Disco 2 Advice needed!

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Sam77

Sam77

Member
Posts
29
Location
Aberdeen
Hi folks, 100% newbie to the Land Rover world. Just bought myself a 2004 Disco2 Auto TD5 Metropolis. I'm a petrol head, and after being in my Lexus IS200 for a couple years i fancied a change... Something i don't have to avoid speedbumps in for a start.

Now, i know how it is when people find a "perfect fitment" with wheel/tyre combo's, just like in the "stance" world... People like to keep it to themselves for some reason. I ask you this, what's the ideal 16" modular steels and matching BF Goodrich All-Terrains that are practical with little to no rubbing at full lock ect? I plan on investing in a 2"+ lift kit along with the wheels and tyres to start me off. Any recommendations??
Disco2 side.jpg
 
If you ask me, you've just bought yourself a 2004 Td5 Auto Disco 2 Metropolis, the very top of the range. There are some members here who would give their eye-teeth for such a Discovery.
You'll find that the more you drive it in it's as delivered state, the more you'll come to like it as it is and you want to change the wheels and tyres, probably because somebody down the pub who knows everything there is to know about Land Rovers told you to and then you're going to put a 2" lift on it, no doubt removing the air suspension at the same time, and the ACE 'cos that same bloke in the pub says it's rubbish.
I'm sorry to sound like I'm ranting but I would recommend that you should at least spend some time to enjoy a very good looking Discovery which incidentally is more capable than you might think off-road even on road orientated tyres.
 
Last edited:
Sam77 said:
Any recommendations??
Click to expand...
if you really want to get this car into situations where oversize tyres and a lift is of benefit, a pair of rock sliders need to come first. That and knowledge of your diff location so you don't smash them into rocks.
If you know what you want then fine, but if Brian is closer to the truth, you could end up sinking lots of money into ruining a good discovery, and it does look good at first sight.
You'd be welcomed to spectate / compete at any road taxed vehicle trial. There will be people there with just a set of sliders and knobblies and doing well if they have the skill. Search for your local ALRC club
 
brian47 said:
If you ask me, you've just bought yourself a 2004 Td5 Auto Disco 2 Metropolis, the very top of the range. There are some members here who would give their eye-teeth for such a Discovery.
You'll find that the more you drive it in it's as delivered state, the more you'll come to like it as it is and you want to change the wheels and tyres, probably because somebody down the pub who knows everything there is to know about Land Rovers told you to and then you're going to put a 2" lift on it, no doubt removing the air suspension at the same time, and the ACE 'cos that same bloke in the pub says it's rubbish.
I'm sorry to sound like I'm ranting but I would recommend that you should at least spend some time to enjoy a very good looking Discovery which incidentally is more capable than you might think off-road even on road orientated tyres.
Click to expand...
No, no, not ranting at all haha. That's the sort of thing i need to hear! I've very little experience with Landys, and i don't really know anyone with a whole lot of knowledge on them so any insight is great, thanks!
 
neilly said:
Hi @Sam77,

Nice clean looking D2, what is the chassis like? A lot of them are pretty looking but rough as hell underneath.

Cheers
Click to expand...
Haven't had a chance to get her on a ramp yet, but just by looking it seems like its been looked after by the previous owner, like manufacturer recommendation. But theres no way of knowing for sure. I can see me scraping it back to bare metal and StoneChip'ing or undersealing it.
 
Hi Sam,

Make sure all the warning lights work as they should on ignition start up. It is not unknown for a dodgy seller to disable / cover up warning lights to sell it. Also make sure you have the EKA code, and double check all the fluids are OK, including the ACE fluid if fitted.

Get yourself a copy of the Rave download.

Cheers
 
cooltide said:
if you really want to get this car into situations where oversize tyres and a lift is of benefit, a pair of rock sliders need to come first. That and knowledge of your diff location so you don't smash them into rocks.
If you know what you want then fine, but if Brian is closer to the truth, you could end up sinking lots of money into ruining a good discovery, and it does look good at first sight.
You'd be welcomed to spectate / compete at any road taxed vehicle trial. There will be people there with just a set of sliders and knobblies and doing well if they have the skill. Search for your local ALRC club
Click to expand...
Noted! What's the go to brand for that sort of thing in the UK? Terrafirma? I've been told to try and avoid Britpart lol
 
Agree with a lot of what has been said. I have used my standard D1 in Road Taxed vehicle trials with great delight. The one thing I would recommend is just get some off road biased tyres first and see if a lift is actually required. If I had the vehicle you have I don't think I would want to take it to some of the green laning places I have done that where rather scratchy on the body work.
 
neilly said:
Hi Sam,

Make sure all the warning lights work as they should on ignition start up. It is not unknown for a dodgy seller to disable / cover up warning lights to sell it. Also make sure you have the EKA code, and double check all the fluids are OK, including the ACE fluid if fitted.

Get yourself a copy of the Rave download.

Cheers
Click to expand...
Noted! Will do, cheers
 
ShaunPDisco said:
Agree with a lot of what has been said. I have used my standard D1 in Road Taxed vehicle trials with great delight. The one thing I would recommend is just get some off road biased tyres first and see if a lift is actually required. If I had the vehicle you have I don't think I would want to take it to some of the green laning places I have done that where rather scratchy on the body work.
Click to expand...
Yeah, i mean it's going to be used on the road 98% of the time, maybe the odd green laning for a few hours once or twice a month. A friend of mine actually has a few sets of BFG All-Terrains and Duratecs ect in various sizes that i could maybe try out and take it from there.

Cheers
 
Sam77 said:
Haven't had a chance to get her on a ramp yet, but just by looking it seems like its been looked after by the previous owner, like manufacturer recommendation. But theres no way of knowing for sure. I can see me scraping it back to bare metal and StoneChip'ing or undersealing it.
Click to expand...

Landy's rust like hell mate - if not looked after. Make sure it's solid, then get it Dinitrol'd inside and out. Not cheap to get done properly (you can do yourself but it's bloody messy) but still cheaper than a new chassis....
 
Mr S1 said:
Landy's rust like hell mate - if not looked after. Make sure it's solid, then get it Dinitrol'd inside and out. Not cheap to get done properly (you can do yourself but it's bloody messy) but still cheaper than a new chassis....
Click to expand...
So i'm told! Unfortunately... My folks have an inspection pit in their garage that i could usually use for such task, waxoiled cars there before... The Disco however is too tall to fit through the door! If i'm honest, as bad a job it is, i'd much rather do it myself, there's only one or two people i could trust to do a proper job of it, and i''m not sure i would want to put them through the grief lol
 
The sensible approach ! Nice looking bus there mate, like that :)

Be worth getting some decent security on it as well mate, they have a tendency to go missing....not as much as Defender's (gulp....) but they do get lifted.
 
Doing a proper job with Dinitrol or Bilt Hamber as some others will advise takes a bit more than giving the underneath a quick squirt with some black stuff.
The Waxoyl specialists will charge about 450 quid to do a Disco properly, and that's with Waxoyl; Dinitrol will cost more. But they do steam off the underside, and they treat the cavities and wheel arches.
Just to give you an idea, When I had my Disco done, it cost me £170 odd for the materials and my local garage did the job, but the total still worked out at close to 400 quid.
Don't use schutz type underseal because it does just that, seales the underneath, including any moisture which can then still do it's evil work.
@neilly has done some good work by compiling two guides, one for Disco Security and the other a buyers guide, but each will be of use to you so that you'll know what you're looking at or for.

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/handy-buying-alarm-info.311291/

Incidentally, some Britpart parts are quite alright, I've had new Britpart pedal rubbers on mine since I bought it with absolutely no problems.
 
Last edited:
brian47 said:
Doing a proper job with Dinitrol or Bilt Hamber as some others will advise takes a bit more than giving the underneath a quick squirt with some black stuff.
The Waxoyl specialists will charge about 450 quid to do a Disco properly, and that's with Waxoyl; Dinitrol will cost more. But they do steam off the underside, and they treat the cavities and wheel arches.
Just to give you an idea, When I had my Disco done, it cost me £170 odd for the materials and my local garage did the job, but the total still worked out at close to 400 quid.
Don't use schutz type underseal because it does just that, seales the underneath, including any moisture which can then still do it's evil work.
@neilly has done some good work by compiling two guides, one for Disco Security and the other a buyers guide, but each will be of use to you so that you'll know what you're looking at or for.

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/handy-buying-alarm-info.311291/

Incidentally, some Britpart parts are quite alright, I've had new Britpart pedal rubbers on mine since I bought it with absolutely no problems.
Click to expand...
I'm well aware of how laborious a job it is haha, very time consuming too. I'll contact a couple of specialists up here and see what they say. No harm in asking! Thanks for that link, i'll take a look!
 
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