Lifting the LR3

[D Chapman]

Seen some guys trimming the sensors on the LR3 to "trick" the truck into riding at an increased height. By doing this, how are they keeping their tires aligned??? It would appear to me if the frame is moving up and the upper control arm is mound to the frame, the tow would be greatly effected resulting in advanced tire wear.

 

[Captainruss]

Don't they already suffer from advanced tire wear? I thought I had been reading about LR3s just burning through tires around 15-18k miles.

I'd have to agree Dan, the higher you jack those htings the more they'll be riding on the edges of the tires. There is just an absolute limit to how far you can go vertically with independent suspension.

 

[SCSL]

x3, the math (geometry) says the tires will wear unevenly.

I think the way forward w/ the LR3 is going to probably have to involve a solid axle swap or a complete designed-from-the-ground-up lift. There are plenty of IFS lifts out there, so once the demand is there someone will offer up a product... but that's probably years away given current prices.

 

[maxyedor]

Portal boxes and beefed up a-arms should solve all the problems. Tricking the sensors is a quick, cheap dirty way of gaining lift, and you should be able to re-do the allignment to compensate, though I haven't spent enough time under an LR3 to know if there is enough adjustment as you mite need.

 

[garrett]

raising the body and all that stamped steel is going to help a little, but there is so much other shit down there that is going to be dragging over the trail. fitting larger tires in there seems to be as, or more important of an issue to solve.
i think a nice car cover would help the LR3 the most.

 

[gil stevens]

they ride on the edge of the tires with NO lift.. i saw a set of 19k mile tires that the entire inside of the tire was burned thru the cords and the outside looked like a 5k mile tire. scary.

 

[SGaynor]

I remember reading that the uneven tire wear was due to a worn bushing that was replaced under a TSB on the LR3. Get that fixed and the problems went away. I'll see if I can find the link.

 

[SGaynor]

Found it:

http://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/topic5553.html

 

[ozscott]

These trucks are going to be a drama to anyone who has found their limits and want to try to get them to go further.... The best thing I did to my D2 was to install 31s on it. Perhaps nice high profile tyres on small diameter rims would yield pretty good and incremental results for those blokes that have these beasts. I was in my brothers International truck the other day. He took the duals off and its running singles on the rear. He tried to climb a bank that my D2 manual V8 without CDL climbed no problems without airing down. He tried it in 4wd low (which is tractor low!) and got badly bogged. It was the sheer weight I reckon that got him stuck (ie about the same weight - very stripped down machine - to the LR3) and it made me recall a test that LRO or LR Enthuasist (a Brit mag) did when the LR3 came out. It put a D1, an unlocked D2 and the D3 up the same slippery path going up the side of a mountain in Wales or some god forsaken cold place and the D1 and D2 got within a metre of each other half way up (long climb) and the D3 under any of its TR settings (and many attempts) couldnt even get close - we are talking not going even half the distance up).

The thing against the D3 was, clearly, its monumental weight (and creating its own gravity field). The same might be said if an old Dihatsu coke can 4wd was thrown in...may well have got much further than the D1 and D2 because it was so light and wouldnt tend to slip back. The point is though is that the D1 and D2 are good solid rigs that can carry a good amount of gear all up and yet they are not TOO heavy. The D3 is going to struggle every time in such conditions because of its weight penalty. I dont like the idea of a barge waiting (weighting) to cut into the mud and sink like a stone, but thats just me. You see the odd modern range rover struggling in thick sand here on our beaches, but not much in the way of D3s because they dont like the thick sand too much - again the weight. I guess every silver lining has a cloud.

Cheers

 

[gordonwh]

These trucks are going to be a drama to anyone who has found their limits and want to try to get them to go further....

The thing against the D3 was, clearly, its monumental weight (and creating its own gravity field).

Cheers

The D3 isn't _that_ heavy - and we've had that discussion before!! It's about the same weight as a Landcruiser 100 series, or a new Patrol. It's only real hindrance is the impotent tyres it comes equiped with. Change those and it will easily traverse any terrain that the aforementioned jap cars will. Which is most terraines in Australia.

And I don't know what test you're referring to, but I've certainly never had any dramas keeping up with D1's or D2's.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkJkKQQejho
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNOex-AjYn4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-A0QuGgHDQ

Cheers,

Gordon

 

[D Chapman]

What does what the truck weighs have to do with lifting it and tire wear?

 

[umbertob]

The suspensions sensor "trick" doesn't have to be permanent, though. The shortened joining rods in question seem easy enough to replace with the standard lenght ones. So, in theory you could swap rods just before / after an offroad trip. It would be a pretty ingenious trick... There are a few test mules running this mod out there already, so it will be interesting to see which issues, if any, they run into.

The thread I assume D Chapman is referring to is: http://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/topic14219.html

 

[gordonwh]

This is what I've done - I have both rods fitted to the actuator arm (at the bottom) and swap over the upper connections when required.

Cheers,

Gordon

 

[lagged]

Don't LR3's come with those god awful Wrangler HP's? They only last 20k miles max anyway.

 

[D Chapman]

Show some pics of this "mod".

 

[RRCNicky]

(Some specifics from the thread mentioned above - so you don't have to wade through all the pages)


From this thread>>> http://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/topic14219-30.html


QUESTION
"Hi Disco303, by doing this, how are the tires kept aligned? Someone pointed out to me that it would seem if the frame is moving up and the upper control arm is mounted to the frame, the tow would be greatly effected resulting in advanced/uneven tire wear.

Anybody have thoughts? I don't have enough understanding of how the D3 compensates alignment through its different height modes."

ANSWER
" Exactly, there is no sense driving with the shortened sensors every day. Just swap them out at the trail head. They are so easy to do, I wouldn't even bother having both 'attached' at the same time. Just change them out all together. God forbid the loose one gets eaten up by a control arm on the trail.

Tire wear? http://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/images/smiles/icon_rolling.gif Wrong vehichle for decent tire wear....period"

Here is a link to pics of the lifted LR3 using this MOD:

" I am not going to recommend that anyone actually do this though, there are still to many unknowns as to an algorythm freak out if the yaw sensor does not like the new specs especially at speed.... Not to mention, warranty will go out the window.

SO, with that being said...

After a month and 1000 miles, I've had no problems.....YET!!!

Shortening the rods ~10mm will basically put standard height at where off-road height used to be, while maintaing driver access to off-road height, and still keeping an extended mode.

We tried 3 different lengths...

35mm shorter... Uh, way too tall. standard height is basically the same as stock extended mode... tooth fillings are now somewhere under the floor mats.

15mm shorter... Standard height is now 25mm higher than stock off-road height. Damn close to being perfect.

10mm shorter... Standard height is now +-5mm from stock off-road height. Bingo!"

PICS: http://www.disco3.co.uk/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=989

 

[gordonwh]

Show some pics of this "mod".

Have a look at:

http://www.disco3.co.uk/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=691

Cheers,

Gordon

 

[D Chapman]

Have a look at:

http://www.disco3.co.uk/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=691

Cheers,

Gordon

Show me some pictures of how you cut the arm. And how you take it in and out to swap them.

 

[gordonwh]

Show me some pictures of how you cut the arm. And how you take it in and out to swap them.

?? I didn't cut any of the original arms. I pre-fab'd a set of new sensor rods (that connect to the potentiometer arms) and attach each one to the front of the arm (the original is still attached in the background). When required, you simply reach under the wheel arch, slip the existing rod's upper connection off the stud on the chassis and affix the shortened one.

Cheers,

Gordon

 

[D Chapman]

Ahhhhhhh, ok, I see now.

Question, though. It's now obvious that the speed sensor is related the the "knob" inside the vehicle. Once you turn the knob to a off-road setting and the vehicle rises up, it activates the speed sensor thus limiting you to ~20mph.

So, why not trace this mod to the sensor? There basically has to be a "remote turn on" wire somewhere between the knob and what ever sensor controls your speed. Sounds to me like you could clip a wire and deactivate the "speed limiter", then just control your ride height from inside the truck.

Seems to me like this would be the better way to fix this "problem". As for the people running in off-Road mod full time, well, they're dumbasses until they figure out a way to shim the control arms to correct the alignment.