Apologies in advance for being that guy.

Just sold my D90 and am currently searching for a D2 to primarily use as a serious trail truck to complement my LR3 (which is pretty well built and which I will continue to use on up to more advanced trials).

I'm re-learning the D2s as things have changed and as i havent owned one in years.

Current thought is:

​​​​​​~37s
RTE 3" lift kit to keep cog down (kit appears reasonably comprehensive)
A fair amount of cutting
Ashcroft lockers (with 4.75s?)/axles
Associated BS: armor, winch, etc

Should I be looking at anything else/different?

 

pretty sure Ashcroft axles max out at 35s. Might want to consider full custom axles or an axle swap from an FJ80 (or is it FZJ80?) land cruiser.

otherwise sounds like a good direction

 

I also don't want to be "that guy", but, what kind of off roading are you planning doing? With that setup, I'm guessing rock crawling?

 

That's the thought. My LR3 is fully armored and on 32.5s - I want to build something that will do meaningfully more than it will

 

I would think 35's on a D2 is about the max tire size without swapping out the axles. This could get expensive 🤑

 

35 is as large as ashcroft will warranty axle shafts. Unless running interco or swampers pretty sure you have to bump to a 17" wheel which is nice as it's much easier to pick up a set of used alloy beadlocks. If you plan to go to 37s I'd highly consider thinking of using fj80 axles and 3 linking the front and rear suspension. To get more travel than the stock set up the rear will need shock mounts to be cut/trussed into the rear cargo area (unless you don't care about any up-travel), in the front some re-arranging of coolant overflow and PS tank will be needed for extra high shock mounts. Stock radius arm set up binds up real bad and effectively a 10-12" shock is the most you can utilize. Due to rear door clearance I think you're going to need a small body lift in order to maintain some up travel with the 37s. A really well armored d2 linked on 35s I think would get you just about anywhere while maintaining rover axles and free up a huge chunk of funds into the suspension by avoiding an axle swap.

I don't think he's on any boards but I have a buddy running 37s on a P38 and 18" air shocks on all 4 corners, it's been through a few iterations so not sure exactly the suspension/axle set up that he has settled on...he was just in Moab for the rally so there should be some media of it out there. Hard to miss as the front shock hoops are coming through the hood..

 

good info, thank you. not opposed to spending some $, but if the gains aren't worth the trouble, I would be fine sticking at 35s.

 

If it were me I'd build it for 35s and spend the time and money on suspension set up and armor imo. Will have better articulation and still won't solve the issues that our platform has aka the massive rear overhang. Also I can't imagine a rover motor moving a d2 at highway speeds on 37s, gearing be damned.

Another thought is why not build/buy a buggy and tow it behind the LR3 if rock crawling is really what you're going for? Cost would be about the same with something that would perform significantly better in the rocks. Unless I misunderstood how serious of crawling you want to do, but figured it was pretty substantial if jumping to 37s.

 

I considered it, but I do a lot of my offroading with ROAV and the truck has to be a legit land rover for their events

 

not to derail the thread, but I'm gonna need to see photos of that!