I know some will say this is heresy and should not be done at this stage of the D1 area and how rare a 5-spd D1 is.
Others will question even doing it.
The decision was made a few months ago, this is is full reversible in my case and this thread will capture what was done and how so that you can either learn from it or critic so that whatever needs correction can be corrected.
As a side note, this was thought to be easy to do..... Two of the body mounts had to be hack-sawed and one of the seatbelt tie-down pin was so corroded it would not move and the tie-down was also rusted and hard to access.
The ultimate goal is 2" body + 2" suspension (no cutting of the body, slightly larger tires, no significant stress on drivetrain while on the road).
Made the eight 2" spacers from a 2 1/4" uhmwpe rod.
Added steel "fender" washers between the chassis mount and the spacers.
The bolts are not tight yet, but it felt like they were too short last I looked at them. I'll post what I have used so others can correct for the future, I went M10 bolts which is NOT the stock type (don't remember on the top of my head, but those are SAE bolts). The front grill will have to come out if you want to be able to access the front body mount bolts. I used that opportunity to fixed my cracked grill and the bottom cowl that was also cracked.
There are 4 Tub support areas on the rear frame. I made 4 2"-high raised support to keep that support.
There are 4 tie-downs for the seat belts that need to be extended or somehow replaced. I am making extensions, but there are places that sell replacement tie-downs that are longer. You need to remove the rear portion of the exhaust to access at least two of them.
Radiator top (body) mounts are rising by 2", so a small bracket to support the top seal and 2 spacers need to be built. I think we finished this today.
The t-case selector will work but look terrible unless you extend it by 2". I made a 2" extension out of a M10 bolt which I cut to only keep the thread and a M10 sleeve.
The 5-spd selector needs to be raised at least 1" or you won't be able to use 2nd, 4th or reverse as it will hit the plastic trim.
I do have a power steering leak that I'll investigate once the body lift is fully installed. This seemed to be due to stress from the steering column to the box (even though I uncrewed and sprayed WD40 on the coupler to help it move) as the more you lift the body from the frame and larger the leak.
The fuel fill tube needs to be changed. I bought what I thought would work but the shape is not quite right (looked good in pictures!) will try it out to see. The good news is that with the lift, accessing the fuel tank breather pipe will also be easier! (someone those seem to rot! I've replaced two in the past 3-4 years and that second one [alongside the fuel filler tube] is also cracked and needs replacing!) Plan to NOT install the body lift if your tank is more than half full. Of course I did it with a full tank (and had to catch a lot of fuel coming out while I was lifting the sides of the Disco)
[Yes, pictures are coming, I need to get them off my phone]
Others will question even doing it.
The decision was made a few months ago, this is is full reversible in my case and this thread will capture what was done and how so that you can either learn from it or critic so that whatever needs correction can be corrected.
As a side note, this was thought to be easy to do..... Two of the body mounts had to be hack-sawed and one of the seatbelt tie-down pin was so corroded it would not move and the tie-down was also rusted and hard to access.
The ultimate goal is 2" body + 2" suspension (no cutting of the body, slightly larger tires, no significant stress on drivetrain while on the road).
Made the eight 2" spacers from a 2 1/4" uhmwpe rod.
Added steel "fender" washers between the chassis mount and the spacers.
The bolts are not tight yet, but it felt like they were too short last I looked at them. I'll post what I have used so others can correct for the future, I went M10 bolts which is NOT the stock type (don't remember on the top of my head, but those are SAE bolts). The front grill will have to come out if you want to be able to access the front body mount bolts. I used that opportunity to fixed my cracked grill and the bottom cowl that was also cracked.
There are 4 Tub support areas on the rear frame. I made 4 2"-high raised support to keep that support.
There are 4 tie-downs for the seat belts that need to be extended or somehow replaced. I am making extensions, but there are places that sell replacement tie-downs that are longer. You need to remove the rear portion of the exhaust to access at least two of them.
Radiator top (body) mounts are rising by 2", so a small bracket to support the top seal and 2 spacers need to be built. I think we finished this today.
The t-case selector will work but look terrible unless you extend it by 2". I made a 2" extension out of a M10 bolt which I cut to only keep the thread and a M10 sleeve.
The 5-spd selector needs to be raised at least 1" or you won't be able to use 2nd, 4th or reverse as it will hit the plastic trim.
I do have a power steering leak that I'll investigate once the body lift is fully installed. This seemed to be due to stress from the steering column to the box (even though I uncrewed and sprayed WD40 on the coupler to help it move) as the more you lift the body from the frame and larger the leak.
The fuel fill tube needs to be changed. I bought what I thought would work but the shape is not quite right (looked good in pictures!) will try it out to see. The good news is that with the lift, accessing the fuel tank breather pipe will also be easier! (someone those seem to rot! I've replaced two in the past 3-4 years and that second one [alongside the fuel filler tube] is also cracked and needs replacing!) Plan to NOT install the body lift if your tank is more than half full. Of course I did it with a full tank (and had to catch a lot of fuel coming out while I was lifting the sides of the Disco)
[Yes, pictures are coming, I need to get them off my phone]
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