Disco 2 I'm Having Overlanding Thoughts

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Henry_b

Henry_b

Think outside, no box required.
Posts
15,506
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somewhere else
LOL

I've been thinking in the new year or next to take a few months "off" and take the old D2 on an overlanding trip.
The Green lanes of Britain can only be so fun, before the rinse/repeat aspect sets in. o_O

South Africa has always been on the bucket list, of course the D2 needs to be prep'd hence the "future" for this car.. :cool:

Kit seems to vary wildly, some favour an minimalist approach, and others well.. :eek:

love a monster truck!! :D


what would ya'll do to a D2 to prepare it for a trip like this? :confused:


Mechanically
cosmetically
Additionally

;)

H
 
Henry_b said:
LOL

I've been thinking in the new year or next to take a few months "off" and take the old D2 on an overlanding trip.
The Green lanes of Britain can only be so fun, before the rinse/repeat aspect sets in. o_O

South Africa has always been on the bucket list, of course the D2 needs to be prep'd hence the "future" for this car.. :cool:

Kit seems to vary wildly, some favour an minimalist approach, and others well.. :eek:

love a monster truck!! :D


what would ya'll do to a D2 to prepare it for a trip like this? :confused:


Mechanically
cosmetically
Additionally

;)

H
Click to expand...

hi mate

sounds an awesome experience

Must admit I’ve Often wondered if it’s better to use a specialist tour company that can provide a fully kitted out vehicle inc all the associated planning , knowing the best places to visit, security etc, taking away a lot of the stress and allowing u to enjoy the trip a lot more

but that’s just my two peneth, lol
 
Make sure you take the relevent spares.
Crank sensor.
Fuel filter
if fiited air springs
 
This sounds so familiar.

I was looking at my own D1 as a potential adventure mobile a few year ago, I watched loads of YT vids about overlanding and even read a few books on it too.

My own summary and conclusions on it are as so.

The lighter you travel the further you can go on your fuel and the less you have to outlay on stuff which means you can travel further as you got more cash for fuel.

Apart from basic mechanical road worthiness and making sure you got common sized tyres on it's ready to roll straight out the show room.
 
Henry_b said:
LOL

I've been thinking in the new year or next to take a few months "off" and take the old D2 on an overlanding trip.
The Green lanes of Britain can only be so fun, before the rinse/repeat aspect sets in. o_O

South Africa has always been on the bucket list, of course the D2 needs to be prep'd hence the "future" for this car.. :cool:

Kit seems to vary wildly, some favour an minimalist approach, and others well.. :eek:

love a monster truck!! :D


what would ya'll do to a D2 to prepare it for a trip like this? :confused:


Mechanically
cosmetically
Additionally

;)

H
Click to expand...

Trade it in for a hilux lol
 
dieseldog69 said:
Shockingly expensive considering how cheap you can get a Discovery these days.
Click to expand...

Do we ever think discoverys 1 and 2's will go up in price ? After the d2 last of the disco breed with a chassis ... may not be for least 20 years though !

I'm planning to keep mine a while even if it involves a new chassis down the road .
 
Matt2e0fgx said:
Do we ever think discoverys 1 and 2's will go up in price ? After the d2 last of the disco breed with a chassis ... may not be for least 20 years though !

I'm planning to keep mine a while even if it involves a new chassis down the road .
Click to expand...

The D3 by all accounts had a separate Chassis ans 2 subframes.

The D2 is unlikely to go up in value, the early D1's might though.
 
Matt2e0fgx said:
Do we ever think discoverys 1 and 2's will go up in price ? After the d2 last of the disco breed with a chassis ... may not be for least 20 years though !

I'm planning to keep mine a while even if it involves a new chassis down the road .
Click to expand...

RRC, D1 will go up in value as uncomplicated modern classics, D2 unlikely to raise in value by much as the cost of keeping them reliably on the road is high in cost and in time, not to mention that they are actually very modern, even by todays standards.
 
dieseldog69 said:
RRC, D1 will go up in value as uncomplicated modern classics, D2 unlikely to raise in value by much as the cost of keeping them reliably on the road is high in cost and in time, not to mention that they are actually very modern, even by todays standards.
Click to expand...

Yes that's true with the electronics on the vehicle, yes a D1 is pretty basic vehicle
 
Leaving the long term value of Discos to one side.....
D2s should make pretty good overlanders out of the box, so I'll assume you already have it in good shape to begin with. What you add depends on where you are going, how long for and what level of comfort you want.
I would not want to be stranded by unnecessary complexity so I would swap air suspension for springs and ACE for decent roll bars. Do it well and you won't miss either.
I would be tempted to add a 2" lift (springs, shocks and extended brake hoses) and run 16" wheels with 265/75/16s; the reason being not just the improvement in ground clearance, but also the ability to run significantly lower tyre pressures. You may want HD springs with the additional vehicle weight. Install EGT and ECT gauges to avoid overstressing the TD5.
HD bumpers add strength, recovery points and improve ground clearance, but don't add a winch unless you really need it; remember a farm jack can be used as a winch at a pinch.
As minimum underbody protection I would add tree sliders, steering and diff guards. Dixon "fatties" also work well as sidesteps which will be a boon for accessing stuff on the roof from the side.
In Africa you will need a fridge/freezer which also means a split charge system, a second leisure battery and ideally solar panels. It also implies a sliding tray as part of your storage system. What you use as storage depends on whether you need the rear seats. Take them out and you have huge amounts of space to either install a drawer system or to stack storage boxes. Store as much as possible inside, away from thieves and keeping the centre of gravity as low as possible. Have one storage box for tools and spares. A fold down table on the back of the tailgate gives you somewhere to cook - or take a table and cook where you like.
The tent is a major decision. A ground tent gives you lots of space on the roof, but if you don't need the rear seats you shouldn't need that much. For Africa I would be looking at the Oz tent; 2m long (so store on the roof), but quick to erect and very tough with shade-generating canvas. A roof tent gets you off the ground (in Africa they may be actual benefits to this). Hard shell will be the easiest and quickest to put up and down, will withstand harsh weather better (or at least not keep you awake with flapping canvas in strong winds), and give a place to mount solar panels. It also means you can go with roof bars rather than a roof rack, saving both weight and cost. A soft folding roof tent will be cheaper and take up less space on the roof (making a roof rack worthwhile), while giving you more internal space, but they are a pain to put up and down and are noisy and generally less robust. Putting a ladder on the back of the D2 means you don't have to carry one in the tent, but would conflict with a 270 awning.
Shade will be an issue and a 270 awning will give you protected living space. Quality varies, you want one that can be put up by one person and which only needs poles in strong winds. Look at the Ostrich, it is more expensive than most, but way stronger than anything else on the market.
For Europe where rain protection is more important than shade, then think about a drive away awning. They take more time to put up, but give you quicker all round protection; however, the material is not thick enough to give shade protection in Africa. A good value compromise would be the ARB standard rectangular awning with the room sides.
Have a think about mapping, both paper and digital. Remove the rubber tray on the dash and the depression will allow you to fit a RAM mounting base for tablet, camera and phone holders - use the full 1" RAM balls as they hold up to vibration better. HTH
 
I wonder how many of the doomsayers who think you need to use a Toyota as an overland vehicle have actually been on a real overland trip? Now on a 25,000 mile trip around the Australia outback in our 300TDi I got told the same crap, it is underpowered, break half shafts etc. It was the 300 TDi going up sand dunes easier then Jap vehicles as we kept the weight down. Also we pulled out stuck Jap vehicles and never got pulled out by them as could self recover.

Si talks good sense but will add on the D2 get the diff lock fitted, many D2 just needs the extra linkage fitted.

Winch? The one fitted to rear of vehicle is more useful than one on the front for an overland vehicle.

Airing down is useful but to do that a few times a day need a good compressor preferably with a 9 litre air tank on board

Tyres get new/young ones as they are less prone to punctures. Two spare wheels if possible plus some inner tubes. Inner tubes will work in a tubeless tyre might only last a hundred miles or so but can get you back down the creek. That means good bead breakers, tyre levers and repair kit.
 
leeds said:
I wonder how many of the doomsayers who think you need to use a Toyota as an overland vehicle have actually been on a real overland trip? Now on a 25,000 mile trip around the Australia outback in our 300TDi I got told the same crap, it is underpowered, break half shafts etc. It was the 300 TDi going up sand dunes easier then Jap vehicles
Click to expand...

I take it that was fired at me :D I have a 300tdi disco & 90 ;)
Couple of pics
IMG_2373.JPG

oo3.jpg

20180228_151315.jpg
 
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