Lift options

[Joe_C]

Has anyone put a lift on their defender or have any experience with lifting other side by sides.  I just want a small 2 or 3" lift so that I can hopefully put 28" or 30" tires on my defender.  Is bracket or suspension spacer the way to go?  Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks 

[Stapleton]

Stock defender base/dps/xt will fit 28s and u can tighten ur shocks up a touch for another inch of ground clearance and better handling qualities... not as super silky as factory shock setting but really made the handling way more responsive with just 2 clicks of tightening and it gave my hd10 max 1 inch of lift and got rid of alot of body roll u feel when running down roads 

[Joe_C]

Stapleton thanks for the info. I think that may be the best option, tighten up the shocks and go to 28” tires. I’m really dissappointed so far with the big horn tires that came with the machine. 

[Stapleton]

Funny to hear u say that... cause i have actually been thoroughly impressed with them ... only down fall is 6 ply ... but i have 1300 miles on mine and they are still over 80% tread easy ... we had the snowiest winter in Missouri we had in years with one being 17 inches around our county and couldn't believe how well they did and u know the sloppy mud was bound to come once the snow melted and the big horns just couldn't be stopped ... but when ready to replace I'm goin to look into the ITP blackwater evolutions in 28s because there similar to the bighorns in that there a non directional and more versatile for the rocks ,mud ,snow and road riding we do but there 8 plys to give me a little better peace of mind when in the creeks around here to not slice a tire open .... big plus with the itp's is u can get them in our defender factory widths 28" tall to use on our stock wheels ... but I may buy 28x10x14s all they way around with new 14x7 wheels ( have to run 1.5" or 2" spacer in rear to allow tires to track the same )  the benefits of that route is the ability to rotate ur tires for longer tire life .........

And in my opinion as long as ur not wanting clearance for some serious mud riding ... tightening ur shocks up for that taller stance and 1" bigger than stock tires is the way to go ... keep low center of gravity for ur trails and cornering plus ur defenders axles , joints and drivetrain will thank u and keep running flawlessly for miles and miles 

[Joe_C]

8 hours ago, Stapleton said:

Funny to hear u say that... cause i have actually been thoroughly impressed with them ... only down fall is 6 ply ... but i have 1300 miles on mine and they are still over 80% tread easy ... we had the snowiest winter in Missouri we had in years with one being 17 inches around our county and couldn't believe how well they did and u know the sloppy mud was bound to come once the snow melted and the big horns just couldn't be stopped ... but when ready to replace I'm goin to look into the ITP blackwater evolutions in 28s because there similar to the bighorns in that there a non directional and more versatile for the rocks ,mud ,snow and road riding we do but there 8 plys to give me a little better peace of mind when in the creeks around here to not slice a tire open .... big plus with the itp's is u can get them in our defender factory widths 28" tall to use on our stock wheels ... but I may buy 28x10x14s all they way around with new 14x7 wheels ( have to run 1.5" or 2" spacer in rear to allow tires to track the same )  the benefits of that route is the ability to rotate ur tires for longer tire life .........

And in my opinion as long as ur not wanting clearance for some serious mud riding ... tightening ur shocks up for that taller stance and 1" bigger than stock tires is the way to go ... keep low center of gravity for ur trails and cornering plus ur defenders axles , joints and drivetrain will thank u and keep running flawlessly for miles and miles 

I’m happy to read this. My dissappoint needs to be tempered by the fact that I have only put 20 miles on them. It has all been around my house doing work or taking my son for slow rides. My disappointment is they seem to cake up so easily in the wet top soil in the woods. I get I’m not doing fast so this might not be a fair criticism but I didn’t have as much of a problem with my outlanders tires. On Saturday they were caked up and I rode through a small patch of mud and the imedialty were completely caked and were like racing slicks and I damn near got stuck. This is not heavy mud, I could get through it in 2 wheel drive with my outlander. I almost ordered new tires on Saturday and listed these for sale but held off. Going to wait til I go to the mountains for a full ride before I make the final decision.  Your review has def made me more comfortable with the big horns  I was existed for them when I bought the machine as I always heard great things about the big horns. 

Yeah I think cranking up the factorie shocks is the right way to go. I’m not really a lift guy just thought maybe bigger tires would help with traction. I also have my plow set up that I don’t feel like trying to retro fit a bunch to accommodate the new height. 

[DefenderXMR]

Forward arms gives you more clearance to fit larger tire and does not add more stress to CV angle ....just another option for you

[Stapleton]

DefenderXMR is right with the forward arms itll clear 30s and a few brands are priced pretty good ... if u want to go to 30s its definitely the best route ... but if cheapest route is what ur looking for 28s bone stock is great... and ur not adding much weight per tire and will work perfect with stock clutching.. 30s puts u in an area of possibly needing clutching some get away with it but others dont like the touch of power loss from the added tire weight and rotation and seek clutching to get the bikes stock or touch over stock power back 

[Justjimmy]

@Stapleton

I have an Xmr and it has 30s as stock.

Do you know if the Xmr has different clutching because of that?

[Joe_C]

17 hours ago, Stapleton said:

DefenderXMR is right with the forward arms itll clear 30s and a few brands are priced pretty good ... if u want to go to 30s its definitely the best route ... but if cheapest route is what ur looking for 28s bone stock is great... and ur not adding much weight per tire and will work perfect with stock clutching.. 30s puts u in an area of possibly needing clutching some get away with it but others dont like the touch of power loss from the added tire weight and rotation and seek clutching to get the bikes stock or touch over stock power back 

Yeah I think I will prob end up doing 28's and stiffening up the suspension.  Hoping I end up liking these big horns and that upgrade can be a few years down the road and not now

 

[Stapleton]

Pretty sure there geared and clutched with lower ratios to accommodate the 30s and to have the torque for the deep stuff .... I do believe there top speed is also lower because of it 

[Justjimmy]

I think you're right.  I'm not into speed anymore, just slow and easy trail riding so that works out well for me.  

Thanks

[Rudy]

Purchased battle armor 2inch lift for my Lonestar. Will be installing next week.  Will be installing just rear lift for now to try and level out defender when loaded. Looking into rear wheel spacers as well to add stability and match width of forward wheels. Anyone purchased rears spacers?

[Vader]

17 hours ago, Rudy said:

Purchased battle armor 2inch lift for my Lonestar. Will be installing next week.  Will be installing just rear lift for now to try and level out defender when loaded. Looking into rear wheel spacers as well to add stability and match width of forward wheels. Anyone purchased rears spacers?

I purchased the 2” Battle Armor for my 2019 HD10 XT and it didn’t line up with factory mounting holes. Returned it and instead have now turned my shocks a couple clicks and have 28” Big Horn 2.0’s going. No intentions of a lift now. 

[zk-315]

On ‎5‎/‎17‎/‎2019 at 10:54 PM, Rudy said:

Purchased battle armor 2inch lift for my Lonestar. Will be installing next week.  Will be installing just rear lift for now to try and level out defender when loaded. Looking into rear wheel spacers as well to add stability and match width of forward wheels. Anyone purchased rears spacers?

I put some 1-1/2" spacers on the rear of my lonestar and they are perfect as far as stance goes, I think.

[Rudy]

Got the 2 inch spacer lift installed last weekend. Won’t pretty smooth and didn’t have any issues with holes aligning. They possibly fixed issues in the past. Slight rise in the rear happy with the lift.