100 VS Discovery II - Articulation

[LandCruisers4Life]

No pictures (!)..... but last night we were wheeling and a buddy of mines built up Land Rover Discovery II went over a section of trail that put him teetering on two wheels catty corner..... when I went over in the exact same spot (as per his instructions! haha)..... The 100 remained with all 4 wheels on the ground and didn't spin a wheel, whereas his traction control was kicking in. I know he was dissapointed mine didn't lift a tire, or spin at all. hahaha...

I know what some of you are also dying to know, since not everyone knows about Rovers - yes the DII has a SFA

 

[Trunk Monkey]

That's surprising, that's one thing I've been concerned about with the 100 is the articulation on the front end, especially with the t-bars cranked up.

 

[spressomon]

That's surprising, that's one thing I've been concerned about with the 100 is the articulation on the front end, especially with the t-bars cranked up.

I think the articulation will remain the same. Preload is affected when you tighten the t-bars...not spring rate (no different than if you add spring packers to a coil spring...it's changing the height but not the rate). However if you compare a thicker t-bar to stock then yes I think the articulation will be reduced because of the increased spring rate.

But then again I could be all wrong on this!

 

[Greg B]

No pictures (!)..... but last night we were wheeling and a buddy of mines built up Land Rover Discovery II went over a section of trail that put him teetering on two wheels catty corner..... when I went over in the exact same spot (as per his instructions! haha)..... The 100 remained with all 4 wheels on the ground and didn't spin a wheel, whereas his traction control was kicking in. I know he was dissapointed mine didn't lift a tire, or spin at all. hahaha...

I know what some of you are also dying to know, since not everyone knows about Rovers - yes the DII has a SFA

Did he have his sway bars attached? When I had my 99 D2 it didn't flex worth a damn with the sway bars hooked up. Once you unhook the front and rear bars, it's a different story. If they were attached, have him un-hook them and try it again. I bet he'll be very surprised with the difference.

What was surprising to me is that the 100 has very little additional drop on the rear with the swaybar hooked up. Coming from the D2 to the 100 I was expecting the same results and it ended up not really mattering as much. Which is good because the 100's rear sway bar is more difficult to disconnect and keep out of the way while wheeling.

 

[LandCruisers4Life]

Did he have his sway bars attached? When I had my 99 D2 it didn't flex worth a damn with the sway bars hooked up. Once you unhook the front and rear bars, it's a different story. If they were attached, have him un-hook them and try it again. I bet he'll be very surprised with the difference.

What was surprising to me is that the 100 has very little additional drop on the rear with the swaybar hooked up. Coming from the D2 to the 100 I was expecting the same results and it ended up not really mattering as much. Which is good because the 100's rear sway bar is more difficult to disconnect and keep out of the way while wheeling.

Yes he had his sway bars attached, but then again- so did I.... My point was (I also own a Discovery) that his highly modified Discovery, versus a bone stock 100, and all 4 of my wheels were still on solid ground giving traction.

He's planning to swap the sway bar in front to the rear and put the JK disconnect in the front for trail use.

 

[hks3sgte]

Strange... Land Rovers usually have very good articulation!

 

[pint]

Glad I didn't trade my 100 in last week for that new LR3!

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Strange... Land Rovers usually have very good articulation!

I think that is a myth, though they also believe it on expedition portal. We have 2 Rover Disco s that go with us on various trips, and for what ever reason, they are always lifting wheels and getting tippy where the cruisers keep 4 down. Maybe it's the sway bars or some other factor, but the wheel movement is not good. I personally think they are not well designed, and have way too little up-travel and less down travel than a stock Land Cruiser.


I have seen 100 seiries with a tendency to lift the front when climbing. I think that's just the nature of IFS.

 

[LandCruisers4Life]

hehe...... a buddy of mine who was riding shotgun was outside with the Disco owner and he told me when he hopped back in "I don't think he expected that!" hahaha....

 

[Trunk Monkey]

I think the articulation will remain the same. Preload is affected when you tighten the t-bars...not spring rate (no different than if you add spring packers to a coil spring...it's changing the height but not the rate). However if you compare a thicker t-bar to stock then yes I think the articulation will be reduced because of the increased spring rate.

But then again I could be all wrong on this!

Friend of mine has a very heavily laden 100 and has his front OME bars cranked as much as they'll go. He has still has uptravel, but has no droop on the front suspension.

 

[FirstToy]

I think that is a myth, though they also believe it on expedition portal. We have 2 Rover Disco s that go with us on various trips, and for what ever reason, they are always lifting wheels and getting tippy where the cruisers keep 4 down. Maybe it's the sway bars or some other factory, but the wheel movement is not good.

Good 'ol Rob & Kevin
I agree the Rovers are not as good. In fact one of the owners at Expedition Exchange told me the Land Cruiser was a better vehicle too.
One cool thing I like about the Disco 2 are all the cool little bins and features. You can tell they designed it for offroading but really, I think it's meant for long distances on fireroads, not really getting over any obstacles.

below is a Disco 2 w/ OME lift & disco'd swaybars. Still not as good as a LC.

 

[spressomon]

Friend of mine has a very heavily laden 100 and has his front OME bars cranked as much as they'll go. He has still has uptravel, but has no droop on the front suspension.

The articulation is still there...he just rearranged the center point so to speak. You need to leave at least 50mm of droop in these. FYI: After installing the Fox shocks I was able to get another 35-40mm of droop because of being able to drop the a-arm down a bit more due to the slimmer shock profile.

 

[Snook]

That's funny, two weeks ago at the Hollister Park, as we went thru the course obstacles course FOUR times, one for each of us as a training lesson, three of them has NEVER driven my 100 series before onroad or offroad. All three made thru at thier first attempt.

Then the 2007 Land Rover w/ plate "MT ROVER" came up behind and tried several time but no lucks. Then the driver came out and asked his rider to drive his truck while he did the spotting. AQbout 15 minutes later, still no luck, he gave up and drove away!

The two photos show the basic course layout which seems mild but reality in person, it is pretty intimidating.

Land Cruiser!

 

[hks3sgte]

I think that is a myth, though they also believe it on expedition portal. We have 2 Rover Disco s that go with us on various trips, and for what ever reason, they are always lifting wheels and getting tippy where the cruisers keep 4 down. Maybe it's the sway bars or some other factor, but the wheel movement is not good. I personally think they are not well designed, and have way too little up-travel and less down travel than a stock Land Cruiser.

Well, I don't know about the Myth thing, but my Disco flexes a lot better than my 100!

I agree the Rovers are not as good. In fact one of the owners at Expedition Exchange told me the Land Cruiser was a better vehicle too.

Land Cruisers are better. But I don't see how you can tell by that picture that the Land Cruiser is better???

Here's my "fireroad" rover on OME suspension.

But anyway, I don't want to be the "Shotts" of Land Rovers, so continue on...

 

[FirstToy]

I'm just showing my friend's Disco2 that's all. I am familar with how Discoverys do on trails because we have one or two on trips we do. I can directly compare their capability with Land Cruisers.

 

[uzj100]

I believe DI flex better than DII.

 

[Greg B]

Yes he had his sway bars attached, but then again- so did I.... My point was (I also own a Discovery) that his highly modified Discovery, versus a bone stock 100, and all 4 of my wheels were still on solid ground giving traction.

He's planning to swap the sway bar in front to the rear and put the JK disconnect in the front for trail use.

Sorry, didn't mean to put you on the defensive. Sometimes my tone comes across as too short or blunt even when I'm not meaning to.

My only point was that the sway bars make a big difference on the D2's and make very little difference on the 100's regarding articulation. If you both disconnected your sway bars, it would help your friend a lot and help you very little.

I'm also guessing that wheel base played some factor in this too as the 100 is longer than the D2 (i'm not sure how much though).

 

[Greg B]

Based on my experience, (I owned a 99 D2 and a 96 D1, then the 100) the 100 is much more comfortable and the ATRAC on the 100 is more responsive than the D2. I do have to say though that there was something about the feeling of driving the Disco's that I don't get from the 100. I enjoyed driving them a lot, I just got tired of dealing with all of the issues that come with them.

 

[ShottsUZJ100]

If the subject is "ARTICULATION", you guys are wheeling with the wrong Rover guys. My Rover buddies in their D1, D2 and D3 can out flex an 80 and especially a 100 with their aftermarket mods.

Jon Christianssn.s ride comes to mind first and is on;y one example. Stay tuned for a pic.................

 

[1loudLX]

its been almost half an hour......google search?