Nathanm017

New Member
Hi, I have an automatic 2000 td5 d2

Everything is stock and I’m wanting a list of parts what I need to make sure it lasts as long as possible, doesn’t get stuck in mud terrain and basically fully off road ready

I currently have 2” heavy duty springs and shocks with 2” blocks and 2” shock relocation. Extended brake lines. And gonna be running 35’s tyres

Would be very helpful to know what else I’ll be needing, example like correction arms? Which one ect
 
What country are you in? What sort of terrain and what sort of use.

Not saying you shouldn't lift, but 4 inches of lift is a lot and not really needed for most off roading. Your setup sounds like it won't flex much and might be more prone to lifting wheels and becoming cross axled off road.

35" tyres is also pretty big on a Land Rover. Plenty have run this size and bigger, but note you are quite likely to break axles or driveline components. Again it really depends what you are really after and what you want to achieve, plus budget.

In proper suspension geometry can lead to poor road manners, vibrations and odd wear.
 
What country are you in? What sort of terrain and what sort of use.

Not saying you shouldn't lift, but 4 inches of lift is a lot and not really needed for most off roading. Your setup sounds like it won't flex much and might be more prone to lifting wheels and becoming cross axled off road.

35" tyres is also pretty big on a Land Rover. Plenty have run this size and bigger, but note you are quite likely to break axles or driveline components. Again it really depends what you are really after and what you want to achieve, plus budget.

In proper suspension geometry can lead to poor road manners, vibrations and odd wear.
UK and I don’t have a budget. I just want to achieve a good ground clearance and to be able to get through swamps, wet mud ect without getting stuck/ or as little as possible. So I’d need to upgrade driveline components
 
UK and I don’t have a budget. I just want to achieve a good ground clearance and to be able to get through swamps, wet mud ect without getting stuck/ or as little as possible. So I’d need to upgrade driveline components
Swamps? Cool, not all that common in the UK. Where abouts are you? Ground clearance is good, but I'd suggest for general use off road a more rounded setup might prove better more of the time. If you really are driving lots of swamp like terrain, then something tailored as a low ground pressure vehicle might also be something to look at, but it is rather more niche and specific for that kind of use. Give me some more details and I'll provide some info/ideas/suggestions.
 
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UK and I don’t have a budget. I just want to achieve a good ground clearance and to be able to get through swamps, wet mud ect without getting stuck/ or as little as possible. So I’d need to upgrade driveline components
If you are talking about Green laning then all you are going to do is f*** up the lanes for the rest of us!
If you are talking about pay and and play then crack on and have fun.
 
Swamps? Cool, not all that common in the UK. Where abouts are you? Ground clearance is good, but I'd suggest for general use off road a more rounded setup might prove better more of the time. If you really are driving lots of swamp like terrain, then something tailored as a low ground pressure vehicle might also be something to look at, but it is rather more niche and specific for that kind of use. Give me some more details and I'll provide some info/ideas/suggestions.
Just general off-roading. At like pay and plays, rock terrain, mud terrain. Wading ect. Just want to know what I should buy to prolong the life of all the mechanical bits and the jeep itself
 
Just general off-roading. At like pay and plays, rock terrain, mud terrain. Wading ect. Just want to know what I should buy to prolong the life of all the mechanical bits and the jeep itself
ok, that is still a little vague. In the UK as a rule we don't have much in the way of rock climbing, certainly not in the same way you'd get in Western USA. We also are a little short on swamps too. Terrain can vary across the country, but most often it is muddy, rutted grassy terrain and quite slippery.

Is there a particular region or Pay & Play sight in particular? I only ask, as you could tailor a setup to a particular ground condition more so.

Water wading is a tough one, often very hard on a vehicle such as starter motors, water inside the interior, alternators and a host of other water ingress issues such as the axles and transmission. High ground clearance can be good here. e.g.

American style mud trucks:
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You see something similar with other vehicles design for wading:
P1010044 (4).jpeg


But ultimately it restricts what else they can do off road. Swamp vehicles follow a similar design quite often:
1708681952345.png


Although low ground pressure vehicles such as driving on peat or similar can look quite different:
1708682048191.png


Or use ballon tyres or multiple sets of wheels:
1708682143503.png


1708682197745.png


The above are all extremes. But demonstrate how vehicles can specialise in a certain terrain. But this will often make them compromised in other conditions.



A D2 is a capable platform, although many have no centre differential and rely fully on the traction control. Fitting a centre diff would be a good upgrade for heavy off road use. And ensuring the traction control is working correctly.

Upgrading the axle diff centres to an ATB will make them stronger and make the traction control even more effective. Or you could even look at full lockers, just bear in mind you can't normally run with lockers engaged all the time, as you'll end up with no real steering.

The biggest issue with a D2 is the bulk of the body compared to smaller 4x4's. There is a lot of metal and trim with a long rear overhang and reasonable front overhang. The stock tyres are also small for the wheelbase, reducing breakover angle.

So bigger tyres are indeed a good idea. I'd say 33's are good happy size for improvements everywhere. Bigger and you are likely to end up with more driveline breakages, although it will depend how you drive to some extent. Ashcroft Transmissions offer a number of axle upgrade bits, but it can get pricey.

Bigger tyres will also impact gearing, I don't know if you drive on road, but something to bear in mind with a Td5 auto. More power might help, so consider power upgrades, but you may want to focus on mid range torque as opposed to high rpm power. As you'll want the power available at the right sort of rpm for the condition of the terrain.

Off road tall tyres will knacker your low 1st crawl ratio too. Meaning you won't be able to go as slow, have less control and less engine braking. So you may need to re-gear to a different diff ratio or do something with the transfer box. This can be done as part of axle upgrades, but again it gets very pricey very quickly!

D2 suspension is pretty good from the factory. Although off road if you can keep the wheels on the ground the better. So as a general rule increasing the travel of the suspension is what you are after. Many lifts will actually reduce travel and may set a vehicle up in a way that it is less willing to flex its suspension.

I recall a trials event a few years back. Young lad turned up with a lifted D2 on something like 33-34" tyres and HD lifted suspension. Don't get me wrong, it looked kinda cool and had lots of ground clearance. But the slightest bump and it was lifting wheels off the ground and was frankly pretty crap off road and couldn't go places a 100% standard vehicle could go.

With road vehicles it is the bodywork that gets in the way a lot of the time. A body lift sort of works, but can make a vehicle look odd and often requires hacks to other components like steering, gear levers, coolant pipes and the like.

If you are prepared to hack the arches and or body up, you can usually fit much larger tyres and retain or increase full suspension travel too.

A suspension lift can be ok too, but as said, off road it is usually more about suspension travel. Bigger tyres will give you more clearance. Although a suspension lift should lift the chassis and components up, improving breakover, departure & approach angles too. It just shouldn't be at the compromise of flex. However, when you lift a vehicle, you change the caster of the axles which can impact how the vehicle steers and drives on the road. Also lifting introduces some funky and unwanted driveline angles.

Instead of hacking the body, you could look at fitting a spaceframe. Plenty of room for bigger tyres and lots of improvements off road, but obviously a downgrade for road use.

1708683438620.png
 
I've got to say that 300bhp's advice is spot on, and his write up is worthy of publishing in a magazine, bravo sir.

There is no one size fits all solution to offroading, it's about tailoring the vehicle to the terrain. However, if you are worried about getting stuck in the mud, rather than go nuts with the suspension, which I think you may have went too far on already, I'd suggest a centre diff lock transfer box, remove the towbar and hydraulic step if fitted, and add a winch bumper + winch as the winch will literally get you out of the mud, whereas the other addenda that I've suggested removing will act like an anchor and dig in.

If you're getting stuck, how are you getting stuck? is the vehicle sinking in the terrain you're going to? Or is it not finding traction and spinning wheels? If it's traction, the LSDs and better tyres will help, as will the CDL. If it's sinking, you can air down your tyres to increase the "contact patch" (footprint) but only so far as you risk throwing a tyre off the bead if you go too low with the tyre pressure.

You say you "don't have a budget" - I'm taking that means it's a blank cheque you are throwing at this? If that's the case, A: Congrats, and B: look at some of the more expensive but intelligent solutions...

For suspension, I suspect you've already gone too far, as that lift kit and spacer blocks will have eaten up most of your suspension travel, known as articulation, more articulation is better than more ride height. Higher suspension doesn't get you more ground clearance, it improves your brake over, approach and departure angles. What gets you ground clearance is wheel size, as the limiting factor in ground clearance is the axle tube / diff bowl. If this is genuinely a money no object build, look at portal axles. There is a company in Germany, https://www.tibus-offroad.com/en/testproduktseite
1200px-NormalVsPortalAxle.svg.png

A set of portal axles from say a unimog, simca sumb, pinzgauer etc will A: be stronger than any upgraded LR axle, B: most likely include lockable diffs, and more importantly C: give you genuine ground clearance improvement.


Off-road, your suspension doesn't need to be high, it needs to be flexible, and able to move the wheels up and down large distances. So you either want crazy long travel suspension with "spring dislocation" parts, or crazy long travel springs/shocks. There was a company called X-Eng - nothing to do with Elon Musks social media site - who made a product called X-Spring, which was a secondary spring that went inside the main springs to keep pressure on the wheels that are in full droop. These products are now sold by Foundry4x4 - google them. A lot of information can be gleaned by looking at the instructions: https://foundry4x4.co.uk/pdf/X Eng at Foundry 4x4 X-Spring Instructions.pdf

A better solution is to use gas shocks, such as the Fox Air 2.0", with a long stroke. A good intro to them can be found here:

An alternative is that Gwynn Lewis has a website selling all sorts of articulation kits with spring sliders, dislocation cones etc, mainly for D1/RRC/Defenders, I don't know if they have kits for the D2, but worth a look.
 

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