mt2man
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Posts: 1,364
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May 14, 2014 13:29:13 GMT
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Hey all, basically ive got a 200tdi disco 1 with a decent engine and chassis, saggy front suspension and only half a body, it doesnt owe me anything so ive been keeping it for a project one day. But might put it to use this summer! I originally bought a 2" lift kit for it but I'm thinking of going the opposite direction now, so i have various standard car and van springs, so I'm thinking about lowering the chassis as far as possible! Ill be taking the 31" tyres off the 15" dished wellers and fitting some 215/45/15s i have spare onto the rims which should leave me with a relativly low slung chassis! Body wise the cab is shot so plan on removing that but retaining as much of the bulkhead as possible and building a kind of rat rod style body onto the chassis  I wont be modifying the chassis in anyway shape or form so ill essentially be rebodying with lower suspension but this should still be well within the points scheme so no need for an IVA? I plan on retaining the tow bar and essentially plan on having it as a weekend toy and to finish off building my tear drop tailer so i have a tow vehicle for it, may have to flip the towbar lowering mounts and raise the towbar though because of the substantial suspension drop? Also how will the reduction is tyre size and weight affect the towing ability as thinking about purchasisng a caravan in the future! Jack |
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Last Edit: May 14, 2014 13:30:42 GMT by mt2man
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May 14, 2014 15:55:46 GMT
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Hi putting the smaller diameter tyres will lower the gearing so it will make it easier.
Colin
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May 14, 2014 16:13:02 GMT
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When you raise a Disco, Range Rover Classic or Defender you strictly need altered suspension arms to take into account the altered castor angle. The same might apply the other way round. Also shock towers on front might need spacers or shorter shocks - same with rear but easier to remount upper mount higher on an adapter plate.
Paul H
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May 14, 2014 17:30:24 GMT
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Hi, when you lift a coil sprung Land Rover the castor angle goes from neg to neutral or if severe to positive. As it is being dropped the castor angle will be more negative and so self centreing of the steering will be stronger. With the axles right up against the chassis ie no bump stops the dampers don't bottom out so they should be OK. This is actually a good vehicle to do this with because of there good axle articulation there is no interference at extremes. Because of the low profile tyres I would jack it up, remove the springs and let it down onto the bump stops to see how low the chassis gets to the ground, I have done this with ordinary 205s and it was acceptable. Of course they are easy to bag for going over speed bumps. The lowest part of the chassis is the crossmember under the bellhousing which is lower than the rails, but as it's bolt on it can be modified to be level. Good luck!
Colin
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Last Edit: May 14, 2014 17:39:08 GMT by colnerov
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mt2man
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Posts: 1,364
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May 14, 2014 17:49:02 GMT
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Thanks for the messages guys! As for the castor angle, the front wont really be going much lower to really be worth bothering with altered suspension arms, the front sits close to the bump stops anyway! As for the rear I will just remove the springs and shocks and see how low it sits The main drop in height will come from the radically reduced tyre size! On the rear a quick play with a tape measure I will be able to lower the chassis around 10" , the front will only really come down about 7" but that's due to saggy springs in the front anyway. It probably wont be a low slung race car (its got a 200tdi after all anyway haha) I have spare shocks etc too which I can make work! I may cut and weld the front suspension turret so I can fit shorter dampers, spring wise I have loads of stiff springs I could mock up with I haven't actually thought about going down the air bag route! But I don't think I would get enough of a drop on air to really be worth having air anyway! As for the cross member under the bellhousing I will have to have a look at clearances! There seems to be masses of room atm so even if I do come down 7" it should be fine! Jack |
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May 14, 2014 17:55:16 GMT
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You need to watch the props hafts,esp the front one,see if they need shortening and to check drive angles.
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MonzaPhil
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Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought
Posts: 2,456
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May 14, 2014 18:03:08 GMT
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On the range rover sport, we've used a set of diesel springs cut about in half (regardless of kitteh harmings) and shortened bump stops. The major stumbling block is the diff/sump interface situation. Everything else is fine, although we've now removed the front prop. GR8 4 drftng.
Sent from my HTC Desire C using proboards
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This is now a clicky linky!  |
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mt2man
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,364
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May 14, 2014 18:13:55 GMT
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The thought of taking it drifting when it's slammed did cross my mind actually  haha how easy is it to convert to and from 4wd to rwd? Is it just a case of taking off the prop shaft? |
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May 14, 2014 18:20:30 GMT
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Take off prop and engage centre diff lock.
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MonzaPhil
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Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought
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May 14, 2014 18:38:33 GMT
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Like so:  Sent from my kitchen using a very hot chili |
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This is now a clicky linky! |
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mt2man
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Posts: 1,364
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May 14, 2014 18:42:45 GMT
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Amazing, that will make things fun then haha Had a look under it and even if its sitting on bumpstops I'm pretty sure the lowest thing is going to be the diff on the axles, even then it looks like it would be loads of clearance! |
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mt2man
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,364
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May 14, 2014 19:56:40 GMT
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Plus I love how wellers look with lower profile tyres on them! Mine are white though with slightly more dish ![]() |
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MonzaPhil
Posted a lot
Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought
Posts: 2,456
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May 14, 2014 21:33:17 GMT
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We're on 8 x 16 modulars...
for now
Sent from GTA5 using proboards
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This is now a clicky linky! |
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mt2man
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,364
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May 15, 2014 13:28:52 GMT
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How do you think is best to create the body? Steel or fibreglass? They sell Ford model T roadster fibreglass body shells on eBay for £440 which would probably be cheaper than it would cost me to buy mat and resin to build my own!
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mt2man
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,364
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May 15, 2014 13:30:22 GMT
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mt2man
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,364
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May 15, 2014 14:57:30 GMT
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This is the beast in question! And a pic of the wellers I'm going to swap tyres over on, the current tyres are huge! haha  |
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mt2man
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,364
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May 15, 2014 14:58:30 GMT
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This is one of the reasons i decided to cut it up and have some fun!  |
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mt2man
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,364
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May 17, 2014 17:31:25 GMT
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What do people think is the best plan with the body construction?!
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May 17, 2014 17:44:56 GMT
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I did look at fitting an alternative body, say Morris Minor, to my Range Rover (same chassis) but the engine & gearbox is so big that I'd have been sitting in the back seat.
As I'm finding with my Marlin traditional style cars are VERY narrow. For example my Roadster is based on a Marina 1800TC yet the width between body side is just under 1000mm internally.
You could have a similar problem with a Disco in that if you have the body with width the same as the inside of the wheels to get the traditional style then when you take into account the gearbox you might have just 300mm either side for driver & passenger so you need to first get a tape measure out and see how much room you have to play with. Is this project going to be a two seater or do you need room for rear passengers as well ? What about roof - solid, folding, none ?
What about 1950's style "step side" pick-up / station waggon ? A woody could look nice (with Disco front ?)
Personally unless totally rotten I'd keep the bulkhead / windscreen / B posts / door to make things easier. Door can have outer profile altered to change look.
BTW my Disco rear floor was almost as bad as that when just 6+ years old ! I replaced it with the alloy floor out of a 2 door Range Rover I'd broken for parts.
Paul H
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haha how easy is it to convert to and from 4wd to rwd? Is it just a case of taking off the prop shaft?
