DHappel
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Posts posted by DHappel
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At the back I found that even after deflating the bags with the GAP tool there was still enough residual pressure that I couldn't easily get them out of their lower mounting pockets. This is likely because I had the truck on the lift when I deflated it. If it had been on the ground the weight probably would have squeezed out enough air. But in my case I disconnected the air line from the valve block located above the inner fender liner on the passenger side to allow full deflation.
Disconnect the control arm from the spindle and let it sag down. You'll then pull the single securing screw out of the bottom of the air bag so you can separate it from the control arm. You'll then slip the aluminum spacer in under it - this may require some swearing as I found it a bit of a fight. You'll see an allen head grub screw sticking out of the spacer that acts as a key to keep it aligned when installed.
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Stab the strut back in and repeat on the other side. Then swap the stock rods for the included lift rods. Repeat on the other side and you're ready to move on to the back.
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Included with the kit are camber correction bolts and flag washers. You use these to replace the upper most lower strut bolts when re-installing. It takes a bit of fiddling to get them in but they fit fine. This lets the alignment be reset to stock specs.
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You will also need to grind the flange at the bottom off for clearance (pointing at it in the photo)
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With the strut out, you can now bolt the spacer to the top.
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In the front you'll need to unplug the wiring from the top of the struts if you have the adaptive suspension. Not sure if that's an item on the others. You'll also have to toss the black iron 'donuts' on the top of the strut as they won't fit with the spacers.
Be sure to depressurize the struts prior to disconnecting them. You can use the GAP tool, or just slowly crack the fitting until it starts to hiss then go have a beer while it bleeds down. (East Brother Bo Pills is recommended). The air fittings can be reached at the top of the strut once you begin to lower it.
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The key to making this much tire work is a lift and some trimming. Yes, you could just do a rod lift or a GAP lift, but as we all know from years of doing this to LR3s and 4s before, just doing that means a harder pogo stick ride and loss of all-important down-travel. The key is a spacer above the struts along with a rod or GAP lift. You could likely make your own without too much trouble if you've studied it enough but I went with a kit from a guy back east called SGC Offroad. 2" lift with matching rods. This is much like the Lucky8 Proud Rhino bumpstop extension kit I have on my LR3.
Is it overpriced? Yeah, of course. But you don't have to figure it out yourself. It's *almost* a bolt-in kit. Actually, it's supposed to be a bolt in, but as we'll see I had to do a little work to make it fit. As for instructions...you're pretty much on your own. He does have a really REALLY bad video on YT but as it doesn't even start from a stock truck it's not much use.
*NOTE: I am not covering every detail of removing/re-installing the struts since that's pretty cut and dry as with any standard truck. I'm only pointing out the specifics of installing the mods.
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The ridiculous power running boards, even when fully retracted, kill about 3" of clearance. Why you would need these on a stock height vehicle that has an access mode I don't know.
BTW, if you know anybody who wants them I'll make you a deal. 😁
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Of course it's a bit larger than what was on it.
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Fortunately I already had the LR4 wheels on hand. They had a little rock rash but nothing too bad. I ground/sanded/painted them and ordered up a set of Mickey Thompson Baja Boss ATs in 275/60-20. I had to really restrain myself from going with something more aggressive but I was able to reel it in just a bit by reminding myself the Disco does the real wheeling.
This tire has a good reputation for being nice on the highway and is on the more aggressive end of the AT spectrum. I also like the large sidewall lugs to help protect what little sidewall it has.
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When I said she took out the wheels, I mean she REALY took out the wheels. Pro tip: low pro tires and generic wheels aren't a good fit on a Range Rover.
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I should have written this quite a while ago while it was still fresh in my memory, but better late than never.
Last year I picked up a 2010 RR Supercharged with the plan that it would eventually replace the LR3 as a light wheeler/overlander as well as be Michele's daily. When we got it it had power running boards (!!) and ridiculous 22" wheels with 35 series tires. I knew these things would have to go of course so picked up a set of LR4 20" wheels. Sadly, with the big Brembos of the supercharged model the smallest wheel you can fit is a 19", and there are very few tire options there so I went to the 20s.
Michele drove it for a while like this until January when she hit a "small" pothole and took out both passenger side wheels requiring me to fetch her off the side of I5 at 6AM.
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I haven't been on the forum much lately and this is an old thread but....
If you want to run a 275/65-18 on a 3 or 4 you will have rubbing even with a "small" tire like a KO2. You will want some lift and you will need to do the usual mods such as the frame horns, the driver's front ABS wires, flatten the rear pinch seems, and re-route the rear heater lines. None of it is crazy but you will need to do it. If you only drive on the street or simple dirt roads it may not be much of an issue but as soon as you start flexing it you'll have significant rubbing. A 265/65 is a safer size. I run a 275/70 on my 3 w/o rubbing but I've also done a fair bit of trimming/mods.
But beyond this keep in mind there are no gearing options for these trucks and with the bigger tire you'll really feel it off-road. Sure it's slower on road and gets worse mileage but that's just the way things are. The real issue is trying to work technical terrain with a poor crawl ratio. It's hard to control things when going slow.
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On 2/24/2023 at 4:14 PM, So...Yoder said:
Spoke with a local European mechanic, they say a bar tag is not a problem if the check engine light works, and the exhaust down to the cats is still there.
Good to go
I'll be very interested to hear if that actually turns out to be the case. I've spoken to people who've done swaps even within the same brand (a 4 cyl yota to a 6 cyl yota) and still had to jump through a lot of hoops to get it past the ref. Seems to be very dependent on the ref you get. Some just say "fail" and won't provide any feedback while others will try to help you do it to their specs. If it really is as easy as this it opens up a lot of options.
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BTW, Timm Cooper may also come out for the day.
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Michele and I plan to be there, but not camping as she basically gets in from one flight and leaves on another the next day. I'm counting on maximum snow so I can do my 3psi thing again! 😁
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So what was the over-all impression? I think these are expected to be around $90K US? Interior/dash looks a little plasticky but can't really tell. Looking at the underside I'm surprised there are no skids or guards I can see. And that trans crossmember appears to hang pretty low. I'm sure it wouldn't be that hard to make something but I wonder if there will be any support?
I know they aren't positioning this as a hard core off-roader but more of a back country utility vehicle. Of course that's where most off-roaders start. It's then a matter of how hard/easy it is for the owner to modify for their needs.
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I do really like how tight that rack is to the roof though! And the cargo area looks great. Not sure I dig the rear doors.
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The "well groomed trails" are exactly why I figured there was little point in going to something like this. Or any press intro for that matter. And it sounds like they had a driver haul you around instead of you driving? Or at least had a "handler" in the seat next to you? Were they not confident in the vehicle?
Actually there is one big reason I'm not especially interested in the vehicle over-all and that's aftermarket. If it WERE a Rover the aftermarket would jump in quickly to offer upgrades. Given it's a low volume vehicle like it is I expect it will be very difficult to modify without doing everything custom. What do you do if you want different gearing, better axle shafts, a lift, etc?
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Michele and I will be there, though we are staying at a cabin in town. Will bring the D1 as I expect the snow to be deep this year. Hopefully I'll have the new tires for maximum floaty-ness. I was told if we take the open truck we have to have a cabin, so that was the trade-off. Planning to head up on Friday around noon-ish.
- Motobrewer, RobertDingli, Mr.BlueSky and 1 other
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Just as a reminder, we'll be LEAVING the trailhead at 10:00 AM tomorrow morning so best to be there by 9:30 so you can air down, hit the bathroom (there's one at the trailhead), BS with everybody, etc. I will have my phone 510.825.5056 and radio 146.460 on. I'm planning to take the LR3 and will lead the Signal Peak side. We may or may not reach the top depending on snow and/or mud from run-off but we'll go as far as we can!
If Mike/Andrew/etc want to run the first bit of Fordyce down to the the first water crossing that's great but I'll have to stick to the easier stuff. I have done that in the 3, but I'm trying not to do silly things with it these days.
See everybody there!
- Mr.BlueSky and El Chapomint
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Nice write-up. One note - generally you can rotate the ends of a winch to accommodate bottom/fwd mounting and keep the clutch lever on top. I've had to do that for ARB bumpers before. I can't speak about the Apex specifically but it's pretty common.
As an aside, do you think you could have trimmed the limb riser brackets and gotten the bumper to sit closer? One of the things I always disliked about the ARB on my LR3 is how far it sticks out especially compared to how compact the stock bumper is. And don't sweat the headlights - you can't remove them with an ARB on the 3 either, just slide them forward a bit. You can get the grill off though.
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I'm gonna try! Hope to make up for my lack of wheeling over the winter!
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L322 lift/tires
in Modifications and Fabrication
Posted
The kit comes with what I suspect are supposed to be new bolts to reach through the spacer and secure the bag but they do not fit at least on my application so I had to source something of my own.
(the longer hex bolt is the supplied part that doesn't fit; the longer screw is the part I used - there isn't a huge amount of stress on this part and the original screw just goes into plastic)