RRC Lifts- What, How, When, Why

[TooSlowMonroe]

Okay...trying to pull together some collective knowledge on RRC lifts. Searched and found many segregated discussions, but not one central body of knowledge. Help us all understand by sharing your story.

Here is what I know to date...please correct if you have better insight:

2" Lift- no problem, many different suppliers, easily a few hundred bucks, up to 265/75/16.

3" Lift- possible lenghtening of brake lines, OME is major supplier, still few hundred bucks, 285/75/16 now.

4" Lift- Longer brake lines, possible driveline issues.

5" Lift- Big money now...can't find much info anywhere.

So...share your knowledge...especially if you have lifted your Classic!!!

Thanks,
Too Slow

[Thor]

Follow Yoda's advice and do a 5" from the start.

Yes... expensive, but you save by not doing the 2" first.

RTE has a whole kit. Just add driveshafts and tires.

It seems Jeeps are doing 5-8" lifts all the time, LR's have to be more stable than that. I have several D2 friends with RTE 5" and 35" tires and roof racks (sometimes loaded depending on trail and length of trip). They lean with the best of 'em no donks yet. They are good drivers though.

I think I'm between 3 and 4 but I have ALL the mods, I'm hoping to get some temporary spacers to test the truck at 5" to see if I need any adjustments befre 5" spring / tire purchase.

[Muddy Oval]

Depends what you want to use it for. A 5" lift on a range rover? why not just get a Jeep and redneck it out? Seriously, everything that a Range Rover is/was is taken away when you do something like that to it. It would make a mud bogger, but would suck for trail use, street use etc. You also couldn't fit a large enough tyre on it at that height without new gears and tons of other mods- even then it would be anemic in performance with stuff that big.

Whether or not you need new brake lines depends entirely on the shocks. The shocks control the amount of drop the suspension has, so any amount of lift won't make a difference (or be worth doing) without going with different length shocks.

[Thor]

I have to disagree with the 5" being Red Neck. Maybe 8"?? Mud bogers I've seen are ussually full size pickups with 10 to 16" of lift and 40+ inch tires. With 5" on a RR you get wonderful articulation just as LR designed them! They do incredibly well on our trails in CO, NM and UT. Changing gears and tons of other mods are not that bad, and make a great strong trail rig and street rig. I daily drive a RR with 3-4" lift, 33" MT/R, and LOTS of mods, and it blows away my 1995 RRC when it was stock! I have a few friends who run the 5" RTE set up and they use thier sliders and skid plates a bit less on the really rocky trails, and they daily drive them!

So sorry Muddy... can't agree 100% (I agree the mods are expensive) but that's whay we each get our own LR!

[Muddy Oval]

Yup- different approaches for different needs. I think that 5" lift is horrid though- poorly engineered in regards to driveline angles etc. I think the cut and welded castor correction arms are horrible. The a-arm in the rear (or load leveler, whichever you have) needs to be addressed better than a $4 chunk of metal spacer. We have computer models of the RRC, DI and DII suspensions at work and we have run sims of different lifts- There is no properly engineered kit to do that lift. Engineering a proper suspension takes more than adding the word engineering to the name of a company.
Anyway- most important thing is to decide what you REALLY are going to use the truck for and be realistic. If you go too big or too small right off the bat, you won't be happy and waste money. Use the typical cookie cutter approach and let the web forums write your shopping list and you'll end up with a cookie cutter truck- and most of them are very poorly done.

[MuddyRangeRover]

My idea is this, I hope to make it a reality.
RTM kit
Rancho RSX9000 shocks (not sure I want to use those, but can't afford Bilstein or Fox, and OME is too short. I am clueless what to do)
RTE springs-3" Soft springs, w/ 1" spacer. for a netted 4"
Rear shock mounts
Rear spring retainers
Extended Brake lines
Rear link arms w/bushings
Front radius arms w/bushings
32" MTR tires on AR 15X7 rims.

Sounds like a good way to go, but you never know until you try it. RTM stuff seems to be really popular.

[Thor]

Originally Posted by MuddyRangeRover

My idea is this, I hope to make it a reality.
RTM kit
Rancho RSX9000 shocks (not sure I want to use those, but can't afford Bilstein or Fox, and OME is too short. I am clueless what to do)
RTE springs-3" Soft springs, w/ 1" spacer. for a netted 4"
Rear shock mounts
Rear spring retainers
Extended Brake lines
Rear link arms w/bushings
Front radius arms w/bushings
32" MTR tires on AR 15X7 rims.

Sounds like a good way to go, but you never know until you try it. RTM stuff seems to be really popular.

Don't for get potential (almost certain) drive shafts, re-gear diff or transfer case (if you want the engine speed back v. road speed back to stock or lower for off-road.

[TN-LR3]

I'm about to do a 2' body litf from RTE and a full 3' suspension with fox racing shocks and retained front and rear. This won't be much of a road driver and I am upgrading the front driveshaft and stuff like that. This will be a moslty trail truck after it's upgraded, and I just want a rig that can do anything with lots of flex!!! I have seen equipe 4x4 makes a rear a-arm not a spacer for lifts over 3'. Do i care how it drives on the road? not really, I'm just want to wheel the thing. My d-90 has a more moderate lift with OME springs,rancho shocks with RTE shock mounts,brakelines just in case and cones. I say do whatever set-up feels right to you

[Thor]

Originally Posted by TN-LR3

I'm about to do a 2' body litf from RTE and a full 3' suspension with fox racing shocks and retained front and rear. This won't be much of a road driver and I am upgrading the front driveshaft and stuff like that. This will be a moslty trail truck after it's upgraded, and I just want a rig that can do anything with lots of flex!!! I have seen equipe 4x4 makes a rear a-arm not a spacer for lifts over 3'. Do i care how it drives on the road? not really, I'm just want to wheel the thing. My d-90 has a more moderate lift with OME springs,rancho shocks with RTE shock mounts,brakelines just in case and cones. I say do whatever set-up feels right to you

I have several friends who had non stop problems with Fox shocks.

Eventually they both went to Bilstein 7100 and have not had a problem since.

[SCSL]

Originally Posted by Muddy Oval

Engineering a proper suspension takes more than adding the word engineering to the name of a company.

Hmmm. A not-so-subtle swipe?

I've seen several very well executed 5" lifts on DI's, DII's, and RRC's. Each has performed flawlessly through extreme trail use.

We all have our preferences, but to imply there are not well-engineered 5" lifts is simply inaccurate.

[p76rangie]

Originally Posted by Thor

With 5" on a RR you get wonderful articulation just as LR designed them!

[MuddyRangeRover]

Originally Posted by Thor

Don't for get potential (almost certain) drive shafts, re-gear diff or transfer case (if you want the engine speed back v. road speed back to stock or lower for off-road.

I don;t drive my truck daily so these will have to wait.
I am upgrading my rear to 24 spline and putting a DL in it. I am only running 32's, so re-gearing Isn't a huge priority or necessity right know.
We shall see about vibrations, everyone claims a different story.