To lift?, or not to lift? - that's the question!

OK peeps, heres my head scratcher (well for me anyway)

My 90 is already pretty tall - on 31" o/d tyres, several sages have said, 'need a 2" lift on that now'. I don't want to use a ladder to get into it, but would like to have greater articulation for off roading.

So do I a) lift (+2" Springs/Dampers/Cones/Stops etc)
or can I just go b) longer dampers/cones/brake lines to achieve similar flexibility?

b) sounds a better value idea but have no experience of either

What can the experienced amongst you advise?

Cheers

Is this your every day vehicle as well? I am guessing you have something like 265/75 R16 tyres fitted and they offer the same clearance as a 2 inch lift. I would put what the 'sages' say on hold for now and spend your money on basic underbody protection. Try going out with what you have and then decide in a few months. I am a firm believer that off road driving skills are worth more than any expensive lifts and that comes with time

Thanks -its a weekend weapon and occasional weekly drive running 235/85/16 Grabber TR at present -seem grippy enough on and off-road (not that I've gone up to my neck in mud!)
Also has a front steering guard, rock sliders and diff guards front & rear courtesy of previous owner, so has protection and plenty of clearance - is articulation/lifting a black art to avoid?

At the top of the page you will see a search window and lots of previous threads on this. I think you will find that quite a few will say dont bother. Some will say go for it. I had standard General Grabber TR on my old 90 and they are a good all rounder and faultless in the snow so again.... see how they go and if they cant cope then your money is far better spent on tyres and a basic recovery kit than a 2 inch lift. With shocks and springs again, see how yours cope before forking out lots of money.
To me your 90 looks ready to go for now.... just dont rag it to death. You will see others hammering it and gloating what they have managed to break. You will drive past them

MrJC said:

At the top of the page you will see a search window and lots of previous threads on this. I think you will find that quite a few will say dont bother. Some will say go for it. I had standard General Grabber TR on my old 90 and they are a good all rounder and faultless in the snow so again.... see how they go and if they cant cope then your money is far better spent on tyres and a basic recovery kit than a 2 inch lift. With shocks and springs again, see how yours cope before forking out lots of money.
To me your 90 looks ready to go for now.... just dont rag it to death. You will see others hammering it and gloating what they have managed to break. You will drive past them

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Sounds solid advice to me, many thanks - New Discs/pads are on, Snorkel is on and sealed so I'm heading for the hills & valleys!!

one thing to remember is you can only get maximum diff clearance by putting on larger tyres,and with larger tyres you will need a lift..

i have 35" simex type tyres and a 2" lift and have had no probs whatsoever
.you wont get 35" on without a lift

this is b4 the lift with 265/75/16 insa turbo tyres(the only pic i could find)

and after a lift with 35" tyres

Thanks WLM

Was the idea with the lift just to get extra diff clearance?
Were you getting stuck a lot with your previous setup?
Those 265/75 insa look well fat!

wiltshire landyman said:

one thing to remember is you can only get maximum diff clearance by putting on larger tyres,and with larger tyres you will need a lift..

i have 35" simex type tyres and a 2" lift and have had no probs whatsoever
.you wont get 35" on without a lift

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totaly agree with you wlm my 33s would rub on the rear arch before, with a 2" lift its all fine

tbh theres lots of people who say a 2" lift wrecks a landy i for one diss agree completly and mines my daily drive/offroader

the only thing that was different on the driving side of things is my steering is a bit more vague than before but its defender not a lambo

i admit i have changed the rear trialing arms for some cranked ones but it handles on and offroad exactly the same so wasted my money abit thats why im not buy cranked radiaus arms

if i were you id go for it

Its a few weeks since I completed my 2" lift. Had no choice with 35" tyres. I only replaced the spings and shocks.

I'm in the 'attentive' phase at the moment - can't have people talking because I need to listen to evey littel rattle, clonk, ping and feel every vibration and think - did it do that beofre the lift? I'm sure I'll be through it soon.

I'm kind of getting used to the vague steering now.

I've bought and soon to fit an adjustable panhard rod - to correct the fact the front wheels stick out 1cm more one side than the other (I guess that may correct the fact the steering wheel is turned slightly when going straight ahead).

The jury is still out on whether I'll need more stuff (corrected radious arms, new prop shafts etc.).

But if you're not going for bigger tyres, I'd say deffo don't do the lift.

slomofo said:

Thanks WLM

Was the idea with the lift just to get extra diff clearance?
Were you getting stuck a lot with your previous setup?
Those 265/75 insa look well fat!

Click to expand...

not neccessarily,i started gettin into winch/punch challenge events and the standard setup wasnt up to the job,

imho the insa are best value for money offroad tyre you can get..

but i wanted hoooge tyres and as much dif clearance as poss

i got 265/75 insa traction tracks on a 2 inch terrafirma lift and everything has been fine (so far) I didn't really want a lift but the guys at brookwells didnt seem to think it would affect the handling too drastically and so far i'm happy with the results

Well - inconclusive either way, so I've plumped for keeping the money in the bank until I get regularly stuck, either by lack of talent (likely) or conditions beyond the trucks standard set up (less likely!).

Although I've seen some 265/75/16 BFG MT's I fancy...

Thanks all...