D1 rescue for my daughter

[James86004]

We recently bought a 1995 Discovery 1 with an almost perfect exterior and a nice interior for much less than half the price of an iPhone. It drives really nice, but had a blown head gasket. Following the tradition of Land Rover turning owners in the mechanics since 1948, and since I had just started a new job and had little free time, my wife and daughter learned how to fix the blown gaskets, including replacing broken fuel injection connectors. It runs real well now.

Now it is time for tires. It is totally stock, and has some nice BFG Long Trails, but they are 9 years old and my wife is not too excited about our daughter driving on them.

We have a set of BFG ATs that are almost new, but they are 235/85R16s. I know they won't fit on a RRC without a lift, but the D1 has bigger wheel wells. Does anyone know if they will fit with a stock suspension?

 

[John R]

We recently bought a 1995 Discovery 1 with an almost perfect exterior and a nice interior for much less than half the price of an iPhone. It drives really nice, but had a blown head gasket. Following the tradition of Land Rover turning owners in the mechanics since 1948, and since I had just started a new job and had little free time, my wife and daughter learned how to fix the blown gaskets, including replacing broken fuel injection connectors. It runs real well now.

Now it is time for tires. It is totally stock, and has some nice BFG Long Trails, but they are 9 years old and my wife is not too excited about our daughter driving on them.

We have a set of BFG ATs that are almost new, but they are 235/85R16s. I know they won't fit on a RRC without a lift, but the D1 has bigger wheel wells. Does anyone know if they will fit with a stock suspension?

View attachment 507918

Not sure about a d1, but a d2 with a bull bar will take 265 75 16 tyres. I’ve got 265 70 16 with a bull bar with no issues

 

[LR Max]

No they won't fit. Well I mean, they will but its gonna be rubbing and making all kinds of fun noise as they self clearance...or chew themselves up. Whichever comes first. Also considering its probably the original suspension, its probably sagging, making it worse.

Get a nice OME Medium duty (NOT heavy duty!!) and it'll pair well with the 235s. This will give it a nice look and be fun.

Or keep it stock and just get a set of nice stock street tires. Because its probably just driving on the road, right?

 

[James86004]

Okay, thanks. She will just have to put in some more hours to pay for new tires or a mild lift, then.

Does she need to do the Rotoflex to u-joint conversion if she does the lift?

 

[_ExpeditionMan]

I have 235/85r16 K02s on my D1 with a 2" lift and it'll still rub at full lock and full compression in the rear. No way it will fit stock/on old worn coils. I also did the rotoflex to u-joint conversion, no noticeable improvements in driveline vibrations. Having been through the swap I would recommend just replacing the existing rotoflex with a new one. Having to re-torque the pinion bearing in order to do the flange swap was a pain and can be screwed up easily.

 

[LR Max]

Rotoflex is fine. But you might want to replace it with a new rotoflex. Because 20 years old.

 

[John R]

Really? 265 70 16 wont fit? I didn’t know that. Are D2 and D1 front wheel areas different? (Not criticising I really didn’t know. I assumed they were the same).

I’ve got OME mediums on the front of mine, it rides and handles nicely.

 

[evilfij]

If you want to save money, you can do the cheap bastard lift (I came up with this circa 2001) take the rear springs and put them in the front, put OME MD in the back, trim the very corner of the rear fender or space it out (this is required for 235 85 R16 regardless of lift) and turn out the steering stops to prevent radius arm rubbing (may not be required). A set of used OME rear springs can be had inexpensively.

 

[James86004]

She decided she wants a lift so that is what we will do. At least the tires will be interchangeable with those on her Mom's RRC.

We found the ATF in it was black, so we drained and refilled it and took it for a drive. It was then a really dark red so we are draining it and swapping the filter. I always hate that job. We already broke one of the exhaust manifold studs

 

[luckyjoe]

Hey Ron - good to see you’re still LR’ing! CB was the lift back in the day!

James86004 - keep changing fluid, get a higher percentage bad fluid out. Also consider new trans cooler lines, yours are probably end-of-life (fire hazard) and this helps get a higher percentage of bad trans fluid out.

 

[James86004]

Yes, transmission cooler lines are in the future. I wish they weren't one-piece, the upper connection on the transmission looks horrible to replace. I may cut the tube down lower and flare it for AN fittings.

We got the filter replaced. Allways an adventure, but at least it is good Daddy-Daughter time.

 

[James86004]

Flushed the lines, installed the lift, installed the 235/85-16 tires with 1/2 tread life we had lying around, and took it for a couple of test drives. Today we drove down to the grasslands south of Sonoita on the Mexican border - it performed flawlessly. Well, except the driver's exterior door handle broke off, but otherwise it was great.

 

[TexasTJ]

Beautiful. The series 1Discovery was the pinnacle of Land Rover.

 

[Arjan]

Very nice vehicle !

Hope your daughter likes it...

 

[Ray_G]

Beautiful truck-save the D1s!