Who has taken their D2 around Australia?

Headlight protectors.

As mentioned before, think about changing your tires to something that is easily obtained anywhere.
Went through central Australia, Via Oodnadatta, Mereenie loop, and other secondary roads in 2003. Had trouble locating a tire in Alice springs, was lucky that someone just purchased a new Disco 2 and was changing the tires for something more suitable for the conditions around the Alice, otherwise I was in for a wait.

I have a roof top and think it is fantastic, unfortunatley I have not mounted to the Disco (Had it mounted over the tub of a Navara) as now have a small caravan instead (family is getting bigger). Roof tops do add a fair amount of wait up top and do take up most of your space if thinking of putting any other gear up top. If I ever think about mounting the roof top back on i will probably forget about gutter mounting it but instead tie it into the frame.

Hi,
I went half way round but am now almost 2 years in Karratha working. Towed a 19.5 foot van. Will finish it one day with my new 21.5 off road van.

The only problem I had was the internals of the centre muffler collasped and restricted exhaust flow causing low boost pressure from the turbo and hence big lack of power. The 2003 D2 TD5 still limped from Mt Magnet in WA to Karratha for the LR Dealer to look at it. Other than that on the trip from Port Lincoln SA, absolutely faultless.

I do not trust the LR centre muffler any more so I got rid of it for a vortex one. Gives more power and better fuel economy.

A must do is Fit a snorkel to it. Not so much for river crossings (helps) but mainly to get the air intake up high out of the dust when on the dirt and suck cooler air than down at under bonnet level.

Bull bar, spotties, UHF CB, Sat phone is always a good move if you can afford it, fridge in the back and spare belt.

Heavy duty off road camper will be luxury as the novelity of a tent loses it appear after a week.(Did the finke and Oodnadatta tracks with off road camper).

Now that I also have RAVE and Microcat plus a laptop with a serial port for travelling I am considering buying the new Black Box solutions Faultmate MSV

Have a great trip. :)

BradM

Good stuff. Thanks for all the posts so far.

By spare belt do you just mean a/the fan belt? I've seen others talking about taking a selection of hoses and clips too.

Also anybody have a recommended place to hire a satphone and kit of spare parts from (I guess a local 4wd specialist could do it but can they for a LR D2?)?

I might post a list of everyone's ideas at the end of this thread. I was also wondering about asking 4wdAction mag to write an article on preparing for this kind of trip, with points to remember like postal redirection, storage including approximate costs, etc. All that useful stuff that is not often that easy to find!

Chaz.

Yes, serpentine belt and hoses, but I'd also buy the spanners to remove the fan, makes changing the belt soooo much easier. www.Troutbecksales.com or Roverparts sell them. The other thing to cary is a selection of cable ties up to the big 1m ones they are very useful.

As for a SatPhone, consider buying if its for an extended period. I can't really advise as I've owned one for 6 years now. And yes it saved us once, so it was worth it!

I suggest the belt be changed and a new tensioner pulley fitted, as a broken belt can do significant damage and a siezed tensioner pulley is often the cause.

The throttle position sensor (known to fail) and the crankshaft position sensor (very reliable) are the only 2 critical sensors on a TD5. The other sensors can be unplugged if suspected of causing a problem. I would take a spare throttle position sensor because the vehicle will only idle if it's dead. I would take some hose to bypass the boost modulator in case that fails because it's so simple to do and makes a huge difference to driveability.

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Originally Posted by Ricey

I did the trip years ago, if I did it again tomorrow I'd be packing a laptop, inverter to charge it and a rave cd. Parts come after you know how to replace them.

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Does anyone know if there is a part number listing on the RAVE CD? I cant find it....if not is it possible to download a full listing from somewhere to take?

Thanks.

What do people think about either replacing the shock absorbers/suspension before we go or taking a spare - one front and one rear for example?

Also the car has ACE and rear SLS, so are stock aftermarket shocks an option if one fails? I would guess not, so is it worth replacing all 4 with aftermarket (non Land Rover parts) perhaps?

Chazb

I would seriously be considering changing out the SLS for springs. I have known of too many discos busting airbags. A spring will not break...just sag.

And if you are doing any rough roads (off bitumen) then I would be getting rid of the land rover shocks and getting some konis or bilsteins. Std's will not last.

Angus

Something that's not been mentioned is the intercooler hoses, would be a good idea to toss in a couple. I blew one in Croydon and managed to make a Falcon Radiator hose fit.
Regards,
Tote

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Originally Posted by Chazb

What experiences of tents have people had with a D2 on a big trip like this?

Anyone used a rooftop tent for example? Or prefer a trailer tent? Or just a good old fashioned ground tent/swag?

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Chazb

You will want something with a bit of comfort and space and that is easy to setup. It also depends if you want to travel light and keep movivng or if your a heavy traveller that like to camp out for a week or so. I would suggest a Oztent. They are easy to setup and realiable.

Oh and if you are doing a trip like this....do as many smaller, weekend or week trips as you can! You need to do a really good shake down to travel this long...

Angus