Hey guys, I've been trolling this forum for a little while now. I figured it was time to share with you all what I've been working on. I recently traded my '91 BMW 318ic for a '96 Discovery LE. Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with the trade. I found that owning two lowered BMWs does me no good for those off pavement adventures.

The paint is burnt on the roof and hood. The interior is in decent shape with the exception of a sagging head liner. It did have some nice parts on it that made the trade a little sweeter. It came with an aftermarket stereo, 2in lift kit, and a Detroit truetrac diff in the front axle.

I'd like to keep things fairly simple with this truck. I've mainly been working on servicing everything. I'd like to make sure everything is working properly before I dump a ton of money into it. I'd like to get some bigger tires to fill out the wheel wells a little better. That and a little more traction on those loose dirt hill climbs would be nice. I live in Southern CA so everything is pretty much desert around here. Any suggestions as to what brand and size I should look into?

Since the paint is crap I plan on addressing it in the most cost effective manner. I have a good friend who is willing to help me vinyl wrap the whole truck. I think matte white is what I'll be going with. Look for a thread about that in the near future.

So with all that said, here are the pics:

The BMW I traded





My "new to me" rover:











My bestfriend's jeep stuck on our first outing together:





Luckily we bought some tow straps before we headed to the trails. My rover got to pull out its first Jeep. Feels good man.


This is the main reason why I needed a rover:




I needed a way to get to remote places to go shooting.



Lastly, here is a pic of my "reliable" daily driven track car. As you can see, I like my mods. I'm a driving instructor for the BMWCCA and work as a BMW tech at an independent BMW repair shop. I don't know much about rovers but if anyone here needs help with a BMW, PM me.

 

Looks good. Welcome to the forum. As far as tire size I would go with 245/75/16 much bigger than that youll have problems rubbing

 

nice ride but that detroit locker needs to be in the rear not the front

 

I would have had a very difficult time parting with the BMW convertible. It was a beauty.

I agree with Long Haul on the tire size, leave some room in those wheel wells for it to move like it should.

Get all those fluids changed out and make sure everything is functioning like it should before you try to get too remote with it.

It appears your friend does not know how to wheel off-road.

 

I like the BFG KM2's as far as an off road tire that still does fine on the pavement. They have excellent grip off road and are quite tough but a bit expensive. Kind of strange to have a tru track in the front but nothing in the rear but then I am no expert. If it were mine I would install an ARB air locker in the rear. ARB's are not cheap but are selectable at the push of a switch. If you do go to a rear locker then HD axle shafts would probably be good but it all depends on how rough of wheeling you plan on doing. Your truck is very capable without the rear locker and so probably not needed unless you really want the maximum traction available just in case. The best thing is to get the good off road tires to start and then go from there. They will give you much better traction than your street tires plus much tougher sidewalls and better piece of mind.

 

Maybe someone got a little aggresive and busted the front diff and went with an upgraded diff rather than stock. correct me if i'm wrong but isn't the true trac more of a limited slip, than a locker?

 

My first big and best purchase was the BFG MT KM2 tires. They have crawled up everything I have asked them to! Good Tires!

 

Having the locker up front is the way to do it. I have ARB front and rear but I rarely flip the rear on. Theres more weight up front and less articulation so it works better on the front of these trucks just my 2 cents.

 

Interesting. I have F & R ARB's as well but rarely use the F as it locks the steering up so much unless it's slippery mud or snow but then I've never tried the F alone. I've always had the R on before engaging the F if need be and then only in a straight line climb.

 

Ive never had any problems steering mine with the front locked....Mite just be different terrain and soil between Colo to Penn, Just about everyone out here that puts lockers in there trucks (LR, Jeep, Totota, etc) all run front lockers and no rear locker if they only have one. Im not saying that your way or my way is any better than each other I guess its all in how or where you drive