does lift + ace= disaster

[discocrazy]

ok I've got a 01 disco with ACE, stock. After going down rose garden hill in moab I discovered I really need a little more clearance. I want to put an 2" old manemu on and some larger tires and smaller wheels. What am I lookin at, peace o cake or pain in my ars?

[Mjollnir]

ACE is an on road performance suspension system that uses hydraulics to counteract body roll by applying torque to the anti roll bars. It was designed to only be used with the rear self leveling air suspension and 18" wheels. There are two accelerometers in the ACE system, and if you alter the suspension, change the tire size, or anything of the sort, ACE will not work properly. So, no can do, the change you want cannot be done with ACE operational.
I actually have been to Durango- many years ago. A truly wonderful place, took a coal powered train out there. I remember ther roads, the elevation, all of it. As much as I know you want to change things, which I normally would advise, with ACE you are stuck with the way it was built. Sort of like the BMW X6 I saw on Top Gear tonight trying to get up a 5 degree hill of nothing but grass and sliding backwards while getting passed by a Range Rover. That kind of stuck.

[discocrazy]

ace and lift

so can I make it non-operational with a" non ace belt" and leave it off the pully? And can the two accelerometers be disengaged so no sensors or flashing?
On another forum a disco owner put the nonace belt on and and put a 2" lift on and said it handled fine. with the stiffer shock and springs he said it wasn't that bad road driving

[Mjollnir]

If you use a different serpentine belt that excludes the ACE system, you alter the engine dynamics by removing one vital component. Then you have the ACE fluid stuck in the reservoir going nowhere and collecting dirt.
Essentially, you would be destroying a handling system that added several thousand dollars to the cost of the DII when new, and once it is destroyed there is no reviving it.
The accelerometers will continue to work without the fluid circulating, but the lights will flash that something is critically wrong. The system itself will be inoperable.
As far as the other forums, I used to be on several and now only provide advice on this one for two very simple reasons: the people on the RN forum use RN for Genuine and ProLine parts, and for support from the consultants.
My patience with the other forums ended when one "expert" suggested that a cheaper way to fix the throttle body heater, as opposed to ordering the right screws, was to thread copper wire through it. That was it.
If you take advice from someone for something of this critical nature, who claims to have done such a thing himself (as there is no way to actually verify this claim) remember that they will not pay the repair bill. They are just faceless people on a forum, some of who disagree with the engineers and think they know better. They don't, and "not that bad" to one could be "absolutley undrivable" to another.
One more example. I went to look at an '00 DII with 46k that I was told was in great shape, always garaged. When I got there, well, opinions are just that. It had ACE and the air suspension, which I did not want, but the frame was rusted, as were the lamp guards ("always garaged, huh?"). The big problem was that the previous owner had the satellite radio antenna routed through the top windshield seal and left a gap wide open. Now, this may not have been a big deal to someone since they sold it two days later, but I passed on it since I knew that a gap in that area would cause major leaking. Sometimes, you have to err on the side of caution.
I have a '99 DII w/o ACE or the air suspension for the simple reason of maintenence. The only modifications I am willing to make are for tires (255/70/16 as opposed to 255/65/16) and suspension (OME std. length w/Genuine HD springs in the near future). I may want more clearance at some point, but I wouldn't jeapordize any critical systems to get there.
That is why I would leave things as is. If you really want a 2" lift, sell the DII with ACE and find one w/o it. It may even be less expensive in the long run to do that, and someone will pay extra for it now while it works.

.

[Urban Panzer]

My first post here, So Hi to all

After reading this topic just thought I would add my bit,

Lifting a Discovery2 with ACE poses no problems what so ever. The fact it has acceleromters etc makes no difference to it when its lifted, the sensors simply detect body roll through lateral acceleration, so even when the vehicle is lifted they will just sense the body roll a little earlier and compensate for it by applying more force to the active anti roll bars.

When Offroad and in low box, the ACE is "disconnected" and goes "limp" so the vehicle has more "flex", this does not and cannot happen with a D2 without ACE as the standard roll bars will always "fight" against axle flex.

Fitting OME springs will improve the ride over factory springs anyway irrespective if ACE is fitted or not.

Absolutley no need to disable it or sell your vehicle, you can "mod" away quite happily.Mine is lifted on OME front springs and SLS spacers, have several friends with the same setup and we all have ACE.

[discocrazy]

thanks for the info!! I was planning on 2" OME lift. Do you have any recommendations on tire size, spacers, brake lines etc...

[roven]

Go ahead

I posted back in Dec. 12th 2010 what I did to my 2001 D2 if you'd like to go back and look at that. I think I forgot to mention then I changed the power steering tank to a single cap and took out compressor and ace pump. Still running 275/65/18 MTR's and love it. Also had local Rover dealer turn off all dash lights they could and cancel any codes to what doesn't exist.
Bad thing is it doesn't idle right know and is in the shop with no ideas from this sight on that.
Good luck

[roven]

removing ace

Removing ace doesn't hurt anything at all. Nothing to do with engine or performance. No loss of pressure to anything, it's not there. No leaks 'cause it's gone. I removed it all to cut down on pounds after the Rovertym bumper and winch and tires and such. Leave the whole system on if you want just dead weight. And by leaving it on it can't read or follow the full range of motion available by a lift with coils and extended shocks anyway. Plus a shorter fan belt will boost hp in any vehicle! 40,000 miles of living proof on 32.5 MTR's after removal.