Disco 1 for long distance & back roads

[roven]

Greetings all..

I have had my Disco1 for a year and a half, have put 16,000 happy miles on it. Never have I owned a vehicle I enjoy more.

I am getting ready to put some additional gear into it.. and want to make some smart buys along the way. I just had an expedition rack built, and mounted a hi lift jack this evening. I intend very shortly to get a kayak (for fishing), and have a transport cradle attached to the rack.

I don't intend to do serious off roading, but I want to be prepared for dirt & back roads, and most contingencies off pavement.

I figure my next purchases, by prioity, are:

rock sliders (mainly for jackable sills)
brush & winch bumper
skid plate
winch
lights on expedition rack
????

any help or suggestions anyone can give me is much appreciated

R

 

[gjackson]

Welcome and very nice choice of truck. There is plenty of experience here to help you out. You might peruse over some of the Disco build threads to get some ideas.

cheers

 

[Scott Brady]

Wonderful truck.

Given your goals, the Discovery needs almost nothing. I would recommend focusing on support equipment first, like recovery gear (including shovel), a winch kit for that new HiLift, tools and spares, etc. The sill guards are a good idea overall.

Like Wranglers and Land Cruisers, the Discovery comes from the factory with nearly everything you need for serious exploration and travel. Only when your goals shift to the recreational challenges do they need heavy modification.

Enjoy it!

 

[AxeAngel]

For your goals, it should be more than adequate in stock trim. Perhaps make tires your next mod then potentially a lift.

-Sam

Edit: Scott beat me to it

 

[fishEH]

For your goals, it should be more than adequate in stock trim. Perhaps make tires your next mod then potentially a lift.

-Sam

Edit: Scott beat me to it

Ditto, especially if you are going to add that armor. I think it would be asing a lot of the tired stock suspension, assuming its not already lifted.

 

[REDROVER]

tires and suspension must come first if you gonna use her on dirt roads like that, almost always we have tire problems when we go to trips with California land rover club,
get a good offroad tires and lift, and your D1 will take u everywhere.

Eric

 

[Deleted member 9101]

If it was me, I would get a good shovel with a long handle, ax, come-a-long, two tow ropes and a tow chain. If you are not doing any serious off roading then a winch and after market bumper are extra money and weight that could go towards fuel, beer, and more camping gear.

 

[Storz]

Welcome to ExPo, I really don't have anything to add that hasn't been said already. The Disco is an incredibly capable truck in stock form!

 

[achampagne]

Maybe you could add a rear ladder to make the your rack easier to access.

 

[Rovertrader]

spare ECU and coil pack( I think you said '96??), serp belt, fuel filter, fuel pump, decent set of tools, shop manual, install all these new yourself and keep takeoffs for spares; then tires/lift together to avoid buying wrong size tires- focus on triple sidewall like BFGs or XZLs.

Welcome aboard- great truck that can last forever!!

 

[Antichrist]

Whether a lift or not is up to you (wouldn't go over 2" though) but definitely new springs if you're going to be carrying gear on your rack, which I assume you are.

 

[Mike_rupp]

Get a front diff guard. The diff housing is very thin and vulnerable.

 

[Cleand]

For the type of trail you are going to be driving not much is needed. I would say a set of springs and shocks to help with the load of gear and winch. Terra firma or old man emu can be supplied by british pacific, they are in California. I understand the winch if you are heading out by yourself, but mounting it isnt going to be cheap, I would look for a used arb bumper. Last but not least a good set of all terrains. With the dirt roads all the skids and guards are bit of over kill, unless you start to go on rougher terrain.

 

[roven]

thanks for input.... I will definately look at new coils / lift.. I would like to go 2" but have heard the higher I go the more wind resistance & lower fuel efficiency... so there's a tradeoff here.

Also, the least expensive rock sliders seems to be Bottorf Fab ($415.00 no nerfs) .. I was hoping to get sliders done locally but they say it's really difficult to do... so I guess I will have to bite the bullet here... are rovertym sliders really worth the extra $$ or is that for extreme off road?

thanks again everyone..