Thread: New to Discovery 2

1. Xrox bar
2. Tigers winch, they have a good package of winch, hi lift and recovery kit.
3. Not many options, & expensive. Make your own or buy one from onee of the people here who make a few.
4. A few options, safari available < $300 second hand. >$600 new. Cheapies seem to suffer iv exposure from reports. Overseas is expensive.
5. 2" max w/out other major changes. Lovells hd I use with winch & bar etc. Good stableift comfortable off rd and on. Shocks are subjective.p
6. Steel rims for off rd. Overseas are cheap but shipping... Tyres, A/T or M/T.take your pick. There's heaps of discussions in here.
7. Other. Abs extensions, diff guards, bash plate,

Thanks Greenie, that's given me a good direction to start looking.

1. Bar depends on what you want it for. Xrox are certainly very good, but if you want a bit more on road protection then ARB. Pretty crappy approach angle, but very strong. Will cause front suspension sag though.
TJM have a better approach angle, but not as strong.
ARB sahara bar I know nothing about
2. X2 on Tigerz, they do good deals and seem to be reliable winches.
3. X2 what clubagreenie said. check out the Discovery 2 rear bar threads, much better deals in there than most shops, but you can always make your own.
4. Safari or Mantec. Both similar in pricing, mantec will most likely have to come from the UK. Avoid cheapies.
5. 2 inches is the max without having to do extended ABS lines like clubagreenie said, also the more lift you have increases prop shaft wear.
6. Up to you. I run standard alloys with Pirelli scorpion ATRs and love them.
Steelies are good for offroad as you can usually hammer them back into shape.
7. good underbody protection, get your hands on a nancom if you can, engine saver alarms. Make sure it gets its regular services, and keep your eye on it.
Head Gasket, mines just hit 220k and AFAIK no head gasket yet but it still runs fine, no indication of it needing it done yet.
If you can afford it, get the head pulled and a new gasket put in, cheaper than waiting for it to go bang, and it gives you a bit of peace of mind.
You're in the right place, more info on here than you can poke a stick at.
Check out the good oil section for some common Td5 issues and what to do about them.
Cheers, hope this helps.
Muppet

Guess it depends on the age of the D2 in regard to CDL or not?

Originally Posted by Banjo_pluker

Guess it depends on the age of the D2 in regard to CDL or not?

a very good point.

G'day Splinter. I'm in a similar position to you in that I finally was able to wrest control of the 2004 D2 td5a off my wife when we bought a new car recently. The D2 was bought as a town classic which included 18" alloys. I spent 12 months researching mods that I could do that would allow me to get off road, sometimes with a tough off road camper we have. I had a pretty good look here on Aulro (so many helpful people and great threads) and had some good chats to our helpful landrover mechanic Damien at Peninsula Rangie. For what its worth, here's my list.

Completed:
ECU upgrade - more power and torque, especially useful when towing. If you do this mod and have an auto, make sure you get the transmission serviced at the same time as the increased power and torque will subject it to increased stress.
Prodigy Electric Brake Controller - for electric brakes on camper
Terra Firma Heavy Duty 2" suspension lift, including springs, shocks, replacement bump stops and longer stainless steel brake hoses
Safari Snorkel - looked at other options but went this way based on strength of reputation and looks
UHF radio - aerial fitted to custom bracket that protrudes through front grill

Next:
EGR Removal - improves quality of gases used in combustion
Canvas seat covers
Recovery points for front
265 75 R16 Cooper ST Maxx on steel rims- these will add 2" to the overall wheel diameter from the original equipment, or 1" inch of lift if measured from ground to centre of hub. This means that the 2" suspension lift added to the 1" wheel lift meets the maximum 3" (75mm) lift allowable for four wheel drives in Victoria. You can add more lift via tires or suspension but that introduces risk issues with insurance and the authorities.

After that:
ARB bull bar with 9000lb winch and spotties
Rock sliders
Underbody protection
Rear bar

Loving the process, hope you do too!

What's this cdl mod? I've tried to search it but can't come up with anything specific to my td5, it's a 2002 mod by the way.

Actually, no 1. priority is check the front tail shaft. I just inspected one for someone else here and I drove it less than 400m before returning to the dealer and advising them not to drive it anywhere until it was done. Looked ok and felt ok, had greasable joints all round but as soon as it drove sounded like a family of cicadas under the car.

Good point about the CDL too, hopefully it has it.

Sahara bar will fit. Need D2 mounts with D2a sahara bar. ARB will tell you it won't until you show them and then they'll still say it doesn't despite being proven wrong. And added to that it's over $2500-, more tsn double a xrox and $1000- more than a std ARB.