I have a 2001 RR HSE, and I have a question(s).

The air suspension has already been removed and replaced with coils, all by the dealer (the air sus gave out twice, and decided it was time to give up). I have decided to turn my P38 into an off-road rig, and I feel like a good first step is to put a lift into it, along with some bigger tires. This brings me to my question. What size lift would you guys recommend? I have heard numerous opinions, but none of them give me a clear answer. What's the optimal number for you guys, and what's your reasoning behind it? I was thinking between 2 and 3 inches. With said lifts, what size tires would be able to fit without much trimming and modifying? I'm looking at something a little more serious than a normal AT tire, something that can get me unstuck before I need to pull out the winch line

I am willing (and aware) that some modifications will have to be done (stronger axels, etc), but I'm not 100% certain as to which have to be done with each mod I do. I am relatively new to the modifying scene (especially to Rovers), but I am also relatively savy with mechanics, and I am a quick learner. Anything that you guys could help me with would be greatly appreciated.

I will update to this post as time goes on (so as to prevent multiple posts/threads with very specific questions. Here is a picture of my RR as of now:



In the end, I hope to have something similar to this, with a front bumper/brush-guard/winch mount, roof-rack, rear bumper, skid plates & sliders, larger tires, lifted, a set of lights on my brush guard, as well as possibly some up on the roof rack, and a set of brush cables running from my brush-guard to my roof-rack (some of those modifications are shown in the picture below). I may also slap on a CB whip haha!




As I said, I feel like my first step should be the lift & tires. What do you guys think?

Let me know

My dad has a small lift on his, I'll check next time I go over to his house.

He also fitted the Michelin AT2 tires on it, I have these tires on my work truck and I've run over the following:
Cacti
Mesquite throns/trees
tons of jagged rocks
metal rebar
"t" posts
broken glass
bones
and more cacti.

Amazing tires, great in slippery conditions, damn good in mud for an all terrain and very quiet on the highway.

Speaking from experience, your first step should be to make sure all the maintenance items have been maintained. Otherwise you'll be trying to catch up on the maintenance AND be fixing things that will break from off road use. Unless you're rich (I'm not), you'll be in over your head faster than you can believe and then your truck will sit while you scrounge up money just to get it running again. Mine's been sitting for... well... I'd rather not say... it's embarassing. RIP Wayne.

With that truck and depending on what kind of wheeling you want to do, I'd probably stay at around 3" for a lift. That's suspension lift, not body lift. Three inches will allow you to put 32" or 33" tyres under it without having to do a lot of fender trimming. It also will probably keep the drive shaft angle at a reasonable limit. Once you start getting bigger it increases the angle and you start breaking things... like expensive things. Not a good time. Get rid of the sway bars or at least get a quick disconnect kit. You won't want those on wheeling. BFG Mud Terrains are a nice all around tyre I think. Again, depending on what type of wheeling you wanna do. They aren't too noisy and seem to last a while.

Oh and uh, post pix! I love seeing lifted P38s.

Rover Grrl,

The truck is in full running order. I have had it for 6 years, and everything is running properly, with a few exceptions here and there, although there are small things breaking in some places (plastic trim coming off seat-belt buckles, trunk, etc), but they don't affect performance. For a short while this summer there were some instances where my exhaust was ever-so-slightly blue in hue, which I could only attest to possible burning of oil, a broken seal, etc - however it seams to have sealed itself and the mechanics at Land Rover mentioned that those issues often resolve themselves. That's the only thing I can think of... It's still a daily driver (and has been for all of my ownership), and runs great. I can't see myself getting too badly in over my head, simply because I plan on taking things slowly to begin with.

A 3" suspension lift sounds like my best option, and a set of 32"s or 33"s would most likely be just great. What of the under-carriage components (drive shaft, axle, etc) do you think a set of 33"s with a 3" lift would still allow me to keep the same?

And don't worry, pics will come! Everything is starting this summer.

Oh ok, I was thinking you just got it. My bad.

I know the P38s are a little different from the RR Classic's and Discovery's, but I'm *pretty* sure you can get away with keeping the rest of the suspension with a 3" lift. If anyone knows any different, post it up. That's why I went with a 3" lift in my Classic because I didn't have to change the driveshaft and radius arms, etc. But like I said, I'm not totally sure on that. It's definitely not a bad idea though to upgrade to better parts to get better articulation and a slower crawling rate, but I wouldn't do it right away unless you really want to. You'd probably be fine with the stock stuff. The more you go wheeling, the more you're gonna want better stuff. It's a sickness, as I'm sure you already know.

I'd keep it around 2"-3" and stick with a 32" for rubber. You don't "need" stronger axles etc unless you plan to hammer on it. Drive it properly and it'll stay together. They just don't have the power to deal with 33" and larger unless you regear ($).
Oh, and that bumper in that pic is hideous!

Would you consider much wheeling & rock gardens "hammering it"?
And I'm gonna go for a rock-rover bumper, none of that.

In fact, I'm going to change the picture to a better representing one now.

A lot of people do "wheelin" buy powering through everything- when it doubt, hammer the throttle and hang on. If you do that, it will break. If you become a skilled, technical driver, then you'll go through far fewer parts and the stock axles aren't too bad. It doesn't hurt to get aftermarket heavy duty stuff, but want and need are two different things. If you put all heavy duty stuff in it- where does the weakest point move to? Transfer case? No thanks. I'd rather pop an axle shaft.

I guess I'm much more conservative than most - Keep the lift to about 2 inches and the tire diameter to about 31 inches. That will get you over 99% of anything you will ever encounter on the trail.... With that set-up all of the stock axles, u-joints, rotoflexes, bushings, clutches and differentials will survive just fine.

Trust me - (I've survived close to 200 off-road treks now) - You just don't need any more; any taller lift or bigger tires is just for showing off in the malls......

A go-anywhere set up:

Ive got about 2 inch lift on the G4 which is fine for 85% of stuff back this way. I did center out on a couple trails though. The crease in my door attests to the benefit of some nice rock sliders. I have also taken a couple rocks on the fuel tank skid plate but dont know how the fuel tank is positioned on the P38 - guess like the disco.

Ron and Steve are right. You dont need a lot of extra stuff if you learn how to drive the Rover. Swapping an axle seems painless compared to blowing out the transfer case. Rover axles are fuses in a way. I carry a couple in my off road kit.