Since there seems to be a good number of newer DII owners on line, many with questions, I figured I would post this thread: 8 upgrades/mods you CAN do at home with no mechanical knowledge ranging from the retarded-simple & the cheap to the slightly-more-complicated-hammering-a-nail & slightly more expensive. I think each of these mods should be carefully considered prior to upgrading suspension. The one I don't discuss is tires. To get the most our of your DII, you should consider upgrading to a true all-terrain tire, such as the BFG T/A KO, that will give you major increase in off-road performance without sacrificing street ride. (If you are planning a suspension upgrade soon, you may of course want to wait so you can get larger tires. But if your suspension upgrade is for next season, make the move on tires today, you won't regret it). OK here goes, starting w/ the most simple:
1. Get a set of quick air tire deflators & a quality gauge. You can get quick deflators for as low as $10-$11. They let you air down all four tires at the same time & save you a bunch of time at the trailhead. My advice, however, is to only air down 2 at a time,,,it's easy to air down too much, tougher to correct the problem at the trailhead unless you happen to have an air compressor,,, A quality gauge will let you know exactly where you stand in psi. Those pen-type gauges are tough to get an accurate read on. A good enough quality gauge may run you $10,,,although you can spend triple that if you want. Pic attached
2. When you find yourself going up & down steep trails, you'll find that you shift in position on your seat (especially if you have leather seats). This happens gradually and all of a sudden you'll notice a bit of a pain in your right leg. It's your parking brake digging into your thight. The quick fix is to go to Home Depot & buy a length of foam tube, usually sold in lengths of 2' - 4'. You can duct-tape one end & slide it over your parking brake while on trail as illustrated in the attached pic. This foam pad doubles as an alternative to a Hi-Lift Jack 'isolator' and saves you a good $12 at least when you get your jack. You can slide a length of foam pad over the handle of the Hi-Lift to avoid that clanking noice.
3. OK, this one is pretty simple, not really a 'mod',,,,but the lumbar support in Disco seats is pretty weak. After long-haul highway driving or, particularly, off-road driving, you'll notice this. There are many types of lumbar supports on the market, the one in pic is made from the stuff they make those space-foam beds out of. This is a simple addition to your 'kit' that will go a long way for your comfort after hours on the trail. It also allows you to pull your seat back up a bit & give you a more commanding driving position & better visual when on-trail vs. the too-far-reclined position most have their seats in. (Plus it's better for your spine)
4. DI wipers. DI wipers are just plain better than DII wipers in my experience, especially when your windshield is covered in mud or snow. They are beefier,, and don't look as 'mall-crawlerish' as the stock DII wipers. See pic.
5. Fire Extinguisher. You can go on-line, or to a 4x4 shop, and spend $60+ on a galvanized 'off-road' extinguisher,,,,or,,,you can go to Home Depot & spend $10 on a properly rated auto fire extinguisher. For those more inclined to spend $10, spend a few more cents on 3 screws with those jointed metal backs with springs that set perpendicular to the screw & form a solid attachment (there's probably a simple technical name for what I'm describing,,,but I'm not talking about the plastic screw backs that you hang pictures in dry-wall with). Drill 3 holes to match the holes on the fire extinguisher mounting bracket that are equal in diameter to those screw-back-things (careful not to drill too deep!) and mount as illustrated in pic. This is a safe, out-of-the-way mounting position that will not interfere with your safety or comfort but will ensure the extinguisher is easily accessible. (this was covered in a previous thread)
6. Tow hitch mounted shackle. Essential piece of equipment often overlooked. You can pick one of these up for roughly $60-$70 from Roversnorth, I'm sure Red-Rhino, among others. (Always good to support sponsors) While you are at it, pick up a solid tow strap (or snatch strap) meant for off-road recovery. Don't skimp & get one at Wal-Mart made for towing cars down the road. Don't assume someone else on the trail will have one, or be willing to share. Plus it's good form to have your own when you are asking to be pulled out (or up) (or down) (etc). More expensive than the previous 5, but when you need it, you'll REALLY need it. You don't want to be towed out by your rear axle,,,,, While you're at it, get another shackle for the other end in case you need to be towed out by someone else who is not set up for recovery. Prepare for the worst & you'll seldom be disappointed. Pic of tow-hitch shackle attached. You can use your stock reciever, the strongest tow point on your stock vehicle but useless w/out this piece of kit.
7. Rock Sliders. OK, now we are getting into more costly bolt-on mods. But don't even think about getting that new suspension slapped on & hitting the real trails w/ that plastic stock side-sill nonsense,,,or worst of all,,,running boards. I have seen stock Discos go up Carnage Canyon in CO with nothing but rock sliders & survive relatively unscathed. Critical piece of equipment & will save you much more than you spend on 'em as body work and/or new doors are expensive. Many of the aftermarket companies fabricate and/or sell rock sliders. They are simple bolt-on. Worst case you may have to drill a few holes. No big deal. If you can operate a drill and turn a wrench, you can install your own rock sliders. Pic attached
8. Exhaust / K&N Filter: Exhaust is the most expensive of the 8, but easy to bolt on yourself. There are several available for DIIs. While everyone has their preference, I like NRP because I don't like that Borla "Harley" sound on the trail. Either way, the performance increase on-road is enormous,,, and will come in handy later when you run larger tires. Easy to install, big performance boost. Pic illustrates exhaust bolts on my dirty mud-encrusted undercarriage. K&N filter is more controversial. The logic for a high-performance air filter is 'what goes out, must come in'. Some argue whether there is any increase in power. Others swear they can feel the difference. I just installed one & within 10 days had to replace mass air,,, but I also had 65k HARD miles so maybe I was due. One thing I did realize after-the-fact is that they come packaged far too wet. If you install one, let it dry in the sun for at least an hour. When you clean it, be careful not to over-oil and again let it dry for at least an hour. Simple to install. Just like changing your stock air filter: drop it in
So there you go. 8 simple "mods" you can do yourself that will take greater advantage of the awesome capabilities of the stock Disco II w/out adversely effecting on-road performance. WARNING: you may get addicted to DII modification. :drive: :drink1: :wave:
Next edition: Disco II suspension 101, confidential industry secrets revealed!
1. Get a set of quick air tire deflators & a quality gauge. You can get quick deflators for as low as $10-$11. They let you air down all four tires at the same time & save you a bunch of time at the trailhead. My advice, however, is to only air down 2 at a time,,,it's easy to air down too much, tougher to correct the problem at the trailhead unless you happen to have an air compressor,,, A quality gauge will let you know exactly where you stand in psi. Those pen-type gauges are tough to get an accurate read on. A good enough quality gauge may run you $10,,,although you can spend triple that if you want. Pic attached
2. When you find yourself going up & down steep trails, you'll find that you shift in position on your seat (especially if you have leather seats). This happens gradually and all of a sudden you'll notice a bit of a pain in your right leg. It's your parking brake digging into your thight. The quick fix is to go to Home Depot & buy a length of foam tube, usually sold in lengths of 2' - 4'. You can duct-tape one end & slide it over your parking brake while on trail as illustrated in the attached pic. This foam pad doubles as an alternative to a Hi-Lift Jack 'isolator' and saves you a good $12 at least when you get your jack. You can slide a length of foam pad over the handle of the Hi-Lift to avoid that clanking noice.
3. OK, this one is pretty simple, not really a 'mod',,,,but the lumbar support in Disco seats is pretty weak. After long-haul highway driving or, particularly, off-road driving, you'll notice this. There are many types of lumbar supports on the market, the one in pic is made from the stuff they make those space-foam beds out of. This is a simple addition to your 'kit' that will go a long way for your comfort after hours on the trail. It also allows you to pull your seat back up a bit & give you a more commanding driving position & better visual when on-trail vs. the too-far-reclined position most have their seats in. (Plus it's better for your spine)
4. DI wipers. DI wipers are just plain better than DII wipers in my experience, especially when your windshield is covered in mud or snow. They are beefier,, and don't look as 'mall-crawlerish' as the stock DII wipers. See pic.
5. Fire Extinguisher. You can go on-line, or to a 4x4 shop, and spend $60+ on a galvanized 'off-road' extinguisher,,,,or,,,you can go to Home Depot & spend $10 on a properly rated auto fire extinguisher. For those more inclined to spend $10, spend a few more cents on 3 screws with those jointed metal backs with springs that set perpendicular to the screw & form a solid attachment (there's probably a simple technical name for what I'm describing,,,but I'm not talking about the plastic screw backs that you hang pictures in dry-wall with). Drill 3 holes to match the holes on the fire extinguisher mounting bracket that are equal in diameter to those screw-back-things (careful not to drill too deep!) and mount as illustrated in pic. This is a safe, out-of-the-way mounting position that will not interfere with your safety or comfort but will ensure the extinguisher is easily accessible. (this was covered in a previous thread)
6. Tow hitch mounted shackle. Essential piece of equipment often overlooked. You can pick one of these up for roughly $60-$70 from Roversnorth, I'm sure Red-Rhino, among others. (Always good to support sponsors) While you are at it, pick up a solid tow strap (or snatch strap) meant for off-road recovery. Don't skimp & get one at Wal-Mart made for towing cars down the road. Don't assume someone else on the trail will have one, or be willing to share. Plus it's good form to have your own when you are asking to be pulled out (or up) (or down) (etc). More expensive than the previous 5, but when you need it, you'll REALLY need it. You don't want to be towed out by your rear axle,,,,, While you're at it, get another shackle for the other end in case you need to be towed out by someone else who is not set up for recovery. Prepare for the worst & you'll seldom be disappointed. Pic of tow-hitch shackle attached. You can use your stock reciever, the strongest tow point on your stock vehicle but useless w/out this piece of kit.
7. Rock Sliders. OK, now we are getting into more costly bolt-on mods. But don't even think about getting that new suspension slapped on & hitting the real trails w/ that plastic stock side-sill nonsense,,,or worst of all,,,running boards. I have seen stock Discos go up Carnage Canyon in CO with nothing but rock sliders & survive relatively unscathed. Critical piece of equipment & will save you much more than you spend on 'em as body work and/or new doors are expensive. Many of the aftermarket companies fabricate and/or sell rock sliders. They are simple bolt-on. Worst case you may have to drill a few holes. No big deal. If you can operate a drill and turn a wrench, you can install your own rock sliders. Pic attached
8. Exhaust / K&N Filter: Exhaust is the most expensive of the 8, but easy to bolt on yourself. There are several available for DIIs. While everyone has their preference, I like NRP because I don't like that Borla "Harley" sound on the trail. Either way, the performance increase on-road is enormous,,, and will come in handy later when you run larger tires. Easy to install, big performance boost. Pic illustrates exhaust bolts on my dirty mud-encrusted undercarriage. K&N filter is more controversial. The logic for a high-performance air filter is 'what goes out, must come in'. Some argue whether there is any increase in power. Others swear they can feel the difference. I just installed one & within 10 days had to replace mass air,,, but I also had 65k HARD miles so maybe I was due. One thing I did realize after-the-fact is that they come packaged far too wet. If you install one, let it dry in the sun for at least an hour. When you clean it, be careful not to over-oil and again let it dry for at least an hour. Simple to install. Just like changing your stock air filter: drop it in
So there you go. 8 simple "mods" you can do yourself that will take greater advantage of the awesome capabilities of the stock Disco II w/out adversely effecting on-road performance. WARNING: you may get addicted to DII modification. :drive: :drink1: :wave:
Next edition: Disco II suspension 101, confidential industry secrets revealed!