bankz5152

bankz5152

Well-Known Member
So theres a chance during September me and a couple mates will be building a sort of Desert racer/demolition derby style vehicle. My suggestion was to use a D2, strong and powerful TD5 engine, I know TD5s relatively well and from what I understand pretty similar in many respects to the Defender.

Thing is we have a budget of £7k inc the car so £5k for parts and upgrades. One thing I'm pretty sure we will need is new suspension as all D2s come on air? Which is not ideal for what we want so it must go back to coils, I assume its a simple case of pulling out the air suspension and replacing with coils? No special tools needed? The dash lights do not matter as it will never go near an MOT station or even be on the road.

Secondly with a tight budget in mind what kind of suspension set up would anyone suggest? It will have a lot of weight added in the form of HD bull bars, a full cage, HD sliders, HD steering guard, tank guard and probably a fair bit more. However the interior will be totally stripped and the glass will be replaced with perspex/polycarbonate/removed. Bare in mind cheap as possible but relatively reliable! Can't be buying Fox remote here! Ride isnt so important more the the suspension set up can carry the weight and do its job without failing

Cheers all!
 
Still an option but know very little about 300tdis so not confident in fixing one if it goes wrong! May well go down that route. TD5 just has more power and can mapped to suit exactly what we want
 
All D2's use coil front suspension and only some use air on the rear.

As for suggesting what suspension. What do you actually plan to do with it? You said desert racer. I know the EU likes to classify most of Essex as desert due to its low average rain fall. But there really aren't any proper deserts close by.

Also if it's a "racer" why all the other stuff and why a relatively low powered small displacement diesel?
 
300bhp/ton said:
All D2's use coil front suspension and only some use air on the rear.

As for suggesting what suspension. What do you actually plan to do with it? You said desert racer. I know the EU likes to classify most of Essex as desert due to its low average rain fall. But there really aren't any proper deserts close by.

Also if it's a "racer" why all the other stuff and why a relatively low powered small displacement diesel?
Click to expand...

Africa, can't say much as the minute but more will come in time! Has to be diesel, has to be cheap, has to be able to drive a relative decent speed over sand and other harsh terrain, including obstacles, hill climbs etc... As well as being used as a stock car/banger racer. Got to be easy to fix with cheap parts and something I know how to fix! Disco ticks all those boxes for me

Think Mad Max meets Scrapheap Challenge.
 
Only 7 seat D2's came with air suspension I believe. So get a 5 seater and you'll be fine.
Or better still a commercial.

Don't discount the 300tdi though, proper barn simple mechanicals which much stand up better to the heat of the desert than the complicated electronics of a TD5 engine.
 
Yeah thinking about it more 300 would be better, will just have to learn! Plus the prices are much better, just saw one on ebay properly lifted, good tyres, ashcroft boxes and air lockers for £2k. Thatd be perfect haha

I always thought TD5s did well in the heat!

I was thinking heavy duty suspension from TF or Supergaz, cheap, easy to fit and should handle the terrain and weight well.
 
You don't want heavy duty suspension exactly. You want long travel suspension and shocks that won't overheat. By pass shocks and big bores most likely.

You'll also want plenty of up travel and revised shock mounts.

Have a look at the suspension travel these trucks have.


Obviously such suspension will cost money. But I'd even go for a less powerful engine as a trade for better suspension.
 
Yeah that would be ideal.

What about the TF remote res +2s? Come in at around £400ish for a set of 4

What about springs?

Thing is i am yet to find out exactly what we will be doing, soon as I do itll.be easier to choose!
 
300bhp/ton said:
You don't want heavy duty suspension exactly. You want long travel suspension and shocks that won't overheat. By pass shocks and big bores most likely.

You'll also want plenty of up travel and revised shock mounts.

Have a look at the suspension travel these trucks have.


Obviously such suspension will cost money. But I'd even go for a less powerful engine as a trade for better suspension.
Click to expand...



What do you think about +2 TF Big bores for this kind of thing? Ive got them on my 110 and the work well in the current set up, the more weight that is added the better they ride. Plus at £50 a corner not bad at all!
 
Some 5 doors have rear air, look for a commercial or poverty spec.

Problem is lateones still fetch a lot, and to get CDL you normally get all the other toys as well.

As to engine, for anything fast just stay TD5
 
300bhp/ton said:
All D2's use coil front suspension and only some use air on the rear.

As for suggesting what suspension. What do you actually plan to do with it? You said desert racer. I know the EU likes to classify most of Essex as desert due to its low average rain fall. But there really aren't any proper deserts close by.

Also if it's a "racer" why all the other stuff and why a relatively low powered small displacement diesel?
Click to expand...


Funny but I have driven V8 and TD5 Discoverys and the TD5 are quicker. But TD5s can be easily remapped
 
Thats the thing! 300 is easy to fix and reliable, TD5 is harder to fix but way more power and probably about as reliable. Just if theres a leccy issue...

Plus 300 is half the price of a Td5
 
bankz5152 said:
Thats the thing! 300 is easy to fix and reliable, TD5 is harder to fix but way more power and probably about as reliable. Just if theres a leccy issue...

Plus 300 is half the price of a Td5
Click to expand...

Dang, if only someone else had suggested the 300tdi before.........................:p:p:p:p

Cheers
 
Only thing I would seriously recommend is not getting a D5, as you have alluded to Africa. Apparently the air con is naff..................well , so it is said......:D:D


Hope that helps.

Now tell us what you plans are...............;););)..

Cheers
 
MJI said:
Funny but I have driven V8 and TD5 Discoverys and the TD5 are quicker. But TD5s can be easily remapped
Click to expand...
The V8 must have been broken then. 182bhp+ vs 134'ish is a huge difference.

Have driven many TD5's and 3.9 V8's. The V8's are substantially quicker, even if you are comparing auto V8 to manual Td5. Swap those round though and the V8 is even quicker and a Td5 auto is a bit of a slug.
 
bankz5152 said:
What do you think about +2 TF Big bores for this kind of thing? Ive got them on my 110 and the work well in the current set up, the more weight that is added the better they ride. Plus at £50 a corner not bad at all!
Click to expand...
I haven't use them, so I don't know. I suspect they are not the right thing for off road style racing with huge amounts of suspension movement. Probably fine for UK roads and pay & play sites.

Fox racing offer some nice shocks for off road racing, although there are plenty of others. I'd probably start here and see what you can get for your budget. Might be cheaper to import the shocks from the USA. And then look at fabricating or altering the stock upper shock mounting points on your chooses vehicle to fit the shocks.
 
neilly said:
Only thing I would seriously recommend is not getting a D5, as you have alluded to Africa. Apparently the air con is naff..................well , so it is said......:D:D


Hope that helps.

Now tell us what you plans are...............;););)..

Cheers
Click to expand...
:D:D:D

Ive got the big bores on my 110, they ride well but are quite hard, but still comfortable, when unloaded, fully loaded rides much smoother.


Ahhhh Td5, 300 or now V8! Haha
 
Last edited:
300bhp/ton said:
The V8 must have been broken then. 182bhp+ vs 134'ish is a huge difference.

Have driven many TD5's and 3.9 V8's. The V8's are substantially quicker, even if you are comparing auto V8 to manual Td5. Swap those round though and the V8 is even quicker and a Td5 auto is a bit of a slug.
Click to expand...


How many TD5s are NOT remapped?

0-60 9 seconds timed, TD5 auto

Dynachip
 
MJI said:
How many TD5s are NOT remapped?

0-60 9 seconds timed, TD5 auto

Dynachip
Click to expand...
unsure if mine is remapped I purchased it 2nd hand
I have left D2 v8s behind I also have pulled away from many other V8s and v6 engines this was well before I installed my LPG system

I have also hamered the hell out of my Td5 engine some times consistently well more than 3 hours none stop off road tyres at 8 psi sand dunes ..
while many v8s need to park up open bonnet to cool off from a 20 minute play time on the same sand dunes

the only time my engine lost performance after a play like this was due to fuel tank was getting to hot resulting in the td5 to loose power after 3 hours of play time
turned out to be a thermostat failure in the fuel cooler besides that I give my stock td5 a hard time without any issues

since owning my d2 I have had 2 people run into the back of me no damage whats so ever very strong car
I have also jumped this car twice enough force on landing it pulled out both of my 15 inch subwoofers out of the box no damage to the car

I never got a chance to push my d1 200 to its limits I'm guessing this is also a strong car
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

R
SLS Warning lights after sensor change
Replies
2
Views
575
sierrafery
sierrafery
L
Range rover vogue 2004 4.4 air suspension and hdc inactive
Replies
2
Views
531
Datatek
Datatek
S
Discovery ownership life woes: keep or sell?
Replies
8
Views
541
tyregeezer
tyregeezer
D
Hello there all
Replies
1
Views
396
brianp38dse
brianp38dse
L
Disco 2 brake question
Replies
5
Views
639
landynutterme
L