Thread: Discovery 2 Suspension Advice

To further add some clarity, the Disco is mainly an on road car but when the holidays come around most of it is spent off road on places like Fraser as well as out West.

I know it is a capable truck in its stock form but I am just looking for a bit more out of it without going too insane.

Originally Posted by Kent_P

To further add some clarity, the Disco is mainly an on road car but when the holidays come around most of it is spent off road on places like Fraser as well as out West.

I know it is a capable truck in its stock form but I am just looking for a bit more out of it without going too insane.

I do a lot of beach driving (soft loose sand), rocky limestone tracks and bush boat ramps and I haven't done anything special to My D2a.
No lift or insane tyres fitted and I haven't come to grief yet.
All you really have to do is get rid of the road tyres and fit a decent set of AT's and you will be able to go pretty much anywhere you want as long as you run your tyre pressures to suit the terrain
The D2's are Very capable trucks straight out of the box

X2 trouts comments. If you are not going ultra hard core 4wding on the holidays then a stock height suspension upgrade will be fine. After 190k I upgraded my suspension to std king front coils and blistein shocks, just before doing a 7500km jaunt through central Australia (the rear still has air SLS). Main reason I did the springs was that I fitted an ARB bar to the front. Since then I’ve done a couple of hard 4wd days with no problems what so ever. The tyres are what came with the car when I bought it, 6 years ago, 245/70 R16 LT cooper AT3, currently they have about 65k on them with good tread remaining and no punctures at all.

Originally Posted by trout1105

I do a lot of beach driving (soft loose sand), rocky limestone tracks and bush boat ramps and I haven't done anything special to My D2a.
No lift or insane tyres fitted and I haven't come to grief yet.
All you really have to do is get rid of the road tyres and fit a decent set of AT's and you will be able to go pretty much anywhere you want as long as you run your tyre pressures to suit the terrain
The D2's are Very capable trucks straight out of the box

cheers
steve

Originally Posted by trout1105

.... and I haven't done anything special to My D2a.
....
The D2's are Very capable trucks straight out of the box

Originally Posted by Kent_P

Thank you very much to all who have contributed, I really appreciate it. It now looks like I have some things to ponder.

I think the most important point to ponder is why are you spending X amount of dollars and what do you expect that expense to 'help with'

First thing I'd be questioning, if I were in your situation, is:
Why the winch? That is, nothing wrong with having a winch, but why do you think you need it.
Note trout's reply, and note the vehicle he has. D2a's came out with a centre diff lock fitted(as I've read about) whereas the D2(your earlier model) didn't.
It's a bit unclear as to which models have the mechanism in the transfer case nose section to easily retrofit only the selector mechanism, and which may require the mechanism AND the transfer case nose cone.
My two D2's ('99 and '00) both have the CDL nose cones, my brothers '03 doesn't.
(we're in the slow process of transferring my parts D2's transfer case into brother's D2.
brother's D2 came with diff locks front and rear, but whoever had them fitted didn't bother to do the centre diff.
The result is that in some situations, his D2 will spin up either the front axle(both wheels) or the rear axle(both wheels) when the two difflocks are engaged, but the problem is the centre diff(can't be locked at all).
So it relies too heavily on the traction control to maintain grip. To keep moving in that situation he needs to keep hard on the right pedal to keep the wheels spinning till the traction control finally does it's thing, and the car then moves forward.
A CDL would eliminate all that mad wheel spinning!
An inexperienced operator would spin the wheels up as in his situation for about 20sec or so(as it did) and then begin the process of thinking that the winch is now needed(as he did, and has).
The locked centre diff would eliminate all that, process.

So the previous owner that had the two diff locks fitted didn't fully understand what would have been a more appropriate expenditure on the D2(that my brother now has).
That PO, would have been best advised to have the rear diff lock fitted, and instead of fitting the front locker, to have sourced a CDL kit for the transfer box instead!

So what I'd be questioning if I WERE in your situation is:
1: do I have the locking nose cone transfer case setup?
2: would the similar cost of getting the mechanism setup of a CDL offer any advantages over the cost of a winch.
I'd choose the CDL mechanism over the winch.

So check to see if you have the nose cone and or the mechanism for the selector lever.

Originally Posted by AK83

I think the most important point to ponder is why are you spending X amount of dollars and what do you expect that expense to 'help with'

First thing I'd be questioning, if I were in your situation, is:
Why the winch? That is, nothing wrong with having a winch, but why do you think you need it.
Note trout's reply, and note the vehicle he has. D2a's came out with a centre diff lock fitted(as I've read about) whereas the D2(your earlier model) didn't.
It's a bit unclear as to which models have the mechanism in the transfer case nose section to easily retrofit only the selector mechanism, and which may require the mechanism AND the transfer case nose cone.
My two D2's ('99 and '00) both have the CDL nose cones, my brothers '03 doesn't.
(we're in the slow process of transferring my parts D2's transfer case into brother's D2.
brother's D2 came with diff locks front and rear, but whoever had them fitted didn't bother to do the centre diff.
The result is that in some situations, his D2 will spin up either the front axle(both wheels) or the rear axle(both wheels) when the two difflocks are engaged, but the problem is the centre diff(can't be locked at all).
So it relies too heavily on the traction control to maintain grip. To keep moving in that situation he needs to keep hard on the right pedal to keep the wheels spinning till the traction control finally does it's thing, and the car then moves forward.
A CDL would eliminate all that mad wheel spinning!
An inexperienced operator would spin the wheels up as in his situation for about 20sec or so(as it did) and then begin the process of thinking that the winch is now needed(as he did, and has).
The locked centre diff would eliminate all that, process.

So the previous owner that had the two diff locks fitted didn't fully understand what would have been a more appropriate expenditure on the D2(that my brother now has).
That PO, would have been best advised to have the rear diff lock fitted, and instead of fitting the front locker, to have sourced a CDL kit for the transfer box instead!

So what I'd be questioning if I WERE in your situation is:
1: do I have the locking nose cone transfer case setup?
2: would the similar cost of getting the mechanism setup of a CDL offer any advantages over the cost of a winch.
I'd choose the CDL mechanism over the winch.

So check to see if you have the nose cone and or the mechanism for the selector lever.

Thanks for that AK83.

I should have specified in my earlier post but I didn't.

My D2 had the internals for the CDL and subsequently I had the CDL handle installed.

I can confirm that it works and it works bloody well

The winch is just something extra and just that added piece of mind so when trying out some new terrain.

I have a winch on the D1, only used to recover others, but not looking at fitting one on the D2. A shovel and a hand winch have multiple advantages over a fitted winch, apart from the initial cost.
Having to do some physical work to get out of a situation makes you take a bit better look at your proposed route
Also removes the need to beef up front suspension to lug all that weight around for the very brief occasions when you need it.
As has been stated already, the D2 with CDL is a very, very capable off-road vehicle. Tyre choices and pressure (and the shovel) will get you through most situations.
(Start Tongue-In-Cheek) Only the ToyNissMit brigade actually NEED to "improve" their suspension etc to make their vehicles moderately capable (End Tongue-in-cheek )

I treat the winch on my D2a as an insurance policy when or if I have to use it to get myself out of strife it will have paid for itself in Spades, Meanwhile I have put it to good use getting others out of bogs, used it around the farm even used it to strain ringlock fences and it has proved invaluable when retrieving the boat on soft sandy beaches.
Fitted with synthetic rope my winch only weighs 27kg which is about the same as a second battery so it has very little impact on the front suspension.

Originally Posted by donh54

I have a winch on the D1, only used to recover others, but not looking at fitting one on the D2. A shovel and a hand winch have multiple advantages over a fitted winch, apart from the initial cost.
Having to do some physical work to get out of a situation makes you take a bit better look at your proposed route
Also removes the need to beef up front suspension to lug all that weight around for the very brief occasions when you need it.
As has been stated already, the D2 with CDL is a very, very capable off-road vehicle. Tyre choices and pressure (and the shovel) will get you through most situations.
(Start Tongue-In-Cheek) Only the ToyNissMit brigade actually NEED to "improve" their suspension etc to make their vehicles moderately capable (End Tongue-in-cheek )

X2

Deano