NEWBIE...... Advice much appreciated

Hi All.
Have just bought my first Landy!!.... a '93 3.5 V8iS +LPG. I did plenty of research beforehand and think I got a good one, 130k (think its genuine), drives beautifully, but I have some questions:

I have strips of thick rubber, cable tied around the coil springs? .... should they be there? Can I I take them off? Why would I want to?

I also cannot engage diff lock.... Hi & Lo work fine, but lever won't move left. I presume I have a diff lock in this beast? Any tips for what could be wrong?

Finally (for the mo!) I have heard it said that the best thing you can do for an older Disco is fit gas shocks, new springs etc. Does anybody have any experience on which shocks/springs etc are proven to work well please? Any further tips would be great also.

I will be doing mostly road work, with the occassional foray onto mild off road, nothing extreme (yet!).

Many Thanks in Anticipation

PS how do you fix chequer plate?....... is it stuck on with silicone or similar, or just screwed into the panels?

Pop rivets are good?

Give it a 2 inch lift,paddock spares advertise in all landrover magazines,brittpart yellow springs pro comp gas shocks,rear dislocation cones and extended hoses £350 and a weekends work what a differance.

been told the rear springs are tricky because the axle tends to want to drop onto the road if you dont do it right ? any advice on how to actually tackle getting the old kit off?

"I have strips of thick rubber, cable tied around the coil springs? .... should they be there? Can I I take them off? Why would I want to?"

They could have been added to stop the springs bottoming out. Some caravaners do this as the norm. Yours may have towed a heavy trailer.

"I also cannot engage diff lock.... Hi & Lo work fine, but lever won't move left. I presume I have a diff lock in this beast? Any tips for what could be wrong? "

My Disco II has the Hi/Lo legend sticker showing diff lock, but no diff lock fitted! It was an option on some vehicles. On "ingition on" do you have the diff lock light on the instrument display. If not, you prob don't have it as a feature.

"Finally (for the mo!) I have heard it said that the best thing you can do for an older Disco is fit gas shocks, new springs etc. Does anybody have any experience on which shocks/springs etc are proven to work well please"

Depends if you are getting a bad rolly ride and if you really want to spend cash for an upgrade. I had a 90 which I upgraded and felt no real difference.


"PS how do you fix chequer plate?....... is it stuck on with silicone or similar, or just screwed into the panels?"

Some are stuck badly and badly screwed, most are pop rivoted well.

Cheers

dunno what the rubber is all about i dont have any on mine praps an off rd mod? frozen diff lock is usually caused by lack of use..wd40 it & use it! mucky`un

I changed the standard suspension on my 98 300tdi ES. Now running with De-carbon shocks and steering damper, uprated front springs and heavy duty rears.

Road handling is a lot better would definately recommend this as a potential upgrade.

Mark

Your diff lock is stuck. Take this as a good sign 'cos it means the vehicle has never been used for any offroad work. What you need to do is get the front end of the vehicle up on ramps and get right in underneath the boxes with a can of wd40. Get the missus or a mate to sit in the drivers seat and keep shoving the transfer lever forwards and back so that you can identify the linkages on the transfer box. Then spray the living be-jesus out of those linkages with the wd40!!! Take a good torch under with you 'cos they're well hidden out of the way. Once they are thouroughly soaked just keep shifting the transfer lever about, occassionally trying to engage the diff lock. As the wd40 penetrates the linkages you should find that your diff lock starts to engage. If this doesn't do the job send me a pm and I'll mail you some more comprehensive instructions on how to get at the linkages from inside the cab.

Just reading your thread as I cannot select diff lock either. I presumed it was stuck and needed WD40'ing. Now I am worried, is it true I might have bought a disco with no diff lock????!!!!

Its possible, if you have an SII Disco.

OK spot the thicko! What do you mean by SII. 1996 300tdi?? Please help before I waste a lot of time for no reason at all?