DiscoClax

My two-bobs worth... I've now done just on 30,000kms on my KL71s (31") and am still most impressed. Fronts starting to show some wear (largely due to dodgy wheel alignment) but have only lost 2-3mm, rears barely worn at all (1-2mm at most). On-road grip is very strong wet or dry (amazingly so given the good wear), and I haven't managed to bog them off-road yet. I've towed guys up muddy slopes that they couldn't drive up under their own steam, and we're talking 'cruisers with near new 33" muddies! They're a very good digger tyre. All in all I'd have these over ANY other tyre, with MTRs second and BFG or Cooper's third. But I need to have reasonable on-road manners. My experience with remoulds/retreads is that they can be a bit iffy on wet roads, so I spent the extra on the Kumhos and am well pleased that I did. Others I have been off-roading with regularly are switching over to the KL71s and selling their current tyres. They are directional, but not heavily so, and I haven't noticed any traction differences forwards or backwards.

Hi all, I've got a vibration that appears to be engine load-dependent and happens mainly around 40-60 km/hr, reasonably clean everywhere else, esp on highway. Hadn't really noticed it at any great level until a couple of days ago when it just suddenly appeared. Seems to be getting worse, too. Feels like UJ rumble, or UJ wind-up due to poor driveline angles, but they're all OK. Nothing specific coming up through the steering wheel, instead the whole vehicle seems to be going off. Happens at same road speeds in low range as high. I can't say for sure if it's any different when cornering to straight. Tyre pressures, wheel bearings, driveline angles, UJ's and slipjoints all good. Wheel alignment, front suspension bushings/joints/etc all seem to be OK, too. All shock absorbers are new (incl steering). I do have some play in the Transfer case output flange - front. But that's been there for as long as I can remember and doesn't seem significantly worse than before. Driveline backlash feels and sounds way worse than before. R-D-R shifts result in a solid thump and a sharp noise every time, whereas it was far more subdued in the past. One weird thing is that the rubber dust cap on the end of the LH front axle popped off at about the same time as the issue started. I haven't replaced it as yet as I don't have a spare and it went AWOL. Related...? Driveline is standard apart from a UJ rear shaft fitted. Suspension lift is only effectively about an inch (with the weight of the bar work and gas). Would welcome forum feedback as to likely cause before I start pulling it to bits. I'm suspecting a front CV is on it's way out, as I seem to recall they're a bit weak and the symptoms match somewhat. However I'm more than open to suggestions, esp as these all-wheel drive off-road thingys are still a bit new to me.

I like what you've done Mark. Looks good. Could you please post a couple of pics of the plumbing through the engine bay? I'm thinking of doing something similar on my eight-potter...

When I got my bus it had BFG ATs in 225/75R16 fitted all round (incl spare). Then I fitted Goodyear AT/Rs in 245/70R16 as my on-road set as the BFGs were past their prime and slippery, esp on wet bitumen. A bit later I got a set of Kumho KL71s in 31x10.5R15 for off-roading. I've never re-fitted the "road" tyres as the Kumho's do absolutely everything better (except the gearing change which is an undesirable compromise on highway). Mind you I really disliked the GY AT/Rs in this application. The 205s are way too small (width). The 225/75s are much better but still a bit small IMHO. I went with the 245s to get max width at similar diameter, but I think the 235/70s would have been a better fit in hindsight (and they're factory-sized, so insurance/rego hassles). Can't beat more tyre diameter off-road, but it does dull the highway performance somewhat. Some old pics of when I had the GY 245/70s fitted, but still with BFG 225/75 spare (which is probably the last time I washed it)... And a couple of it in it's current guise with the 31" KL71s

Did the shockers on the Disco today. The front right one had collapsed the washer (see pics) due to some overpaid genius putting the washers in wrong (prior to my ownership) [Vehicle came with all receipts, work done not long before I got it by a well-know suspension chain]. Yep, the light-weight locating washer was taking the full axial loadings... but not for long... During the time it was flogging around, it has elongated the hole in the axle mount . The new locating washers seem to have centered OK, but does anyone reckon this will cause any issues in the future? I don't have easy access to a welder so my fixing options are a bit limited. Turns out the right rear one was out of gas, too - despite no obvious signs of oil leaks. Noice n toight now

That fixed it. Was well twisted. Cheers guys.

Or you could put that £10 towards a decent synthetic oil. IMHO, that's a better investment...

IIRC, the manual trans is specified with Dexron IID grade ATF. This means that pretty much any Dexron grade of IID or higher is suitable. I've found "Castrol Transmax Z" to be excellent (it's a Dexron III full-synthetic) - gives very good shift feel and amazing protection, but a bit pricey. This is my default manual trans oil for my cars (esp front-wheel drives that have to work pretty hard). I know a number of transmission specialists that only use Castrol Transmax Z in their rebuilds/customs/etc. as it's cheap insurance and gives very good shiftability. I'd have to recommend strongly against using gear-oils if the 'box wasn't originally designed for it. The thicker gear oils usually cause poor/notchy shifting (esp when cold) and can actually damage the synchros and bushings in some cases. People often believe that thicker is better. Not true at all. A good quality Dexron ATF will perform as good or better than a thicker gear oil in appropriate applications. Esp true of synthetic ATFs which have very high cushion abilities (EP) and will stay between the gears where a mineral gear oil would have squeezed out under load, causing high wear. Remember that auto's are just manuals with some wet-clutches and electrickery thrown in. They still need to transfer all of that torque through gearsets... If you wade or tow regularly and need to change the oil on a regular basis, just fill it with good-quality mineral ATF per the spec. If oil changes are infrequent, or you want the best, fill it with a high quality synthetic ATF. Of course, this all assumes that I've remembered it right and the original oil spec is actually ATF, otherwise just ignore the above and fill with a decent 80W90

Hi all, My rear window wiper chatters almost always on the way back down. Wipes smoothly on the way up, but skips merrily all the way back to the park position. Tried replacing blades, etc. Doesn't seem to help, or helps only for a few wipes. Arm doesn't seem to have too much play or anything obvious. Do I need to tweak up the spring to provide more tension? Anyone else had this? Any easy fixes? While I'm about it... It also sometimes refuses to work first thing if it's been cold overnight, but then works fine after I drive a few hundred meters or so. Always put that down to "quaint" British character. Doesn't do it always. Weird? Related?

Firstly, silly question. Does the gearbox (and transfer) have the right amount of the right oil in it? A low oil level (or too thin) can allow this noise. Assuming the oil is OK.... From your description, it sounds very much like you have NRO (neutral roll-over) noise issues. This is caused by the slight speed fluctuations caused by engine firing accelerating and decelerating the gears in the 'box and causing them to slap (backlash), which manifests as a rattle. Low idle speeds exacerbate this. Sounds much worse than it is, and does no damage, but can drive you nuts. When you clutch in, you break drive and the noise stops as the box is no longer getting excited by the engine. Punching the clutch in and out can alter the specific positioning of the components within the clutch and improve or degrade the isolation. I've spent years as a professional driveline engineer tuning clutches and tweaking engine calibrations to minimise this noise. Overfilling the gearbox oil level can help reduce this noise, too (but can open a Pandora's box of other issues). Problem is much easier to fix on an eight than a big six or (shudder) four-pot, and don't get me started on diesels The clutch disc has a torsional spring pack and friction dampers built into the centre. Unsure of the exact LR design, might also have an idle-stage pre-damper with very light springs. Probably not though, as the V8 is a smooth, even-fire beast - not like those horrible diseasal things . This description is pretty generic but applies to all conventional clutch systems. Likely cause of the noise is the hysteresis on the frictional damper changing dramatically due to wear or a failure of an isolation spring or hub component or similar. Either way, it's not serviceable - requires a new clutch disc. Recommendation would be to pop the box out and put a new clutch kit into it. Not overly expensive. Ideally, try and source a clutch from the OE (original equipment) manufacturer as it'll be tuned right. Most aftermarket ones are generic and might not isolate properly, but they are generally a lot cheaper. Often the OE manufacturer sells the exact same clutch as originally fitted, but not in the massively expensive, nice green and white LR box. I'm not sure who the OE is for LR, Sachs perhaps? Hopefully another forum member can advise. You can take the opportunity to wind the box over by hand, back and forth in neutral and each gear to assess play and condition while it's out. Input and output bearing play, seals, etc. Mind you, the box is probably fine, just seems noisy due to lack of engine isolation due to a dodgy clutch and/or throw-out bearing. Good luck

Here's a pic of the bits and bobs with part numbers.. As Bogmonster has said, it's most likely the 1-2 bias spring or associated componentry that's at fault.

I did some four-wheeling in the Howqua region in central Vic over the weekend and learned a valuable lesson. They had some significant rainfalls over the previous few days, which made for some excellent playing, but also made the odd gentle creek crossing somewhat more challenging. Anyway, I knew I was getting a bit low on gas (my guage is a bit dodgy, so I use the trip meter as a guide) but the engine was still running strong so no issues there. I came to a river crossing that was somewhat swollen (Lickhole Creek, if you must know...), scoped it out, asked a camper nearby and all seemed fine. Depth was measured at just under a half metre, flowing at about a metre per second. Low range, locked, nosed in and gave it a bit of throttle to push through as some water started coming over the bonnet and.... the engine died. In the dead centre of the flow. There's water hammering into the driver's side at above hip-height and I'm there with a dead engine. Would restart, run poorly and then die again. Hmm, not good, thought I. Couldn't drive it out on the starter (auto). Mate in back seat pipes up with "try petrol" after a few more fruitless start attempts and rising stress levels. Fires instantly and strongly on petrol and drives out the other side without the slightest drama. Bl00dy obvious now, and not a mistake I'll make again. The tanks would have been at around 40-50degC after some low speed, high throttle work and were suddenly chilled to maybe 5degC = a massive drop in vapour pressure. I effectively ran out of fuel nearly instantly as the tanks submerged and cooled. About an hour later I tried running on gas again and it would run fine but with reduced power. Ran perfectly as soon as I could get to a servo and fill the tanks. On the plus side, the door sealing is way better than I expected. The GPS trace shows that I was stationary in the middle of that creek for around 50 seconds, say an even minute of exposure all up. I know I couldn't have walked across it, the flow was too strong. Despite that, total damage was only about half a cupful of water that pooled around the base of the B-pillar of the driver's side. And that seemed to be largely due to the lower door seal joiner section being out of location, leaving a 1/4 inch gap (now fixed). Impressive, if you ask me. Another advantage of the superior 3-door... Oh yeah, and I've checked all of the oils and they're all good (no water ingestion) - also impressive. Mate got a brewski for his clear thinking efforts. So, lesson learned, and no damage done. 'Twas a good day, even if I was humbled by a D3 a few hours later - but that's another story.

Update time... but firstly a massive, heartfelt, and sincere thanks to Les - who kindly sent me the goodies required to fix this issue. :) :) Final fix appears to have been changing to Bendix Heavy Duty pads (with Titanium stripe), giving the calipers a good clean, fitting the anti-squeal shims and a new pad retaining kit. The shims I got seemed to be for a slightly different set of pads (I run DB843 type pads), so I tweaked them to fit and to line up with the pistons properly and then lightly glued them to the pad backings with anti-squeal (but not under the piston contact area) just so they won't fall out. Have now done over a thousand kms over the last few days, much of it off-road with only a few little half-hearted squeaks on one occasion during a long tortuous downhill grind whilst the pads were still bedding in. The joy of braking with confidence in silence is something I will not underestimate again. Faith restored in both DBA and Bendix for their excellent products. Very happy now with the braking performance. Long may it continue...

According to RAVE, the stock petrol 3dr's weigh 1,980kg (incl fuel fuel tank and 75kg driver). Fair bit more for diseasels. Refer below (Aussie specs - should be similar to UAE). Same figures quoted for UK models. That's surprisingly light. Dry tank and no driver and you're only talking around 1,840kg for the 3dr. Makes a D3 look a bit, um, lardy Note also that bigger diameter tyres will generally actually hurt your economy. It pulls the engine down out of it's efficient zone on highway and makes it harder to accelerate the beast from rest. I reckon my 31s are costing me about 5-10% extra fuel over the original 29s. I get between 20-22 ltrs/100kms mainly highway on LPG, for instance (call it around 13mpg), with front&rear bars, side rails&steps, and the gas conversion.

I couldn't have put it better myself, Jim Does anyone have first-hand experience with Detroits in Disco's? On road, off road?

Or spend a third as much for a Detroit... Hmmm, what were those options again?

Pick what's wrong with the following picture... Shaft busted and spider gears a bit chewed up. Circlips long gone (good one BogMonster). Side gears and C&P in remarkably good condition. Cunning plan being hatched to fit a locker to it... Anyone know where to find a cartridge-type locker insert? Found a good second-hand unit out of a low km '98 for AU$300, and it's already got the UJ flange "upgrade" fitted. Bonus . Sourcing the matching driveshaft now... no more feeding the flex-coupling monster for me

Tyres are massively important. Hey, they're the only things attaching you to the road/track/rock/fallen log. Different tyres will behave differently on different vehicles on different rims or different surfaces. Work out the cost per km/day/whatever and they're still cheap insurance. After tyres, I'd agree that dampers are seriously underrated and overlooked. Most dampers are past their prime in only about 2-3 years and start to degrade towards dangerous not long after that, depending on usage/quality/etc. IMHO it's better to replace them regularly and get good value for money units, rather than dumping a month's salary on a set and then leaving them in there for the next decade... Maybe the trailer improvement was due to the increase in overall mass, effectively damping out some of the sway? Dunno.

What you have shown there are a set of a type of crimp-locking fixings - think overgrown, 2-pc rivet. I think they may be a Huck-rivet sort of thing? These were also used as the original fitment. Requires special tools and are single-use only - PITA. Go the nut & bolt

4) Shock absorbers. One on my front shocks had partially collapsed and was floating for the first 1/2" of travel or so, made it noticably unstable esp in cross-winds in conjuction with the worn tie-rod ends I had. Both fixed a few days apart, now back to normal and much more relaxing to drive. Anything that allows the front-end toe angle to change unexpectedly would be my first port of call (tie-rod ends (ball-joints), bearings, swivels, etc as previously mentioned by others). I had Goodyear ATRs (245/70R16) on mine and they were bl00dy awful. Tried every tyre pressure and front/rear combo known to mankind and they were still awful in differing degrees. Had the local Goodyear engineer take a look and he reckoned they were OK... Vehicle would tramline, follow anything on the road, responded slowly to steering input yet felt nervous(!?), etc. Was constantly sawing at the wheel to keep it in a straight line. Never again. The BFG AT 225/75R16s I had before that were really nice, as are the Kumho KL71s (31x10.5R15) I now run.

According to the ARB Catalogue... Looks like Disco's built to Mar '93 were 10 spline, From Apr '93 they were 24 spline. Same for Defender/County and RRC. EPC shows that the change point was (A)28S44171 & 38S29121 were the last with 10-spline. 24 spline thereafter. Either way, easy to eyeball as the difference between the 10 and 24 splines is chalk and cheese (or coarse and fine ).

Cheers BogMonster. Wow, that's a much longer list than I'd expected. I'll go a-hunting in the morning.. Yee-har!

Hi all... Driving home tonight, stopped in traffic, put trans in neutral, waiting, waiting, put trans in D...... Hmmmm. At this stage I was hoping for some forward motion. So was the truck and the row of traffic behind me.... No nasty noises, just no drive. Thought the trans had fried a band or something. Got it off to the side of the road, had a look underneath and nothing obviously amiss. Put back in gear, noticed that the speedo was winding up. Gave it a mini-rev in gear and had another look underneath. Sure enough the rear prop shaft was turning. Got it home with the centre diff locked, with the odd slightly nasty noise coming from the back. Pulled the left axle out. Nothing wrong there. Put it back in and there was a dull clunk as it went home. The sort of noise a side gear would make falling out of the centre. Other axle fine, too. Could spin both axles in the hubs without much resistance. Alright, so the diff centre's shot. Question is what is the likely cause? Is there a common problem that they have? IIRC the front and rear centres are interchangeable, so is it worth me checking the front one as well so I don't get the same issue in the near future? I'll pull the diff out tomorrow for a look anyway and let you all know what I find. I'm guessing the cross-shaft has come adrift or something stupid like that. Probably munched up the gears just enough to render them useless. Additional question for bonus points:- What other centres are the same that I can use? Late Rangie Classic, Defender? Oh, yeah. It's a 24 spline 3.54, if that makes any difference. Cheers.

I had a similar problem recently on my RHF shock. I noticed during driving that the shock seemed to have gone soft, and was making a dull clunking noise when bounced. Further investigation revealed that the pressed washer that sits between the shock body and the rubber bush down the bottom had collapsed and popped over the "knobby bit" and was now sitting against the bottom of the shock tube itself. This gave the whole assembly about 3/8 inch of free-play. Haven't had a chance to fix it properly yet, so I just grabbed a large nut of about that thickness and drilled the centre out to about 14mm (to clear the shank of the shock stud) and put that under the lower retaining nut. Pulled up the slack and makes everything work again, but a bit dodgy. I just knew I should have kept the washers etc from the last set of shocks... Now I need to work out how that level of loading got into the shock to cause that damage. Std shock lengths, 2" lift coils. Nothing way-out there...

Hi Les, I don't know if anyone does shims for the front. Nothing I could find in EPC. Be a bit tricky to do with a four-pot caliper maybe? If there is one I'd certainly like to have a set as I don't know how the fronts will go for squeal, and I'm a bit gun-shy after my experience with the rears and these rotors/pads. Please don't waste too much time on it though. Cheers.