Ladies And gents- My suggested set up, comments or advice?

[Chris Putt]

Ok right, the aim of my plan is.....

Create a disco which will be capable for greenlanes and playdays, but also useable as my personal and business vehicle therefore unfortunately it has to stay sensible with the mods,  I do up to 15,000 miles a year.

Also being a student I am looking to do all the work on a budget, so aquiring second hand parts where available/useable.

The vehicle so far....

200tdi Disco, all welding needed done, in the process of being waxoyled in stages, new main box since the old one suffered a catastrophic failure (oops!)
Homebuilt snorkel kit awaiting fitment, along with extended breathers
Chopped front bumper
Shortened towbar
Currently shod with steel 8 spokes and general grabber A/t 2s

The plan is to renew the suspension as It is tired with +1" HD springs and undecided about which shocks as yet (anyone know of any good offers?).
Reason being I want a bit of extra clearance to get slightly larger M/T tyres in when money allows next year, also should hopefully not strain UJs too much. Also looking to polybush throughout as the bushes are all becoming a bit tired.

Steering guard and Diff guards (someone must be getting rid of some on the cheap?!)

Planning to fabricate a set of jackable sills (unless again, a set of suitable secondhand ones become available!)

Want the vehicle to be capable but also sensible!

Any thoughts guys or anyone aware of any good offers on the above parts, comments appreciated!


Chris

Ps. Will be trying to get hold of some jate rings as recovery points!!!

[Bulli]

paddocks sell em or you can call equippe or several other for jate rings/rear recovery. Not expensive either.

You sound like your set up is ideal for what you really want. I wouldnt go too daft. Just change the springs for new ones and maybe 2 inch rather than one.

[lostdreamer]

Well, for what it is worth I come from the opposite school of offroad mods to seemingly everyone else in the world:

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Also known as 'Don't Knock Stock'.

I don't know how much laning or pay&praying you have done, but let me ask you how many vehicles have failed to finish a day out because they got stuck? There may well be a couple.
Now, how many do you know that failed to finish because they broke down? I wager this answer is rather higher than the first one.

So, relyability is king. You can't play if it don't work.

Cars are amazingly complex things. Even old landys. Everything affects something else.

Eg: Heavy duty bumper. Surly that makes no difference. I mean, you don't remove or change anything, you just bolt a lump of steel the front of your car, right? Right. You just bolted 40+kgs of steel right on the front of your car. It's got lots of leverage right out there - and the front suspension is probably only spec'ed to hold the engine up anyway as any cargo normally goes in the back. It's probably the eqivalent of having someone sat on your bonnet constantly. Will the car take it? Almost certainly. Will it make a difference to how long everything lasts because the car is now working harder? Yeah, probably.

And if simply adding a reinforced bumper can make a real difference, how much does everything change when you start actively moving suspension componentry around? I ain't an automechanical engineer. I don't know. And I don't want to find out the hard way either.

A well maintained stock vehicle stands a good chance of embarrassing a lot of the stock iron out there, because when they break a half-shalf, or eat a uj, or bend a track rod, you are still playing.


All of that said, if you do want to use it for pay&pray, I think you have it pretty much bang on the button. As you are going looking for deep water & trouble, and snorkle and some underbody armour will probably save you breaking (as much) stuff when you do get it wrong. I wouldn't advise using your daily driver as a pay&pray thing too often, because sooner or later you will break it, but I ain't about to stop you either.

[bilge rat]

hi ya i got me s/guard and diff guard from rebel,  quite good price. got insa turbo mud tyres, from padocks were 48 pound each. good but wouldnt want to do high milage on the road. bit noisy and get the feeling they would wear down quick. might be worth a word with amd 4x4 at merrylees, there good helpfull and not to dear, same as you really on a shoe string, at the minuite trying to sort lousy oil leak on trany box, cheers. alan.....

[clbarclay]

JATE rings are fairly cheap or easy to make :D

Either way get some good recovery points first before worrying about too much else.

I would recommend getting mud terrains sooner rather than latter. You can always just fit lift springs/blocks (suspension or body) first with bigger mud terrain tyres and then deal with dampers, brake lines etc. at a later date.

[Ja1983]

..as lost dreamer pointed out, its worth putting some money to get the standard vehicle right first, you siad therse some welding been done, go round it, check everything out, as a small leek on say a diff could be much worse if you just overlook it, then go thundering into something hard with a lift and big wheels....  more leverage, more force... bigger bang!

i`m in the same boat, i want a unimog that doubles as a vectra.... and i`m seriously considering taking the disco to standard and using it to dolly a pure toy. thus i have the nice comfy drive of the disco (is standard form) which wil get me home in the snow, but something i can go as far as the wallet (or the missus) will allow!

also has the advantage of if i break it ... so what?!

check over all moving componants, grease points, props, gearboxes, replacing a bearing now could save you buying a swivel later.

the other ption is maybe a decent defender? stock motors with some sensible tyres will be ample for most plays, and the lighter weight, and less over-dangle makes it just that bit better round the lanes.

a lot to consider really, my disco is currently undergoing the "restoration" phase, and i have to say the likes of 2" lift are not as smooth running as you may think, especially if your on a budget.

new UJ`s every 6mths? or spend £200 on a new prop....

tyres, bigger wheels mens brakes have to work harder, handling on road suffers, and chunky tyres are not good if your tackling a lot of tarmac over the year.

My advice:

 - give the standard vehicle a good going over
 - get a second set of wheels for off-roading.
 - fit longer shocks to give more flex, but stock springs & retainers to keep road ride fair.
 - remove anything un-neccessary (bumper skirts etc) weight reduction elps on and offroad
 - think wisely before spending money - were here to help!
 - i like the "break it uprate it" stratergy, if something falls victim to abuse, fit a better one.

 - ebay, nuff said
 - auto jumble/breakers yards

good luck, dont forget to keep us updated!  8)

[lurch_917]

my motors stock apart from mud tyers and its used as my dayly drive but still gets abused off road badly as long as its maintaind well it will keep ticking so look after it and it will look after you

[Tyke]

i like the "break it uprate it" stratergy, if something falls victim to abuse, fit a better one

Makes a lot of sense . . . up to a point.

Then it starts to push the limits of the next component up the chain.


Best advice for a limited budget and limited knowledge would be to go at it gently, sort the tyres and get some recovery gear . . . . lifts and fancy stuff leave untill you find your own and the vehicles limits . . . . let it evolve slowly around what you want to do with it . . . . else you may be suprised at what it can quickly do to your bank balance  :shock:  


There are some very capable Discovery based trucks out there but don't be deceived into thinking they are just a load of bolt on bits . . . . most have caused the builders a few heartaches along the way . . . and the occasional divorce (oops!!! :roll: ) in the process . . . . enjoy it and take your time . . .  

[Chris Putt]

Good to hear others opinions- its given me a few things to think about..........

have gone over the vehicle EXTENSIVELY!! Myself and magic mike have done all of the welding we could find and also I have done quite a lot of general tidying up of the bodywork as well as the underneath, any rust has been stripped back then given a thorough coating of waxoyl. Same goes for the axles, have been stripped and hammerited. (reminds me- need to put one shot grease in swivels as they are weeping a tad)- have done exactly as you guys have suggested and got the vehicle 'solid' and in good health before tinkering for fun!

If I were to put +1" springs on and +2" shocks, this would increase my flex no doubt, but would I require dislocation cones? (probably a stupid question I know).

Cant believe the difference the new 'box made, like driving another vehicle!!

Chris

[Tyke]

You might just get away with +1 springs and +2 shocks without needing cones.

Think about where you want to go with it in the future . . . . as suggested earlier, adding things later like heavy duty bumpers etc will add to the spring loading more than you may realise, even the addition of a steering guard and diff guards will take their toll on the extra spring hight you plan . . . . get it sorted right first time and save yourself some cash and heartache in the process . . . and don't be taken in by 'claimed' lift kits . . . 1" from one may not be the same as 1" from another, same goes for the 2" kits . . . . it's all about 'spring rating' . . . . talk with those who understand and plan ahead . . . . you will have to compromise somewhere along the line but if the plan is clear and stuck to you will win in the long run.




Besides . . . . none of them ever get truly completed . . . . there is always 'something' that needs doing . . . . main thing is to enjoy it fella . . . :lol:

[clbarclay]

Whether you need dislocation cones or not depends on a number of factors, mainly the free length of the spring and the how much further the axle can drop.

Most of the common lift springs are "HD" so not actually any longer than standard springs despite raising the ride height. Obviously shorter springs will be more likely to dislocate than longer springs.
Its better to fit cones and not need them than to have a dislocated spring.


From your previous post welding is not a problem, so making your own dislocation cones will be no trouble for you. All you need is 4 or 6 short lengths of steel (nominally 6 to 8mm diameter) welded to the lower spring seat making a pyramid shape. The all you need to do is make a clamp for the top of the spring, 2 identical lengths of flat with a couple of bolts holding them together, one on top of the spring seat the other below the first coil of the spring. Thats how I made mine and they work very well, in fact much better than some commercially avalible dislocation cones.

[davidlandy]

dont go for 1" springs , go for 2"

i say this becuse after you'll be bitten by the bug and end up with 2" at some point in the future anyway so it will save you buying 2 sets of springs!

[Horness]

My Disco is not only my off-road work horse for shooting and deer stalking, but also the taxi for survival courses run on the Brecons, the weekend B&Q saviour, and the family day-to-day, shop'n'school run vehicle.

I only have 1 vehicle, and this is it.

Originally all I added was A/T tyres and protection, to make sure I could still get to work after I'd been out for the day.  BFG A/T's, Diff and steering guards, jate rings, recently a fuel tank guard, and sill guards.  The bumpers started to look tatty and dented, so I replaced them with HD one's.
After all that, the stock suspension dropped quite a bit, so I opted for a +2" HD lift to overcome the extra weight.

For the lanes, woodland and off-road driving I do, a stock Disco with A/T tyres is very capable.  My only reason for modding was to protect my investment, and then to overcome the downside of adding protection (the weight).

Finally, with the added weight, +2" lift, my Disco ran like a milk float, so I've now visited Andrew at Allisport and had a bigger rad and intercooler fitted to get some of the speed back!

That's my story anyway. ;-)

My advice - throw some A/T's on it, and see how it fares.  You will be surprised.

[Chris Putt]

I have a set of A/Ts on at the moment and have been pleasantly surprised how well it does compared to the 90s we use for tuition at work, i would say it goes (in dry/damp rather than sodden conditions) everywhere the 90s do, and makes a lot less fuss over it.....The advantages of New a/ts over worn muds and a TDI over an NA diesel.......

Chris