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Basic Off Road Loadout - 2000 R50


mtaylor7
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Hey All,

 

A year ago I bought an R50 after doing some extensive research for reliability and off-road capability. I was super lucky to snag one that only had 78k original miles and I plan on putting a few dollars into her to get her where I want.

 

I live in a major city and as such don't do much off-roading at all. I also rarely drive in general, a couple times a week, and plan to mainly use this vehicle as a semi daily driver type. I want that all to be understood because I am not trying to put TONS of mods into the vehicle like some of the pictures I've seen, and 90% of the time this vehicle will be taking me to Target and to get groceries.

 

What I do plan on doing is the following:

 

2-3 inch lift.

New All-Terrain tires and steel wheels

Roof Rack

Front and rear brush guards

 

My plan is to be able to take her out two to three times a year on some trails, camping and on road trips. I also live in the northeast USA, so it needs to deal with snow yearly. If I'm being honest, this thing will likely be babied. I have a tow hitch already on her so I'll use that to tow my Harley up to Acadia national park or something for a week of camping, but I am likely not going rock crawling or anything like that.


When it comes to cars, mechanically I'm pretty much a novice. I wont be installing the lift, wheels, or tires myself but will turn her over to a professional to do the work to make sure its done correctly. What I'm interested in is honest feedback on what I need to be aware of when lifting a vehicle, what I'm not considering (like shocks for instance) and specific models of tire I should be looking at for my situation and intended use. I'm trying to avoid the death wobble as I find myself on the highway often, and any kind of rubbing with the increase in tire size. I'm really not looking to cut the fenders.

 

I'd love suggestions for the above items that would fit my goal and specifics, especially to wheel and tire size, lift kits, etc.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

 

 

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I would just start with tires. Until you take it out and use it for exactly what you want to do, it may be hard to know exactly what you want to change

 

1. Use the vehicle

2. Take not of issues or inconveniences

3. Modify as needed

 

If you know you're gonna go camping, you'll probably want a nice set of All-Terrain (not all season) tires. You can make your way up almost any forest service road on highway tires, but in emergency weather or certain situations you'll want some better tread. Go for a snow rated all-terrain. 

 

If, from there, you notice deficiencies in the suspension, address them. But, as you add more modifications you will run into areas where you may have to compromise or do additional supporting mods/maintenance. The less you add, the easier the vehicle is to drive and maintain normally. 

 

You can start with the stock wheels and a tire that measures out between 29" (stock) and about 30.5" tall and you shouldn't have any issues with rubbing. I use tiresize.com to compare tire sizes. 

 

If you're towing and need help with that weight, you might get load helper/air helper bags or go with a stiffer rear spring from old man emu, ironman4x4, etc. If you go with new springs, or with the land rover springs , you may need to lift the front with a spring to get closer to level. Here's some front coil options

 

Manual hubs are nice for people running lift or heavier tires, and can easily be installed yourself

 

I do not recommend lift spacers on the front or the rear suspension. It's an inferior option.

 

Skip the brush gaurds. They're a damage multiplier imo and they usually eat into your approach and departure angles. 

 

Steel wheels are not a bad option at all. If you want to go with really tall tires (taller than 31"), look for a wheel with 3.75 backspacing. This helps push the tire away from rubbing up against the lower strut/spring perch. Tall tires at that backspacing will require trimming in almost every case. 

 

Again, I would start with just the tires. You'd be very surprised how far you can get on just a stock vehicle and some forest service roads

Edited by PathyDude17
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On 9/5/2022 at 11:51 AM, PathyDude17 said:

I would just start with tires. Until you take it out and use it for exactly what you want to do, it may be hard to know exactly what you want to change

 

1. Use the vehicle

2. Take not of issues or inconveniences

3. Modify as needed

 

If you know you're gonna go camping, you'll probably want a nice set of All-Terrain (not all season) tires. You can make your way up almost any forest service road on highway tires, but in emergency weather or certain situations you'll want some better tread. Go for a snow rated all-terrain. 

 

If, from there, you notice deficiencies in the suspension, address them. But, as you add more modifications you will run into areas where you may have to compromise or do additional supporting mods/maintenance. The less you add, the easier the vehicle is to drive and maintain normally. 

 

You can start with the stock wheels and a tire that measures out between 29" (stock) and about 30.5" tall and you shouldn't have any issues with rubbing. I use tiresize.com to compare tire sizes. 

 

If you're towing and need help with that weight, you might get load helper/air helper bags or go with a stiffer rear spring from old man emu, ironman4x4, etc. If you go with new springs, or with the land rover springs , you may need to lift the front with a spring to get closer to level. Here's some front coil options

 

Manual hubs are nice for people running lift or heavier tires, and can easily be installed yourself

 

I do not recommend lift spacers on the front or the rear suspension. It's an inferior option.

 

Skip the brush gaurds. They're a damage multiplier imo and they usually eat into your approach and departure angles. 

 

Steel wheels are not a bad option at all. If you want to go with really tall tires (taller than 31"), look for a wheel with 3.75 backspacing. This helps push the tire away from rubbing up against the lower strut/spring perch. Tall tires at that backspacing will require trimming in almost every case. 

 

Again, I would start with just the tires. You'd be very surprised how far you can get on just a stock vehicle and some forest service roads

 

 

Wow Tyler thank you so much for such a detailed and resource heavy response. This gave me a ton to chew on and consider. Thank you!

 

 

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:welcome:

 

+1 for taking it out in stock form and seeing what it needs before digging too far into it. 

 

That said...

 

If you've got the automatic transmission, consider adding an external cooler to help it out. 
 

Look up the Missing Link. I don't have an R50 to try it on, but I've read it firms up the unibody a bit. 

 

If you've got the open rear diff, you can swap in a limited slip. Hawairish did a great writeup on repacking the LSD for higher breakaway torque, and a table of donors and specs for the stock units (scroll down a little). Looks like early Xterra is your best bet if you want to drop one in without taking it all to bits. Just make sure your donor has the same gear ratio. That's listed on the data plate in the engine bay, look for HG43 or HG46. 

Other than that, I would check the strut towers and fuel filler for rust (hopefully low miles means it hasn't seen too much east coast road salt), and make sure it's up on its maintenance. At 78k, it may still have its original timing belt.

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