Disco 2 offroad reinforcement - diffs and shafts?

300bhp/ton said:

BTW - remember "green lanes" are roads. By and large you should be able to drive all of them in nothing more than a stock Discovery and a set of AT tyres. If you can't, then you either aren't on a green lane (and probably shouldn't be there), or the lane is in no condition being driven at that time regardless of how capable or not your vehicle is.

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Believe, you need more than a standard disco for some of the lanes in sicily, especially if not doing them in summer

so basically if I have to reinforce it would be best to start with the diffs.... problem is that I am not sure if I am able to peg the diff myself

Brown said:

Yes, I've got Ashcroft limited slips in. I did the axles here https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/axle-refurbishments.272149/ and there's a thread about fitting the centre diff and an overdrive unit, as well as replacing transfer box bearings here: https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/building-the-gearbox-of-my-dreams.293835/
On the whole, I'm pretty pleased with them. Last winter's snow was a real pleasure to drive in, and I simply sailed up hills, past where other vehicles had given up, judging by the tyre marks. Subsequently, I have managed to get the vehicle bogged down on my smallholding (on the thread 'A new project') but it's very heavy going there!

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nice write ups!! thanks for sharing

You don't "need" to peg a diff. It is mostly done for competition from trials events and winch challenges. And I still don't believe a green lane is really going to be comparable.

pegging simply tries to reduce the amount of movement when the diff is shock loaded such as having wheels way in the air spinning quickly and landing hard. Is this something you find happening a lot in your driving?

Something like this with maybe 35-37" tyres.


I'm not saying pegging is a bad idea, it isn't. But D2 axles are arguably the strongest factory "Rover" axle anyway. And for pegging to work, you need to regularly check and adjust it, on a road car you may find this annoying. A stronger diff centre and HD shafts will for most people provide quite a reliable setup. And while Rover axles have a bad rap, many people run completely stock ones for long periods of time with little to no issues. Doing some pretty extreme stuff.

What sort of money are you planning on spending?

HD rear shafts are £315
https://www.ashcroft-transmissions.co.uk/halfshafts/disco-ii-rear-shafts.html

And ATB centres £335

An ATB front and rear with the rear shafts + fitting will massively enhance the ability of the vehicle and the durability. It's still pricey and will likely set you back just over £1000 if you aren't doing the work yourself, but this is what I'd do if I wanted stronger axles and enhanced capability.

The front HD shaft upgrade is £735 as it includes CV's. This is a lot of money, so I'd only look to doing it, if I found I kept breaking front shafts and CV's.

New HD crown wheel and pinion sounds like a great idea, but will add significant cost. And for non competition use I doubt you'd see the benefit. So again, would probably only look to seriously doing this if I fond myself breaking lots of them or required a ratio change.

At the end of the day, it really would be little issue to drop £4k into beefing up the axles if you really wanted too.

An axle swap may prove a cheaper bet if you are comparing to the ultimate setups. But the question to ask is, what do you need, rather than an ultimate setup?

I really struggle to believe you could perform a complete axle swap for less than £1k though.

I am only thinking about pegging as for me it’s only the cost of the kit, £65/ diff.

Will I ever get rough enough? Probably not, but for me a little bit more protection for not much is good.

I feel the same about the shaft change as @300bhp/ton

The problem is we all set off to do something and when looking you think well if I did this and this and this etc etc.
Next thing you know you have spent a big wad of cash on stuff. We all do it, but do you really need it?? Is always difficult to know/evaluate.

J

well this really helped me make up my mind... for me I will go for ATB centers and for extra protection, the heavy duty ring and pinions. i will not go beyond 33" inch wheels so i really do not need the pegging and certainly do not plan on doing any racing with my disco. What i do is a little bit more than your average green laning (I managed to break a few crosses and my mate broke a radius arm on one occasion) but no extreme stuff at all.

I plan on keeping standard shafts for now, and I will upgrade first the front ones when the standard cvs need replacing and the rear ones... well, who knows, when I have the cash lying around

Does make sense to keep non-heavy duty u joints as a sort of planned weakest link?

The heavy duty rings and pinions I've seen tend to have bigger, coarser teeth, so there's a trade off - once these are fitted there'll be more noise and vibration. You've really got to thrash the machine to get the level of breakage that demands you upgrade to pegged diffs and heavy duty CVs. I tend to use the highest gear that will move the car, so as to reduce the likelihood of wheelspin in the first place, and if I find myself going over about 2000 rpm without making any progress that means it's time to back off and try another approach! Gently does it.

Brown said:

The heavy duty rings and pinions I've seen tend to have bigger, coarser teeth, so there's a trade off - once these are fitted there'll be more noise and vibration. You've really got to thrash the machine to get the level of breakage that demands you upgrade to pegged diffs and heavy duty CVs. I tend to use the highest gear that will move the car, so as to reduce the likelihood of wheelspin in the first place, and if I find myself going over about 2000 rpm without making any progress that means it's time to back off and try another approach! Gently does it.

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Thabks for the tips!

I will just add to this, I am a firm believer in a cheap easy fix as the weakest link and I have always recommended Land Rover standard drive members when fitting HD shafts, 1) they are very cheap, 2) they take up next to no space in your recovery/spares box, 3) they can be changed in minutes with a single socket and ratchet and a paper gasket.

Ok, i like this as it follows my thinking of having a planned weakest link that you can easily and cheaply change... but what do you exactly mean by driver members?

mad85 said:

Ok, i like this as it follows my thinking of having a planned weakest link that you can easily and cheaply change... but what do you exactly mean by driver members?

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Also known as a drive flange and the shaft is secured into it with a snap ring/external circlip and some shims.


They quite often rust and fail due to poor servicing and the fact that later Rover axles run greased bearings and there is no oil sloshing around to keep them lubricated.

I think they fail quite rarely. In fact I don’t recall seeing a failed one myself.

300bhp/ton said:

I think they fail quite rarely. In fact I don’t recall seeing a failed one myself.

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i do on defender 110s commonly

am i right in saying that the d2 does not have the described drive flange?

mad85 said:

am i right in saying that the d2 does not have the described drive flange?

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Yes Defender ones are different to D2

so i got a good deal and decided to get a set of Ascroft HD shafts front and rear. Anyone knows if I should also change the wheel hubs or can I use the existing ones?

300bhp/ton said:

I'm not saying pegging is a bad idea, it isn't. But D2 axles are arguably the strongest factory "Rover" axle anyway. And for pegging to work, you need to regularly check and adjust it, on a road car you may find this annoying.

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I'd no idea about this checking requirement - I assume this is as the pad wears, so if it's not getting much abuse then it shouldn't be that frequent?

Reason I ask is I have a pegged case with ashlocker & HD R&P in the rear, tbh probably complete overkill but I'm a daft sod. (PS main reason I went HD R&P was to reinstate bottom end performance due to the larger tyre sizes I'm running)

I also have a 4 pin front, I didn't fit a locker due to the expense and the fact that I'm never really nose down reversing so figure the rear would help in almost all of the scenarios I might encounter.

I never upgraded my shafts.

I have fitted a 200tdi rear prop, and a bailey morris front prop.

LT230 has a forged cross pin.. I might fit an Ashcroft ATB centre yet.

@Bennehboy
So are you saying that you have slightly mismatched diff ratios?

I wouldnt find a 5min job to be a problem.

J

No I've got 3.8's front and back.

3.8s from Ashcroft? Sorry I always thought their HD R&Ps where not original ratio.

J

OK, so slight porky pie, I have a 3.75 from Ashcroft and a 3.8 KAM in the other, close as dammit and the centre diff copes easily with the difference, tbh it's probably equivalent to unmatched tyre pressures.

Standard is 3.54