and has had to get comp motors out of the sh*t frequently.

Right. The reason for the bump stops. Well simply because I detest crap setup lifts and do not want my rubber touching any part of my body work. At full articulation my tyre is 5mm from rubbing the rear tub inside.

Reason for spacers on the rear.......... I was given them, they make the rear end higher and IMO look right when empty. Also my mota carries alot of tools and heavy equipment like tirfors, Air tools and the like, when loaded up with all this kit the landy looks almost level add to that towing loaded trailer occasionally then it was a good move in my opinion.

Why not lower the rear shock mounts?..............well simply I have no need to. I'll explain I have a rear locker and a HD salisbury axle making the propshaft an inch shorter Thus increasing its angle. So far I have got away running it as it is on the road and off road and do not need any more droop causing binding of a standard propshaft. Why dont I fit a wide angle propshaft? Well its more hassel than its worth! If I was out some day travelling across Africa or some far out country where would i find UJ's to replace one? Where would I find +2 inch shocks? When my shocks can cost as little as a tenner each and uj's eight quid why would I fit hundreds of punds on the afore mentioned stuff that I don't really require?

My 90 is not an extreme motor as like most other peoples vehicles its not designed for it. Its too heavy, its too cumbersome and just wrong. Don't get me wrong It will hold its own and I'll put it against any mota that has mahusive lift kits and so on. Been doing this for too long so if I want to get a motor to do x i will Use a motor suited. I am building an 80 inch trials motor Yes on leaves! And it will go most places our big old winched up, girder toteing bumpered, "kitted" tanks will go because it weighs feck all and is designed for it. If you want to win a twist off comp then buy your extended la la la and Play on a ramp. If you want to go offroad there is no cheat, No Buy this you will not get stuck.


Recently I won an axle on ebay in Hitchen, turned up took the axle guy started chatting he was telling me how wonderful his rr classic was it had an rsj's bolted to the front and rear in place of its bumpers. 33 inch tyres, saying he gives it abuse and its never got stuck he has done extreme offroading in the past and it was great. Its an old high milage scabby RR with Girders on the front, smallish bald coleway mud terrains, with 10 spline axles 4 inch lift with side steps.

Never gets stuck - lie everyone gets stuck if not your not even trying anything worthy of owning an LR,

Gives it abuse - lie I know what 10 spline stuff will take and if you are "giving it some" regularly they do not like it.
Side steps - no comment.

Anyway I was polite and welcomed him to come out with a few locals for pay and play or a comp he declined. Wonder why that was then?

you can probably fit 2 inch blocks without too much problem 2 inch is the max tho any more you may need wide angled props and trailing arms. Remeber that your steering may not self centre so easily as you have rotated the axle around its axis by 2 inches and x ammount of degrees putting the geometry out from its original designed point. I've got man flu so if i'm waffling I'm sorry. So there is nothing wrong with using blocks. Its regarded as a cheap lifting method. Bit who cares!

I've got springs instead - £50 second hand and didn't take long to fit.

When I did the job, I could see how simple fitting/making spacers would be and if I wanted it higher that's the way I'd go.

Many people have commented on how much articulation mine has at the rear, I don't know if the shocks are standard or not but they work really well and I've seen a gap of well over a foot between the top of the tyre and the bodywork with no scraping and no springs dropping out - it's probably kept me from getting stuck a few times but who can really say?

I've found the one thing that'll really help off road is bigger diameter tyres- proper mud tyres not a/t's (and whatever it takes to fit them - including cutting bodywork) as they're the only thing that'll lift your diffs which you'll find are what get you stuck more than anything.

R.e. your tow bar - CUT IT! I cut about 40mm off mine and re-welded it back together and it's not got dug into the mud since.......yet, I don't use it and was going to take it off altogether but I was advised not to because they help to protect the fuel tank. You'll probably need to find a way of dropping (lowering) the tow ball to use it from then on but I'm pretty sure there's quick release ways of doing that.

I don't see much wrong with them - but I'd recommend looking out for some second hand springs. If you find you need more articulation you'll need other parts (shockers and flexi's for a start and possibly dislocation cones).

Hope that helps...

I wouldnt buy second hand springs, no need when they are so cheap to buy new even the kits are only around 200 for springs and shocks

Fair enough, the point was you can get second hand springs for about the same as spacers - mine were off a mate and were nearly new.