More Disco II questions...

[redthies]

So, I have found a super clean 02 and am wondering a few things... It is not the full load, so no sunroofs, which I hear tend to leak... And no rear seats which I would just rip out a way. Also no air suspension. All good so far right? My question now runs to lifts. At what point do you need to start putting in new drive shafts? I have seen 3" kits that say you need new shafts... Can you do 2" and 255 85 16s without the d/s shuffle? Which is the best quality kit? I like ome kits but want more than 1.5 inches. Any input?

 

[jham]

www.rovertym.com

they make a great kit and are a great company to buy from. They guys there know their stuff.

Order their 2" kit with longer shocks. Extend your abs lines.

 

[Art Vandalay]

I'll second the Rovertym suggestion. I'll also put in a plug for Bilstein 7100 remote reservoir shocks. A bit spendy, perhaps, but my Rover with a 3" Rovertym lift is the smoothest riding lifted vehicle I've ever been in, and the springs seem to carry weight very well, i.e., no sag.

As for driveshafts, I'm still running my stock rear with 3" lift. So far so good. I inspect my rotoflex regularly and carry a spare, so if it does fail it's not going to be the end of the world.

The front shaft, on the other hand, probably should be changed. The stock shaft is non-greasable and right next to the catalytic converter. I've heard stories of the stock shaft breaking on even unlifted vehicles, and the front one breaking stands a good chance of doing transmission damage. It was enough to persuade me to upgrade. Both Great Basin Rovers and Tom Woods are good choices. The roughly $400 is well worth it, imho.

 

[UK4X4]

I put the rovertyme on mine too 3" heavy duty, adjustable ranchos....standard drive shafts

I did however rebuild the front drive shaft with greasable UJ's, which is only about $ 100 and 2 hrs work with a vice and hammer and punches

rear as per above I always carried a spare rotoflex- done

Going HD gave about 3.45" of lift and meant the front had a loose feeling
but nothing that ever bothered me

 

[michaels]

The front shaft, on the other hand, probably should be changed. The stock shaft is non-greasable and right next to the catalytic converter. I've heard stories of the stock shaft breaking on even unlifted vehicles, and the front one breaking stands a good chance of doing transmission damage. It was enough to persuade me to upgrade. Both Great Basin Rovers and Tom Woods are good choices. The roughly $400 is well worth it, imho.

the shaft itself is perfectly fine. however, the u joints definitely need be changed to greaseable units. any local driveline shop can handle it just fine.

 

[MuddyOval]

I run a 3" Big Blue lift on mine with extended travel shocks, ride like a cadillac and flexes like crazy. Very happy with it, but if you plan to tow or carry an immense amount of stuff on a roof rack you'll want heavier spring rates.
Whichever brand you go with- put a lot of thought into spring rates. Some ride like a farm truck when unladen, others aren't designed to take a lot of weight- you need to give some thought to how you'll use it.
No reason for aftermarket drive shafts at all, just put high end u-joints in the stock drive shafts. If you can get a drive shaft from an 03-04 from a junkyard, rebuild and install it and keep your stock one for a spare. The 03/04front driveshafts are a wee bit longer. There's also a Dodge Durango driveshaft that fits (which is what some 'specialty' Rover shafts really are).

 

[redthies]

So I let slip to the wife that the DII doesn't have the sun roofs and now I may have to look further as she will drive it for awhile before it is mine alone. Can you get the sunroof without rear seating or air-ride? I just want to know when it is worth putting my foot down... might want to save the ammo for some "necessary" mods! I am also considering 80 series Toyotas... Anyone have an unbiased opinion on those? I have owned a lot of Cruisers and know they are reliable, but I haven't driven an 80, and only driven a DII twice. My gut feel is that they will be similar driving, but that the Toyota will be cheaper to maintain. Thoughts???

 

[MuddyOval]

yes, it's possible to get a sunroof option without the 7 seat option or air ride.
I've had two DII's with sunroofs and without the 7 seat option and one without air. Not ALL 7 seaters have air suspension though, contrary to popular belief.
I can't comment on comparison against the Toyota, other than once we went Land Rover- that's all our family drives. I just bought our fifth Disco II last weekend. We have two of them just because they have an interesting history- one was literally driven around the world, the other was a training vehicle for Land Rover and had 50K off-road miles and estimated 1500 drivers.
:Wow1: None of my DII's have had serious issues, but I maintain them like aircraft.

 

[redthies]

I plan to have time and a shop to maintain things as I would like to soon, but for now I just dream (when I have time to dream!). Oh, wait, if I got off this computer I might have time...:sombrero:

 

[michaels]

i have a seven seater coils all around, two sunroofs, and no rear air. many people don't believe the seats were added factory because of the coils, and no rear air. i ripped the seats out anyways.

 

[redthies]

Yeah, the one I like has the factory storage bins which makes more sense to me as I will never need to put seven people in a car, but man do I seem to carry a bunch of stuff with me! My wife likes a sunroof though, so maybe she will just have to get her own!

 

[MuddyOval]

I think the majority of S model DII's had the sunroof option added by the dealers when they were ordered for stock. It's fairly rare to see one without the sunroof. Considering the failure rate of the sunroof mechanism, it's not necessarily a bad thing to have a solid roof.

 

[redthies]

. Considering the failure rate of the sunroof mechanism, it's not necessarily a bad thing to have a solid roof.

I couldn't agree more!

 

[R_Lefebvre]

I 3rd that. If I were shopping again, the solid roof would be a plus for me. The sunroofs are nice, but not worth it. They're noisy when open, don't even open all the way anyway, they leak, etc. etc..

 

[michaels]

i haven't had a problem with my sunroofs...(knock on wood)