LR3 Lift Kit

[FourByLand]

Ready for tires and thinking of going to a larger size. Anyone have any info?

Thanks

 

[muskyman]

I know a number of guys that have done the modified height sensors but they all end up with hard faults when they wheel them hard after they have done it.

bells are for sleighs and whistles are for refferees I want neither on my trucks

 

[FourByLand]

So who is selling these bells and whistles?

 

[tweak]

have a look at this thread:

http://www.discoweb.org/forums/showthread.php?t=62195

or this:

http://www.discoweb.org/forums/showthread.php?t=62132

 

[nwoods]

DWEB is not terribly new-user friendly. Best to try www.lrrforums.com for LR3 related stuff, or of course www.disco3.co.uk. For adjustable sensor rods, Sasquatch makes the best. Check them out in this thread here

Here is a photo;

 

[FourByLand]

Can someone link the photos I'm not a member.

 

[lwg]

Where are you located? We have a spring conversion for an LR3 sitting at our Portland location (Columbia Rovers). You'd have to have the truck here so that we can reprogram it since it's a conversion from airbags to springs.

 

[tdesanto]

Okay, Louis, I've been patient long enough. Spill it already; what are you planning? :sombrero: Promise me you're not getting rid of that sweet disco.

 

[nwoods]

Where are you located? We have a spring conversion for an LR3 sitting at our Portland location (Columbia Rovers). You'd have to have the truck here so that we can reprogram it since it's a conversion from airbags to springs.

Larry, this is a HUGE deal if true. I know that ARB and Atlantic Brittish were working this. I had provided them with detailed spring rate info and dimensions from my coiler a while back, but they never got anywhere with it. RoverTyme and SG also toyed with the idea but none of them could bypass or defeat the computer integration....

What kind of articulation do you get out of the spring conversion kit? Are you using custom made coilovers? Are you adding shock loops for longer travel?

If you really have accomplished this, there is a ton of people who would be interested, and plenty of venues in which this news should be shared, and right quick!

 

[lwg]

Larry, this is a HUGE deal if true. I know that ARB and Atlantic Brittish were working this. I had provided them with detailed spring rate info and dimensions from my coiler a while back, but they never got anywhere with it. RoverTyme and SG also toyed with the idea but none of them could bypass or defeat the computer integration....

What kind of articulation do you get out of the spring conversion kit? Are you using custom made coilovers? Are you adding shock loops for longer travel?

If you really have accomplished this, there is a ton of people who would be interested, and plenty of venues in which this news should be shared, and right quick!

OME has lift springs available for the LR3, makes sense really since their available everywhere else. We were looking into putting together everything but couldn't quite nail down the software piece. Our problem was that we couldn't figure out how to build a device that a customer could use to fool the computer, essentially we needed the vehicle onsite to do this.

Along those same lines one cool fool the computer to sit higher like we did on a customers new body Range Rover, essentially giving it a lift.

 

[nwoods]

OME has lift springs available for the LR3, makes sense really since their available everywhere else. We were looking into putting together everything but couldn't quite nail down the software piece. Our problem was that we couldn't figure out how to build a device that a customer could use to fool the computer, essentially we needed the vehicle onsite to do this.

Along those same lines one cool fool the computer to sit higher like we did on a customers new body Range Rover, essentially giving it a lift.

Ah, okay. Well, let me save you some time I think.
The OME springs are designed to provide a mild lift and higher weight bearing capacity for factory equipped coil sprung LR3's. They are more comon overseas, though there are a handful here in the US. 27 of them in fact, if my info is correct.

What you need to convert the standard air or coil equipped LR3 is a custom coil over. Currently, no one makes anything even close to the factory coilover unit. The mounting eye on the bottom is wrong, the 3 point head at the top is unique, and the distance needed between the bottom swingarm and the bottom of the spring perch is critical to clear the driveshaft. I looked high and low for a replacement system, trust me. Short of custom making a coilover, it doesn't exist.

Other pitfalls that require creative engineering is the limited downward travel the coilover has compared to the air-shock. I've never seen the LR3 air shock dissected, but it must have some sort of telescoping cylinder inside to allow the incredible 15" of downward travel it has. The coilover was about 6" of travel downward, with everything the exact same except for the shock.

I had good success with Peddar's +40mm medium duty springs. Very comparable spring rate to factory, and just enough lift to be useful. In the end though, I went with +65mm HD springs from KingSprings. These were rock hard and gave an unforgiving ride, and the factory shock dampening was not up to the task, but that extra inch or two of lift was worth it for the kind of terrain I visited. I always wanted to fit a longer travel shock valved to accommodate those springs, but nothing exists currently, and I didn't have the funds to have prototype units made for me.

There have been several attempts to convert an air sprung system, but without access to very expensive black box mfr'ing to bypass the ride height sensors, air compressor, and so forth, those efforts were all fruitless. My favorite was the Baja 500 LR3 with dual 18" King resi's and limit straps, and custom shock towers. But that rig was inop because of the sensors having a problem with all their connections having been invaldidated. Never got solved.

The inexpensive RodMod to change the length of the ride height sensor rods is about the only effective way (besides spacer blocks above the shock towers), to lift the LR3, currrently. Until someone bypasses the computer system.

 

[jatibb]

want spacers? make your own..http://www.onlinemetals.com/

 

[R_Lefebvre]

Nathan, I dont' really see any barriers to making a coilover system for that vehicle. None of those pictures really raise any issues. The bottom mount could easily be adapted into any number of standard mounting eyes using bushings. The top mount is custom, but then every car is, and making a custom top mount isn't very hard, I've done it myself even. Just need a hunk of aluminum, a spherical bearing and a lathe. The spacer for the bottom perch is also no big deal and somewhat common.

The only issue I see is trying to pack a firm, long travel, 2.5" spring into that space without going into coil-bind. It's not impossible, but you just have to watch what you're doing.

Looks to me that the only reason it hasn't been done is lack of demand. And it easily in the realm of a one-off.

Surf around here to get some ideas:

http://www.ground-control-store.com/products/description.php/II=827/CA=2

 

[TeriAnn]

Looks to me that the only reason it hasn't been done is lack of demand.

It seems that almost no one in the US is taking LR3s seriously off road. Early on British Pacific jumped in the LR3 off road gear retail market with both feet offering ARB winch bumpers, under body armor, sill protectors and a swing away rear tyre mount to get the spare out from under the truck. They found a decided lack of interest amongst US LR3 owners. Instead, people who wanted to go off road did so in a Disco I or II.

There's a lot of doable things that are just not being done because the market to sell more than a handful never materialized and likely never will unless Tata discovers Land Rover's roots and decides to give them more than lip service.

I would imagine Tata's decision to build a Defender based upon the LR4 platform will be a major boon to Jeep if Fiat takes the Jeep platform back into the military market.

 

[nwoods]

It seems that almost no one in the US is taking LR3s seriously off road. Early on British Pacific jumped in the LR3 off road gear retail market with both feet offering ARB winch bumpers, under body armor, sill protectors and a swing away rear tyre mount to get the spare out from under the truck. They found a decided lack of interest amongst US LR3 owners. Instead, people who wanted to go off road did so in a Disco I or II.

There's a lot of doable things that are just not being done because the market to sell more than a handful never materialized and likely never will unless Tata discovers Land Rover's roots and decides to give them more than lip service.

I would imagine Tata's decision to build a Defender based upon the LR4 platform will be a major boon to Jeep if Fiat takes the Jeep platform back into the military market.

TeriAnn, as an early customer of BP's efforts to equip the LR3, I fully appreciate their efforts, and I recognize that the amount of sales were probably quite dissapointing. But I think it's only a matter of timing. The amount of people willing to take a $50,000 rig into the rocks is few indeed. But now used LR3's are far more attainable, and significant number of LR3's are particapting in local off road club events, Uharie, National Rally's, etc..

It took time for DiscoII's to find their way offroad, so to will it for any new platform, simply because of the inital cost. If BP would resume their efforts to champion these products, they will probably see a significantly higher percentage of sales then when the LR3 was brand new. Unfortunately, their marketing efforts are not well targeted to this sort of buyer.