Anyone else other than me watching/following this 1 ton axle swap on a Discovery 2. Been hooked since I found this guys channel. Lots of great info, overloading, and crawling.

 

I'm following though I think there is a better option out there for D2 axle swaps. Tons are heavy, have huge low hanging diffs and most aren't pass drop which would require a lot of fab work to get to play nice on our vehicles. Once I'm done with my house renovations I plan on picking up a set of FJ80 axles to swap in and 3 link the front and 4 link the rear. The LC guys run 37s on stock shafts with no issues and the options to upgrade are significantly better than anything Ashcroft (rcv) has to offer for rover axles.

 

Interesting about the FJ80 axles. This is a long term (want to do) goal for my car so ill definitely look into this option. Hopefully other here who have already done axle upgrades will chime in.

My 4 top criteria would be:

1. Fully loaded car for multi-day camping
2. Overlanding
3. Medium level off-road trails
4. 36" tires

 

Best option is to stick to the maximum tire size that Ashcroft will warranty (I think it's 35") and run that, it's the cheapest option. Doing a full swap is going to be costly even if you can do the work yourself and unless linking it I don't think it's worth the time or money. Also depends on if you plan on locking the front and rear diffs and driving style. Lots of factors to consider. I'm running almost a 33" on stock drivetrain with a ashcroft rear air locker and it's probably just a matter of time before I pop something but being smart with the skinny pedal helps. I am in Moab 1-3 times a year and wheel all over CO all summer long, my rig takes a beating and just keeps on going.

Also, I think over a 33" tire a different motor is going to be necessary for any prolonged highway usage. Gearing would help but not going to make it a whole lot better. At least here at elevation my truck struggles mightily on the highway to and from trails.

 

Lots of good points and things to consider whowa004. Question: Are you also currently running stock axle shafts with your 33's?

Just looking at the FJ axles real quick its nice that the difs are on the passenger side. Wondering if there is less cutting and fab involved going this route.

 

I am running stock axle shafts. The FJ80 axles would "only" need to have either the rover brackets welded on to it or a full custom suspension designed and brackets added to frame and axles. The nice thing is they would be able to be kept stock internals, if I'm not mistaken ton axles would need to be narrowed (full size trucks have a wider track than the d2) and custom driveshafts. If I'm going to invest that level of funds and time I want to be able to source stock parts for a repair in just about any town, custom axle shafts on a ton swap would not make that possible..

Cheapest thing to do would be to do FJ80 (preferably 95-97 as they are full float) and then cut brackets from rover axles and move them over to the toyota ones. While doing this you could then clock the toyota axles to correct the castor vs castor corrected radius arms. Also depending on lift height you could just extend the stock arms to get the wheelbase back to stock length, and with the castor being corrected at the axle this is much simpler as it's a simple cut, weld and plate. No angles to worry about. Another easy button would be to find e-locked 95-97 axles and boom you are triple locked, however you will pay a premium for those and not sure it's worth it if you want to re-gear and then just go the airlocker route.

 

I ran stock 10 splines for years with 33s on my RRC all about how you treat that skinny pedal

That being said I would have upgraded in a heart beat

 

Way too much axle for this vehicle in every respect.

 

Much agree! Huge benefit to automatic transmissions as well when it comes to not snapping an axle.

 

Interesting to look at but other then 36 in tires everything else you listed can be done stock, I just do not see the value in it. While clearance can be an issue, I find it pretty rare Mostly I can get through by choosing a line.

Unless you are trying to build a rock crawler, or you are in a enviroment where need that clearance but then your 1st 3 things do not matter so much. I think the cost a to keep the current performance would be excessive

As noted by others I find time spent learning to actually drive off road is a better investment. I learned on old M38 jeeps with 3 people in them, a weeks worth food and ammo and a big radio and little MG. That little 4 banger worked hard,and we went everywhere on skinny little tires and just hi/low range.

Obligatory moving bush image


My jeep Ft Lewis 1978 ish.