Disco1BFG · Dec 25, 2016

Its only my opinion, but i wouldn't fit a lift to your D1, let alone such an extreme one. It appears you'll be lifting it 4 inches - and to tow with this, you'll need a removable tow bar ( else it becomes a boat anchor ).

I fail to see how such a vehicle will be practical as a tow car for a caravan - and I also fail to see how it will be reliable enough to be same, with such extreme mods. (I.E. extreme off roading will take a toll on half shafts / UJ's and such - and towing with a broken half shaft is unlikely to end well, IMHO - YMMV )

BoabCarney · Dec 25, 2016

Disco1BFG said:
Its only my opinion, but i wouldn't fit a lift to your D1, let alone such an extreme one. It appears you'll be lifting it 4 inches - and to tow with this, you'll need a removable tow bar ( else it becomes a boat anchor ).

I fail to see how such a vehicle will be practical as a tow car for a caravan - and I also fail to see how it will be reliable enough to be same, with such extreme mods. (I.E. extreme off roading will take a toll on half shafts / UJ's and such - and towing with a broken half shaft is unlikely to end well, IMHO - YMMV )

That's some good points your making

I have already bought a removable drop hitch that takes care of the lift

Also I was totally unclear on why i was using my intended setup
The 2" lift blocks are well removable with not much work so if I find the 4" lift to be to tall I can take them out

And as for reliability well that's just laughable in my opinion

Yes using my jeeep off road is going to reduce the reliability of its driveline but that's all down to maintenance at the end of the day
It's all being replaced from the word go before it even sees the mot ramp for starters and what ever can be upgraded to HD stuff is as its cheap as chips

The 300tdi is a very reliable lump of looked after properly it my be my first ownership of one but it's not my first rodeo I have looked after them for many years

I am used to running very expensive German cars and not shy of maintenance costs v12 bmw main dealer service I could of bought a 2004 disco in good nick !!

It's like everything else if you don't look after it how can you expect it to look after you ? My mate has used his disco all over Europe towing a very heavy American caravan and with it being slightly modified engine and for off road (not lifted) but running air lockers front and rear he has never had it fail to an extent it couldn't be repaired at the roadside with the basic tools every LR owner should be carrying anyway

Thanks for your concern tho
I don't plan on the landy beinng the most reliable bit of kit I have ever owned but it's definitely not the most unreliable thats for sure

Have a nice Christmas

blue beasty · Dec 25, 2016

BoabCarney said:
That's some good points your making

I have already bought a removable drop hitch that takes care of the lift

Also I was totally unclear on why i was using my intended setup
The 2" lift blocks are well removable with not much work so if I find the 4" lift to be to tall I can take them out

And as for reliability well that's just laughable in my opinion

Yes using my jeeep off road is going to reduce the reliability of its driveline but that's all down to maintenance at the end of the day
It's all being replaced from the word go before it even sees the mot ramp for starters and what ever can be upgraded to HD stuff is as its cheap as chips

The 300tdi is a very reliable lump of looked after properly it my be my first ownership of one but it's not my first rodeo I have looked after them for many years

I am used to running very expensive German cars and not shy of maintenance costs v12 bmw main dealer service I could of bought a 2004 disco in good nick !!

It's like everything else if you don't look after it how can you expect it to look after you ? My mate has used his disco all over Europe towing a very heavy American caravan and with it being slightly modified engine and for off road (not lifted) but running air lockers front and rear he has never had it fail to an extent it couldn't be repaired at the roadside with the basic tools every LR owner should be carrying anyway

Thanks for your concern tho
I don't plan on the landy beinng the most reliable bit of kit I have ever owned but it's definitely not the most unreliable thats for sure

Have a nice Christmas

I think you may have misunderstood, the whole set up IS a very reliable all round workhorse. The more you mod to improve one aspect of it's abilities the more you compromise others.

Lifting has some advantages off-road but you change the geometry, increasing prop angles, lifting the centre of gravity, changing the road handling. You can chase around after trying to correct and improve with a fair amount of success but it's all a compromise and everything is exaggerated by towing.

There's a reason specialist off roaders and tow vehicles look different and LR came up with a pretty good all rounder. Changing significantly from that needs careful consideration imo

Disco1BFG · Dec 25, 2016

blue beasty said:
I think you may have misunderstood, the whole set up IS a very reliable all round workhorse. The more you mod to improve one aspect of it's abilities the more you compromise others.

Lifting has some advantages off-road but you change the geometry, increasing prop angles, lifting the centre of gravity, changing the road handling. You can chase around after trying to correct and improve with a fair amount of success but it's all a compromise and everything is exaggerated by towing.

There's a reason specialist off roaders and tow vehicles look different and LR came up with a pretty good all rounder. Changing significantly from that needs careful consideration imo

Fully agree with ^.

OP:- Prop angles were my main concern from a reliability point of view, but with a large lift you'll need castor correction, and if you're going to take anti roll bars off ( You've not mentioned this, but... ), the handling of the brick that is a D1 is going to get worse, possibly a lot worse.

Your mate's setup sounds a much better option to me - no lift and locking diffs would be my preference for serious off road use - and with decent tyres would probably do everything asked of it IMHO.

Serious question - have you ever driven a D1 with a 4 inch lift ? ..... Sadly, I have, and the thought of towing a caravan with that vehicle, and trying to swerve out of the way of some **** on the M-way, whilst towing a caravan is not something I care to entertain.

The other point I'd make, is that (notifiably) modified vehicles can be awkward to insure - and i say this as the owner of 2 modified D1's. I suspect that, with the further de-skilling of the modern world, this is only going to get worse.... I'd advise getting quotes now for the vehicle in the form you "want" it.

BoabCarney · Dec 25, 2016

I have towed with a lifted truck before and its pretty stable not a d1 by anymeans
that was not my question my question was has anyone had trouble with their disco being refused into campsites etc
and has anyone towed with a lifted disco

when I worked in kuwait I had an old beat up ram 2500 that was on 5" lift blocks and nothing else no supporting mods nothing it arrived from the states that way and i would drag about 3/5 tonnes daily inside a 20ft shipping container converted to a trailer by the local Pakistani scrap man un braked to add to the point on a nato droped hitch It wasnt a polished turd but a complete turd towed it all day no drama high winds sand storms etc

this isnt a full time tow car it will be used to take the caravan to landrover shows etc the mrs car is being replaced with a newer landrover sometime this year and that will pull the family holiday train but on the odd occasion that a show is close by to where i chose to go (wink wink) i would drag the van with the disco

the lifted part is mostly all looks and stance etc as i could do all the offloading needed of her on standard suspension etc

i want to run wide tyres and taller tyres so if i dont lift it it will destroy the body
it will be my daily so will be very well looked after

as for insurance i am a mechanic to trade and it will be added to my trade policy with all intended mods added and agreed value
i have had turbo bmws running near 800hp on it many jap imports running silly mods and even a street legalish drift car added not a problem

Saltlick · Dec 28, 2016

@BoabCarney , after reading your thread through the other day I've been trying to find it again for bloody ages to ask how the projectors look if you've refitted them?!
I'd planned to do the same with mine a year or two back but as ever I've not managed to get around to it yet! Does the patterned glass of the standard LR headlight screw the light pattern from the projector lens much?

Cheers

BoabCarney · Dec 29, 2016

Saltlick said:
@BoabCarney , after reading your thread through the other day I've been trying to find it again for bloody ages to ask how the projectors look if you've refitted them?!
I'd planned to do the same with mine a year or two back but as ever I've not managed to get around to it yet! Does the patterned glass of the standard LR headlight screw the light pattern from the projector lens much?

Cheers

I have refitted them i went out and snapped a couple pics for you and noticed one of my bulbs is off colour slightly lol anyway these haven't been adjusted yet but they give you an idea of beam pattern
DIP beam

Pic of the car

FULL / MAIN beam

This is sitting in the drivers seat with the camera on the steering wheel for reference

cheers

I actually done some more work today just didn't take any pics lol well one

I Welded the drivers side sill all up and started to grind it flat
sill to the door seal lip weld (this stuff is to thin blows threw too easy)

BoabCarney · Dec 29, 2016

wee update on the drivers side nearly done on this side now

ordered the rear arch and will give it a few more coats and weld the gusset on the back that i forgot to go

then on to the passenger side
will get pics of the bottom tomorrow

cheers
boab

David_Cooper · Dec 29, 2016

Nice, welding looks good & strong.

BoabCarney · Dec 29, 2016

David_Cooper said:
Nice, welding looks good & strong.

cheers mate dont know about looking good but it will be strong the cosmetic parts are all done with the Lincoln mig thats running .8mm stainless wire as the big welder just blows the 2mm steel away the sills are 120x60x3mm box with 50x50x3mm welded onto the front to step it out to make a kind of step and to finish it off

will be painted black

Magicgrotto · Dec 29, 2016

Nice job !

Saltlick · Jan 6, 2017

BoabCarney said:
I have refitted them i went out and snapped a couple pics for you and noticed one of my bulbs is off colour slightly lol anyway these haven't been adjusted yet but they give you an idea of beam pattern
DIP beam
View attachment 114087
...
FULL / MAIN beam
View attachment 114085
This is sitting in the drivers seat with the camera on the steering wheel for reference
...

Cheers for that. They don't give a conventional stepped pattern as I was expecting, are they HID lamps without the stepped low beam plate? Or is it just a flat/stepless hi/low beam plate?

An your other post about welding up the sills - nice work and a good idea to replace the plastic trim with steel, but slightly confused about using .8mm stainless wire! Did you mean gasless?!

Cheers

BoabCarney · Jan 6, 2017

Saltlick said:
Cheers for that. They don't give a conventional stepped pattern as I was expecting, are they HID lamps without the stepped low beam plate? Or is it just a flat/stepless hi/low beam plate?

An your other post about welding up the sills - nice work and a good idea to replace the plastic trim with steel, but slightly confused about using .8mm stainless wire! Did you mean gasless?!

Cheers

they do have a stepped divider but the glass seems to obstruct that some

and no the stainless wire is solid you can get gasless stuff and use it with 100% co2 makes a really nice stainless weld
the main reason is I cant really be bothered to change the spool in the lincoln as I mainly use it for stainless

yeah I tend to snap plastic lol but it is adding alot of gravity to the truck lol

on the upside I have painted the drivers side just need to wait on arch but I have now decided the rear quarter panel is coming off also
paint in inner arches is 4-7 coats (i got carried away) zinc direct to metal paint (its meant as a one coat for train roofs I found 25L of it in the boot of my car one day then a bitumen cold tar paint 2 coats then over painted in 2 coats of chlorinated rubber paint

sills are same zinc again several coats this stuff is so full of zinc you can weld threw it even after 4/7 coats then over painted in the black rubber paint
the inner sills will be coated in the bitumen paint as well then over coated in 3m shutz chassis is being done in a fiber reinforced 2 part epoxy black and then shutz any holes will be filled with as much spray wax oil as i can pump into them

So the next dry day thats not below -3 I will be back at her hopefully getting it into a unit so i can work on her in the evenings more

cheers guys hope all had a nice festive period

Saltlick · Jan 7, 2017

BoabCarney said:
View attachment 114678 View attachment 114679 View attachment 114680

they do have a stepped divider but the glass seems to obstruct that some
...

Is that the patterned glass of the LR lens? I've thought about sanding that out and polishing it so it doesn't mess with the projected light pattern.

BoabCarney · Jan 7, 2017

Saltlick said:
Is that the patterned glass of the LR lens? I've thought about sanding that out and polishing it so it doesn't mess with the projected light pattern.

let me know how that goes I have never polished glass before the thought crossed my mind tho
cheers

BoabCarney · Jan 11, 2017

evening guys I have some but little progress weather is against me this week as its 65mph winds and rain snow etc

not good however in the short breaks in the weather I have cracked on regardless

Someone had attempted to repair the inner arch and had not cut out the old rot I wanted to fix this and the best way was unbolting more stuff from the truck

as you can see it was even worse than a thought and had worked its way up the inner panel

some of the worst "repair" work I have seen

So out comes the plasma torch and i chop out anything that looks suspect

then the big grinder with wire wheel (lost my wire wheel for the 4" must get a new one)
followed up with a heavy coat of fertan

I also lopped the arch off as these will be replaced anyway

That is as far as I went I did however start making the replacement panels up out of 2mm steel while I let the fertan soak a day or two

I am going to view a new unit next week that is big enough to fit the disco in and still work on customers cars its also in an industrial estate so I dont have to be closed for 6pm for noise reasons

Its £80pw including the vat for just under 3000sf with two offcies kitchen and ladies/gents (gents has shower)

Will see how it goes

cheers guys

richardm139199 · Jan 11, 2017

love it!! my boots been dont, front arches are ready to be done, drivers foot well looks like yours... soaking wet haha but im loving the work, currently doing oil breather, vacum pump and gasket at the moment

will save me a tank of oil every month haha

BoabCarney · Jan 12, 2017

richardm139199 said:
love it!! my boots been dont, front arches are ready to be done, drivers foot well looks like yours... soaking wet haha but im loving the work, currently doing oil breather, vacum pump and gasket at the moment will save me a tank of oil every month haha

I keep looking at the 300 and the cummins landrover group on facebook lol I dont see the 300 lasting in that huge bay pmsl

cheers I really enjoy fixing things and welding is actually a hobby of mine

you got a thread with project on it ?

cheers again

BoabCarney · Jan 15, 2017

So got my self an hour yesterday to work on the disco

someone asked me a very important question yesterday when will it be done?

I look at it this way its done when its done I enjoy doing it but I only enjoy doing it so long as its not a job.
I do a little here and there every day I try to do at least one thing a day to progress the project along.
It does not matter how small or insignificant it seams its one small step forward. it cold be cleaning something ordering a part painting something aslongs its sometime. if your enjoying it you will do good work
the second you stop enjoying it you start to bodge it and cut corners just to get the job done. soon as I get annoyed or I start to rush things I pack up

anyway work in progress on passengers inner arch