04 Land Rover Discovery NC

[CatPowerDude]

Hello, this is my thread for all the plans and current mods on my 04 discovery. My plans for the rig are being able to hop in it and go where ever I want and not have to worry much about reliability or its off road capabilities. I picked the truck up last September (2017). I was told by the seller that it had no issues and was ready to go out and enjoy. And it was for maybe 100 miles or so. The truck has the 4.6l bosch engine that are know for overheating and cylinder liner issues. Previous owner had pinned the liners to help fix the liner issue. It was pouring oil out of the pins, as well as the front main seal and the oil pan. Since September I have retapped all the pins and added in bigger stronger pins, replaced the oil pan gasket and the front seal. Engine has now developed a nice ticking noise and I plan on installing a new engine with top hat liners. This should take care of my reliability issues. The previous owner has also fabricated some front and rear steel hd bumpers. The bumpers are pretty great except the front one was not designed with a winch in mind, so it will be replaced at some point soon. As far as the off road capabilities goes, the truck has the factory center dif lock and a fully functioning traction control. I plan on adding in a rear air locker, limited slip front diff, and switching to some hd axles, as well as a hd ring and pinion. This way I can switch up to a 35" tire and not worry as much about breaking axles. Hope to see some of you all out there I go to uwharrie on a regular basis.

Mod List:
Engine
pinned 4.6l bosch engine
Cane Toad Snorkel
Rear exhaust resonator deleted for clearance
sealed factory air box

Drivetrain, Steering, and Suspension
Factory Center diff lock
Terra Ferma Hd steering bars
Terra Ferma steering dampner
2" terra ferma suspension lift kit (will be swapped out for ome 3" hd)
lucky 8 1" body lift
Extended abs sensors
extended brake lines

Off-Road Accessories
Steel Front and rear high clearance bumpers
Safety Devices Roof rack
LR Genuine rear ladder
(4) 6 led light pods mounted to roof rack ebay branded
(2) led spot lights on front bumper ebay branded
265/75/16 milestar Patagonia tires

Planned upgrades:
rock sliders
HD axles
HD ring and pinions
Rear air locker
Front limited slip diff
New front bumper with 9500lbs minimum winch
New nicer lights
Rooftop tent
New engine with flanged liners
CB radio
Fold out table on rear door
Awning mounted to roof rack
jerry cans and mounts
Hi lift jack
3" ome hd lift kit
35" tires
new seats
vinyl wrap
rear work lamp
side work lamps

 

[CatPowerDude]

 

[4xFar Adventures]

Welcome to the Rover family! Expect to do a fair amount of trimming to fit 35" tires, especially to the rear doors. You'll also want to get a new Watts link for the rear axle from RTE Fab. This will allow for more articulation. And do some research on the "3 Amigos". You're not a true D2 owner until you've had to deal with that.

 

[CatPowerDude]

Hah

Welcome to the Rover family! Expect to do a fair amount of trimming to fit 35" tires, especially to the rear doors. You'll also want to get a new Watts link for the rear axle from RTE Fab. This will allow for more articulation. You'll also want to do some research on the "3 Amigos". You're not a true D2 owner until you've had to deal with that.

Haha thank you, this isn’t my first Rover, I’ve previosuly owned a 01 discovery. I’ve delt with the amigos. And yes I forgot to add that pan hard bar to list of planned mods. As well as the quick disconnects for the sway bar.

 

[4xFar Adventures]

Sweet! My D2 is an '01 :)

 

[CatPowerDude]

Headed out next weekend to Richland rd bear lenior NC for a weekend trip. This will be the first small overlanding trip I’ve taken with the Rover. I’m excited to see how it goes and get ideas for what works and doesn’t work as far as vehicle ergonomics. Should have some ideas for new projects after it’s all done and we are home safe and sound. Been thinking about doing some sort of communications mods to the vehicle, any suggestions?

 

[4xFar Adventures]

I have a cobra CB mounted under the seat of the driver. I also have a Yaseu mobile unit on the overhead console where the sunroof controls are. It's a good out-of-the-way set up for both. I can put some pictures if you'd like to see the set up.

 

[CatPowerDude]

I have a cobra CB mounted under the seat of the driver. I also have a Yaseu mobile unit on the overhead console where the sunroof controls are. It's a good out-of-the-way set up for both. I can put some pictures if you'd like to see the set up.

Yeah that would be great! Thank you. What kind of antennas are you using and where did you mount them?

 

[4xFar Adventures]

The CB antenna is on the tire carrier. It's a 4' Firestick NGP (No Ground Plane). The cable is routed through the rubber hose on the door. That took a long time to get through, but it's lasted for 10 years now.

The HAM radio is on the top of the SD rack. Antenna is a dual band (2m/70cm) Diamond NR770HB. Coax is routed through the headliner, around the driver door seal to the rack.

 

[Jimmy Schantz]

Welcome to the Rover family! Expect to do a fair amount of trimming to fit 35" tires, especially to the rear doors. You'll also want to get a new Watts link for the rear axle from RTE Fab. This will allow for more articulation. And do some research on the "3 Amigos". You're not a true D2 owner until you've had to deal with that.

What are the three Amigo's

 

[Jimmy Schantz]

What are the three Amigo's

HDC,ABS,TC

 

[CatPowerDude]

Long overdue update. Since last posting the truck has received a brand new Atlantic British long block, new radiator and 180 thermostat. I have also made a few other upgrades that were not quite as significant on the wallet. I have added some 9" led lights to the roof, some kc highlights pro led spot lights to the front bumper, and added a rear work light. I also added a cb radio which has come in handy on a few of the recent trips. Then there is the interior, I have replaced all the torn seats with new ones. I think I have gotten the vehicle pretty much sorted out. I had some weird issues over the past 10 months, but a new battery, xyz switch sorted those out. I am really enjoying the vehicle right now. Ive made several trips with it, one was to Tennessee to go to windrock off road park which was a blast it was about 800 miles round trip all trouble free. Even more recently went on a spur of the moment trip to the mountains to go drive in some snow, ended up in 3' of fresh snow and had a great time camping out in it. Currently looking to buy some new tires, have yet to decide on what Im going to buy, all I know is they will again be a mud terrain and I think im going to go up to a 285/75/16. Ive started added to my recovery gear as well which has been quite handy on the snow trip for a few stranded drivers. need to find a place to mount my high lift jack too, bastard is so heavy I don't think that one is going on the roof rack. I think I am also going to get rid of these terra ferma 2" lift springs and shocks in favor of some 3" ome hd springs and shocks, this thing certainly isn't getting any lighter. Anyways thats where im at with it now, couldn't be happier.

 

[CatPowerDude]

[/ATTACH] [/ATTACH] [/ATTACH]

 

[chithead]

Wow! Awesome to see a fellow Concordian!!!

 

[disco_unchained]

Great looking Disco, bud. I think i have the same bumper on mind - how did you end up mounting those bumper lights?

 

[CatPowerDude]

Great looking Disco, bud. I think i have the same bumper on mind - how did you end up mounting those bumper lights?

Thank you I appreciate the compliment. However I doubt it is the same bumper, the previous owner made both the front and rear bumpers. As far as mounting the lights I just drilled holes in the bumper to mount them, then painted the area to prevent rust.

 

[chithead]

They did a very good job on that, did the previous owner also fab up the roof rack? Those Discovery and the older Defender are really what sparked my interest in Overland exploring many years ago.

 

[CatPowerDude]

They did a very good job on that, did the previous owner also fab up the roof rack? Those Discovery and the older Defender are really what sparked my interest in Overland exploring many years ago.

Nope, all he did was the front and rear bumpers. The rack is a safety devices.

 

[chithead]

Very cool. That is one fine looking rig for sure! Would it be odd for me to ask what trails you frequent in this area? We've been to Uwharrie with my wife's Wrangler, but that is the only one so far.

 

[CatPowerDude]

Preciate it! I feel it is very odd that you ask me where I go on a forum that it meant for it haha (sarcasm). So I go to uwharrie a few times a year, it is pretty close as you well know. I’ve also taken a long weekend trip to windrock off-road park in Tennessee. That was a great trip and we had a lot of fun on the black diamond trails. Hurricane creek is on my to do list it is on the boarder of NC and Tennessee off of 40 west. Then we did a fun trip to Richland road near blowing rock but as far as I know that is closed down now; which is a bummer it was a fun easy trail. There is also brown mtn near Marion and lots of service roads in the pisgah national forest to go play on. I’m planning on a few big trips this year to do the Georgia traverse trail and a few other places in Virginia and West Virginia.