So today I had the chance to fit my DIY diff lock lever (and Southdown snorkel ) and do a quick spin in mud.
Much better performance when the diff was locked and the TC deactivated. And not having the annoying buzzing from the TC was also a welcomed bonus.

In case anyone is interested here is a brief description of my DIY lever. A threaded rod was welded on the "pin" on top of the diff. Then 2 nuts were locked together on the top part of the rod. A small hole was opened on the centre console next to the gear lever right on top of the diff. Through the hole a 200mm 1/4in extention was connected to a socket attached to the nuts. Now I can lock the diff just by turning the lever in the cabin. See pics because my description is really crude.

1st pic is the extension without the lever when not off-roading
2nd pic is with the lever attached
3rd pic is the extension/socket/nuts /rod assembly
 

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Something like this is fitted on mine too :cool: , i had to remove it after the first attempt and fit a rubber grommet in the console cos the extension made noise as it vibrated there on road but now it's OK
 
sierrafery said:
Something like this is fitted on mine too :cool: , i had to remove it after the first attempt and fit a rubber grommet in the console cos the extension made noise as it vibrated there on road but now it's OK
Click to expand...
This does look like one of the simplest conversions I have ever seen for this, but yes the rubber grommet did seem a bit of a necessity. Well done to both of you,:):):) it makes me keener to see if my 2000 D1 will have the necessary to make it possible for me to copy this idea!:):):)
 
sierrafery said:
Something like this is fitted on mine too :cool: , i had to remove it after the first attempt and fit a rubber grommet in the console cos the extension made noise as it vibrated there on road but now it's OK
Click to expand...

I made a couple of shims made of bicycle tubes for the extension. I didn't get rattling but I had wind noise coming from the hole. At first I thought it was the snorkel causing all that wind noise but luckily it wasn't that. I will probably squeeze a piece of sponge in there to tighten the fit and for insulation.
 
sierrafery said:
I presume you mean 2000 D2 and if it's fitted with the original transfer box it should definitely have the spigot
Click to expand...
What a plonker i am, of course I meant D2!:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
And as you say, I am hopeful about the spigot.:):)
It's all going to have to come off soonish to repair the stupid ATF leak, so I may do it then. Not that I go off-road much nowadays.
But I do find the diff-lock on my D1 is gentler than waiting for the TC to come in on the D2. :):)
 
And to think when looking I didn't realise there was a non CDL version, most late ones are factory fitted CDL
 
MJI said:
And to think when looking I didn't realise there was a non CDL version, most late ones are factory fitted CDL
Click to expand...
I'll be corrected if I am wrong but I think the first D2s had CDL in the box but not in the cab as they thought it would be useful to mechanics to be able to lock it up while working on the vehicles, as they could get under the car and lock it from there, or maybe LR just left it in the boxes "just in case", then I think they took it out of the box as the perceived need wasn't there, then peeps started saying they wanted it, so it could be specified as an option! So I don't know if MOST ones are factory fitted. but then I am not a D2 historian! But what I have read says that only the MY2004s have it fitted and actionable from the cab as standard.
 
Having good tyres are one of the most important (my experience today). I have well working TC and CDL installed but only road tyres (General grabber at2) and today I had to be recovered by a tractor while as was only going for fishing (to a place where normally normal cars can go in). I have parked next to the road on a grassy surface which had a slight slope towards the lake and as we have rain for some days the surface was very slippery so when I wanted to go back to the road I was just slipping sideways and finally get stacked and could not move:-(
I have tried every combination TC only, then CDL+TC, low gears, high gears but I had no traction at all.
As I have spare set of 16" wheels I will invest to a set of MT tyres and use them at least in winter time.
 
berg450 said:
Having good tyres are one of the most important (my experience today). I have well working TC and CDL installed but only road tyres (General grabber at2) and today I had to be recovered by a tractor while as was only going for fishing (to a place where normally normal cars can go in). I have parked next to the road on a grassy surface which had a slight slope towards the lake and as we have rain for some days the surface was very slippery so when I wanted to go back to the road I was just slipping sideways and finally get stacked and could not move:-(
I have tried every combination TC only, then CDL+TC, low gears, high gears but I had no traction at all.
As I have spare set of 16" wheels I will invest to a set of MT tyres and use them at least in winter time.
Click to expand...
Thought AT2 meant "all terrains" so not just road tyres. as per this https://www.blackcircles.com/tyres/...MIsNivx7Ti7QIVW-3tCh0gTQgjEAAYASAAEgJC9PD_BwE
Wonder if you tried airing-down or did you find yourself so bogged it might not have made any difference?
It can happen to any of us if things just don't go right.
Altho I have driven green lanes in winter in both France and in the Dales, snow and all, and never got stuck, the two times I have got stuck I was either in front of my mates house, on his wet grass or near a path outside the back of my own house. dead flat but very wet grass. both times with all terrains on (Goodrich I think, but the first time may have been before I put the GG at2s on my Disco 1)
So don't think you need to change the tyres. ;)
Unless the tread is very low.
 
I know that hungarian mud which is like a mix of dirt, grease, soap and glue, not even MT would get you out of that once the chassis is grounded and tyres filled, happened to me with BFG MTs too not once between the rice fields, no need to invest in fancy MT tyres, all you need is this https://www.tracgrabber.eu/collecti...d-suvs-more-than-2-tonnes?variant=38117189324 the pack with 4 included, it's the price of 2 MT tyres, never failed me on AT tyres since, i even got out from where a friend with Defender and Simex extreme tyres got stuck, CDL and these on all 4 wheels are unbeatable believe me. I have winch too but never needed it since i have these. Search for more videos cos there are many, here's a relevant one with AT tyres and a guy hwo has no ideea how to drive in mud, i've never needed so much attempts :cool: , a power wash on them after and that's all

 
Last edited:
sierrafery said:
I know that hungarian mud which is like a mix of dirt, grease, soap and glue, not even MT would get you out of that once the chassis is grounded and tyres filled, happened to me with BFG MTs too not once between the rice fields, no need to invest in fancy MT tyres, all you need is this https://www.tracgrabber.eu/collecti...d-suvs-more-than-2-tonnes?variant=38117189324 the pack with 4 included, it's the price of 2 MT tyres, never failed me on AT tyres since, i even got out from where a friend with Defender and Simex exreme tyres got stuck, CDL and these on all 4 wheels are unbeatable believe me. I have winch too but never needed it since i have these. Search for more videos cos there are many, here's a relevant one with AT tyres and a guy hwo has no ideea how to drive in mud, i've never needed so much attempts :cool:

Click to expand...


No sign of them even trying to drive forward and reverse before they turned up.....seems a bit odd.

Cheers
 
When you get grounded from the beginning in such mud you are stuck and that's it, all you do is to get deeper nothing else, i was in such situations not once
 
sierrafery said:
I know that hungarian mud which is like a mix of dirt, grease, soap and glue, not even MT would get you out of that once the chassis is grounded and tyres filled, happened to me with BFG MTs too not once between the rice fields, no need to invest in fancy MT tyres, all you need is this https://www.tracgrabber.eu/collecti...d-suvs-more-than-2-tonnes?variant=38117189324 the pack with 4 included, it's the price of 2 MT tyres, never failed me on AT tyres since, i even got out from where a friend with Defender and Simex exreme tyres got stuck, CDL and these on all 4 wheels are unbeatable believe me. I have winch too but never needed it since i have these. Search for more videos cos there are many, here's a relevant one with AT tyres and a guy hwo has no ideea how to drive in mud, i've never needed so much attempts :cool: , a power wash on them after and that's all

Click to expand...

sierrafery said:
I know that hungarian mud which is like a mix of dirt, grease, soap and glue, not even MT would get you out of that once the chassis is grounded and tyres filled, happened to me with BFG MTs too not once between the rice fields, no need to invest in fancy MT tyres, all you need is this https://www.tracgrabber.eu/collecti...d-suvs-more-than-2-tonnes?variant=38117189324 the pack with 4 included, it's the price of 2 MT tyres, never failed me on AT tyres since, i even got out from where a friend with Defender and Simex exreme tyres got stuck, CDL and these on all 4 wheels are unbeatable believe me. I have winch too but never needed it since i have these. Search for more videos cos there are many, here's a relevant one with AT tyres and a guy hwo has no ideea how to drive in mud, i've never needed so much attempts :cool: , a power wash on them after and that's all

Click to expand...

This is why peeps need to go and get some instruction in proper off road driving techniques.
Or even just a bunch of friends some of whom at least have experience. I learned on a steep, very muddy, hilly patch of ground, mix of forest and quarry, with peeps like that in a mates ex-gas board V8 one ten. No chains, nowt. It would go up the steep muddy hills you could not even stand up on. Too often the more you apply power, the deeper you dig yourself in.
Those track grabbers remind me of the old technique of tying bits of rope around the tyre, impossible nowadays with disc brakes, prolly. .
 
sierrafery said:
You can improvise with pieces of wood too as long as you go straight ahead :)

Click to expand...

Very similar idea to the long pieces of timber, possibly railway sleepers that they used to attach to the tracks of WW1 tanks. They just went all the way around the tank, must have been fun to watch!
 
Thanks for the idea Fery! It might helped me out from that situation. Regarding on the mud, you are right, we have very bad kind of soil here. It is not deep but has very slippery surface, like ice, so the car goes sideways even you drive in low gear.
The funny is that I also has winch but in my garage as I have removed it due to regulations in hungary (I had MOT this summer and with the winch on it is not possible to pass :mad:). Yesterday I could use it as the forest was 5m away....
 
berg450 said:
Thanks for the idea Fery! It might helped me out from that situation. Regarding on the mud, you are right, we have very bad kind of soil here. It is not deep but has very slippery surface, like ice, so the car goes sideways even you drive in low gear.
The funny is that I also has winch but in my garage as I have removed it due to regulations in hungary (I had MOT this summer and with the winch on it is not possible to pass :mad:). Yesterday I could use it as the forest was 5m away....
Click to expand...
In the UK peeps tend to change things to "legal" just before the MOT then put them back on after it passes.
I would not advocate this, especially for worn tyres etc, (though I have heard of even this going on, in Liverpool)!
But then we don't have so many rules against modifications and winches bumpers and winches are OK, unless they have sharp edges on.
 
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