Greetings.

I just purchased a used Land Rover Discovery II SE7. It has 87,000km (54,000 miles) and appears to be in great working condition. It has clearly been maintained well. It's clean and everything appears to function.

Here is my plan for upgrading in the short term:
1. Install CDL kit at local shop (Hesp Automotive in North Vancouver)
2. Get two extra bright headlamps installed on brush guard.
3. Buy 4 Nokian Haakapeliita tires on steelies to cope with this 'worst winter in 55 years' we are supposed to get.

Was wondering:

Do my short term goals (1, 2, 3 above) sound good and
what other things I should be doing - any advice or heads up?
e.g. Is it worth getting Disco 1 wiper arms and buying 'better' blades?

Also
a. the glovebox pops open randomly
b. the front drink holder won't close (just stays stuck open)
c. the rear ashtray (near floor of backseat passengers) is broken and just jammed in.

Any ideas/advice/stories for fixes on these things?

Thank you all - looking forward to this community.

Anatexis.

 

Get the CDL upgrade, the steelies with the snows and DI wiper arms.
Trying to use off road lights while driving in a blizzard actually has a negative effect, the light reflects off of the snow and shortens your visibility.

 

I don't have CDL, and got by just fine last week during an early snow storm we had around the Seattle area. My traction control (and ABS thanks to No Amigos) worked just fine for me to get around without issue on icy/snowy roads, but if you want Superman traction, CDL is a great upgrade.

Also, I did the DI wiper arm conversion a few weeks back, great, cheap, quick mod that will make a big difference for you.

 

The 1999 D2 I used to have would randomly open its glove box too. I found that a quick shot of Tri-Flo in the latching mechanism along with a firm closing fixed the problem. Before the tri-flo it didn't matter how hard I shut the glove box it would just come open over the next bump. For the cup holder and ash tray they may need to be replaced depending on how they are broken. I never used the front center cup holder as anything I put in there got in the way of the HVAC controls. The optional OEM cup holders that screw onto the center console work well and I would recommend getting those if you don't already have them.

 

Wow, I'm amazed nobody has brought this up yet...here's a couple really important questions...

1. Has the front driveshaft been checked to make sure all of the u-joints and the centering ball have zerks so you can grease them? (There should be a total of 4 zerks easily visible on the the front drive shaft...1 on the shaft itself, and one on each of the 3 u-joints.) If you don't have u-joints that can be greased, then replacing the u-joints should be your #1 upgrade.
Edit: I should clarify that it's possible you won't see zerks, but plugs where zerks can be fitted...these could be on an end cap on the u-joints, or down in the base depending on the brand of the replacement u-joint...

2. Did you get service history with the truck? If not, then you should make completing the 60k mile Service your #2 priority.

Assuming the 3 Amigo's don't show up then after #1 and #2 above, I'd do the tires and the CDL...

 

Great advice, thank you.

I will go for the wipers for sure then. And I do have all the service records. The previous owner (original owner) sweated the small stuff, so it was maintained well but has NOT had the 60,000mile servicing. I will ask Hesp automotive about that - and cost to do that servicing.

I will go look under the front end later today so see if I have the zerks. I suspect not, but who knows.

 

call will tillery www.roverguy.com about the wiper arms.

get the front drive shaft rebuilt ASAP if you don't have the greasable u joints, tons of threads on this forum about it.

make sure to do the full 60k service list. I would suggest learning to do most of that list on your own or else your land rover ownership will drive you to the broke house.

 

best advice i will give is to stop and sell it now if you are not willing to spend money and fix things that would be seen as annoying on most vehicles but drastic on these.

if you are okay with that then you my friend have found your ride. enjoy