I have a 98 Discovery all stock. I would like to do some off-roading with my vehicle but want to make sure I modify and protect my truck before doing so. I will only be off-roading every once in a while and will not be doing anything to technical, YET. So I do not want to sacrifice to much on road ride comfort. As of now I am pretty sure I want to go with a 2" lift. Not sure on what type of springs to go with though. I don't plan on having a heavy front brush guard or winch installed, I do however plan on having a half rack up top that will be loaded down from time to time. What do you suggest? Also what other parts should I consider looking at? Remember I am not going to be rock crawling or blasting through deep water, just trail riding from time to time.

 

Get all maintenence up to date first, wheel bearings/seals, adjust swivels, u joints

I run old man emu 2" hd. with bilstien shocks rides nice and more weight makes it ride nicer, used sets can be had cheap

After lift remove the sway bars and chuck em

A front diff guard and front/ rear pinion guards and that's about it till you bend something like steering or radius arm

You could probly do like light springs up front medium in rear or Med front HD rear, depends how loaded down in cargo you want to be

Springs require a certain static load constant or they over lift

I also suggest a winch check my thread lots of pics and ideas

 

Tom pretty much nailed it. My daily driver is on an OME lift and the blue/yellow Bilsteins and it rides very well IMO. It still has sway bars though, and for you're intended use I'd recommend keeping yours.
Get the diff guards and relocate your steering damper from the track rod to the drag link in front of the axle.
I run 235/85/16 Toyo Open Country AT tires on my daily driver. They ride very smooth and quiet, and aren't particularly chunky so offer less rolling resistance. For light trails they work very well.
I'd hold off on the roof rack until you're sure you don't have enough room inside. Roof racks look cool but they raise your center of gravity and will hurt your gas mileage. My 2 cents.

 

Where can I find all of the guards and the steering damper relocation kit at a good price?

 

If not in a rush watch the for sale section here and discoweb

 

BLUE/Yellow Bilstein? You won't by anychance has a part number, do u?

 

These are off-road vehicles from the factory. I'd only do three things:
1. Maintenance. Get everything up to date. Make sure your jack, spare, and diff lock works.
2. Diff guards
3. Rock sliders

It might be more capable than you already.

 

are diff guards really that necessary? i mean, arent these things iron?

 

The caps are much thinner than the axle tube, and they're in the perfect spot to hit rocks. Add those two facts together..

 

fair enough.