Discovery's any good or not?? Hard off road use in mind

[Elmo]

Hey guys, am considering buying my neighbours discovery, but never really had anything to do with them and know nothing about them. Its a 95' model, V8, auto, 5" lift, 35's, pretty good nick from what i can see, doesnt make any bad noises or rattles or the like

is there anything i should be particurlaly aware of? any common problems with those models? any particular part of the car i should look hard at? ie: common rust spots/oil leaks etc

also as a side note, is it true they have exactly the same running gear/suspension etc that all the rangies have?

any help would be good guys, thanks

[lowbox]

try searching first

http://carl.outerlimits4x4.com/viewtopi ... covery+buy

A Disco on 35's will break the standard drivetrain if driven hard

A lot of the parts are interchangeable with Rangies - some slight differences but pretty much the same.

have fun

[Loanrangie]

Gearbox, auto and transfer are all pretty tough, on 35" s though it will be the axles and centres that will die first. Easiest upgrade for the rear is to bolt in a defender salisbury diff.

[Elmo]

thanks guys, yeah id sorta come to the conclusion about bein tough on the drivetrain, was plannin on downsizing to 33's once they wore out anyway, not really a fan of the prices to upgrade to maxi stuff

thanks lowbox for that, had actually already read it tho, as you said bout searching first, had already been scouring here for the last week or so, as i said up top i was more wanting to know what sorta problems they were re-knowned for as thats one thing i cant really seem to find any info on, such as common areas where they leak, or common areas prone to some rust etc etc that sorta stuff, like most nissans tend to rust round the rear windows, or leak from the pwr steer pump, are there any trademark faults like that with the landys?????

[amtravic1]

The steering boxes and pump can leak, engine, transmission and diffs rarely leak, perhaps a little from the rear main. The seals on the swivel housings can leak, plenty of cheap easy fixes for them including new seals and using grease instead of oil. I dont think discos have any problems with rust but you should check the front floor and the Alpine windows. The heater cores may be a problem and are a pain to change. Make sure you use the correct coolant.
Rover stuff is alot more reliable than non rover drivers will tell you.

Ian

[Mark2]

Also look out for clunks in the transfer case, usually due to worn mainshaft splines. Also how does it steer with the 5" lift?
What you're looking at is a Series 1 Discvery (D1), some may disagree but I think D1's are the way to go as less to go wrong than D2's , cheaper to fix and more drive train and suspension parts interchangeable with early Rangies, Defenders etc.

[Aquarangie]

It doesn't have to be misey to own a Land Rover, just don't take advice from the 'mainstream' 4WD people and you'll be right Talk to LR owners first hand and get as much info as you can because in the long term it will save you a small fortune.

Problem with Land Rovers is ingorance from people who have never had one and don't know fuck all what tyey're talking about. To be quite honest, whould I ever own a Land Rover if they were that bad? I'm probably one of the most short temperd blokes going around and I love Landies to death and wouldn't consider a Nissan or Toyota

The later Rover 24 spline gear will take a bit more punishment that the old Rangie 10 spline crap. 33's will be a bit more forgiving but diff breakage will be a issue that you will have to deal with from time to time

Maxi-drives in all honesty are not that expensive. The engenerring that goes into the manufacturing and so forth you'll appreciate the fact they're not that bad value and the ARB and upgrade axle equivlent (either maxi or Jac Mac). Some will argue the 'advantages' over maxi's but for most off-road applications they do the job full stop IMO

Regardless, enjoy the best 4x4xFar and have fun

Trav

[Reddo]

I doubt you's break much on 33's...certainly not unless you thrash the crap put of it on rocks or something like that...What's it had done to the DTrain so far??

[cloughy]

I doubt you's break much on 33's...certainly not unless you thrash the crap put of it on rocks or something like that...What's it had done to the DTrain so far??

33's will kill standard diffs unless driven like an absolute panzy

[lokka]

I doubt you's break much on 33's...certainly not unless you thrash the crap put of it on rocks or something like that...What's it had done to the DTrain so far??

33's will kill standard diffs unless driven like an absolute panzy

Crap im runin 33's and im no frikn pansie

[cloughy]

If only you lived in Vic.

[Reddo]

we ran 33 for ages on 10 spline stuff and gave it heaps in mud and on rocks and nothin broke.

Then I was told the diffs etc were weak, and so I got nervous and spent a heap of money to make them stonger.......

Hum...maybe there's a conspiracy theory going on round here??

[cloughy]

If only i'd taken a photo, of all mine and mates diffs/axles i had stacked for i took them to scrap

[HI JACK]

we ran 33 for ages on 10 spline stuff and gave it heaps in mud and on rocks and nothin broke.

Then I was told the diffs etc were weak, and so I got nervous and spent a heap of money to make them stonger.......

Hum...maybe there's a conspiracy theory going on round here??

I ran 37/14.5/15 Creepies on 10 spline stuff and had no breakages. Drove everything at Ormeau in it.

And my right foot was rarely off the floor...with the loud pedal munched in between.

[Aquarangie]

If only i'd taken a photo, of all mine and mates diffs/axles i had stacked for i took them to scrap

Trav

[DK]

I ran 33's with a locker in the rear of my rangie and never broke anything and it got driven hard cause i couldnt drive for shit

I now run 34" swampers on my 110 with maxi axles in the rear and an air locker and a standard 24 spline front and havent broken anything and i still cant drive for shit

[BJ]

IMO Rangie diffs are weak, I've blown 4 in the past few months. No doubt I've got a heavy right foot but thats what its all about, isn't it! Go hard or go back to Toorak.
Been researching maxi, jac mac, toyo, arb,etc. Anyone got opinions on what to go for and why?

[Slunnie]

I think mechanical empathy will take you a long way and a lot further than constant foot down. To break the diff centres/axles in a Disco2 at least you need to be giving it a looot of stick, and thats with 33's. There are a hell of a lot of people running 33/34 on these with standard drivelines without breaking. This said, if you want to break it, you will break it, but if you do then you cant plead ignorance from my experiences.

Toy are the strongest, but also factor in the CW/P, the machining, the fitting, the new axles etc and the locker.

In my opinion, JacMac if you can deal with Jeff, then ARB then Maxi.

JacMac because it has a better actuator than the ARB, and the ARB over the Maxi because it doesnt have all of the crap sitting on the axles and the axle doesn't need a big hole in it.

[BJ]

Forgive my ignorance - Does jac mac do new cwp with different ratios,axles,etc and are they stronger??. Looking 2 run 35's and figured may aswell do all at once. Think I run standard 10 spline at moment and have heard they will be my next weakest link?
Cheers BJ

[Slunnie]

10 splines are your first weakest link.

JacMac doesn't do CW/P sets, but they do do diffs and axles that are a lot stronger. If you want any real strength you'll need to change over to at least 24 spline diffs, axles, flanges etc. For the Rover diffs 4.1's are reasonably easy to come across, though you may need to import them from somebody like Ashcrofts in the UK. In the Toy diffs there are gears everywhere. In a Disco, 3.54's are standard for 29" tyres, 4.1's suit about 33" tyres and 4.3 works out about right for 35's. For 4.3's you'll really be changing your diff centres at least to something non-rover.

[Reddo]

Oh no here we go again!

Agree: Jac Mac axles if u can handle Jeff (he told to to f off once cause he was busy...and then hung up...very interesting indeedee). Interestingly Disco D1 CVs are 93mm in diameter, but are let down by small axle input diameter. CVs themsleves should therefore be strong enuf.
Diff centres: get Jac Mac lockers plus peg the diff crown wheels - fixes the so called weak centres and pegging is easy to do yourself even, and the diff will be as strong as a Yota centre - wait for it...
..or just take your chances and carry some spares - the diff and axles are cheap to buy from the wreckers cause they hardly sell any - we bought 2 24 spline axles for ...wait for it...50 dollars (plus a couple of steak knives), and the wrecker offered to sell me 2 rover diffs for 100 dollars (Hilux diffs there were 500 each), or we could take both whole f and r diffs disc to disc for 150 .....

PS the wrecker's son tried to trash a Disco on 32's, and finally succeeded after months of off road mayhem (witnessed by many in the 4wd club). He finally broke a rear diff centre by towing a bogged vehicle out, up a steep hill and repeately lunging back and forward until...bang. He admitted to me it took more than he thought to break it - he was impressed...a club mate actually bought the vehicle on the spot.

See why I just luv Rovers, nobody wants them cause everyone says they are crap. Ha Ha Ha...keep it that way please...

[BJ]

peg the diff crown wheels ??Soz

[gordon]

With my TDI D1 on 33" XTerrains, I managed to break 2 diffs and an axle, admittedly going pretty hard.

I then switched to 35" Silverstones, ARB lockers/carriers and 10 spline Maxi axles. With this set-up the only thing I ever broke was a CV, so I swapped them out for County CVs. That setup seemed pretty unbreakable, for minimal cost.

Cheers,

Gordon

[Maggot4x4]

GQ Front diff and 80 series rear will fix all your problems

[fightara]

With my TDI D1 on 33" XTerrains, I managed to break 2 diffs and an axle, admittedly going pretty hard.

I then switched to 35" Silverstones, ARB lockers/carriers and 10 spline Maxi axles. With this set-up the only thing I ever broke was a CV, so I swapped them out for County CVs. That setup seemed pretty unbreakable, for minimal cost.

Cheers,

Gordon

Yep - that's what I'm running, except with 24-spline in rear and early rangie CVs. On Q78s, no probs... touch wood.

Pegging the crown wheels/installing a locker is the best Rangie diff mod IMO. The axles aren't as bad as everyone makes out... But they're nowhere near Patrol/Cruiser stuff, which is what they're compared to.

[ISUZUROVER]

peg the diff crown wheels ??Soz

http://www.ashcroft-transmissions.co.uk/part_47.html