How well does a non-CDL do off road?
 

For those who off road their discovery with-out the center dif lock in mud and snow conditions, how well does the traction control do in keeping things moving? Does it do as well as having the CDL? I just bought a nice '03 and the more I think about it Im hoping its not an off road"down grade" from my '02 pathfinder with the standard 4x4 locking setup and LSD rear. Any thoughs, opinions or personal experience with off roading a non- cdl discovery? thanks-jon

You need CDL if you do serious off roading. You will not have a problem if all 4 wheels are on the ground and you have good traction - any other time you will need CDL. I have a 2003 without CDL, lots of fun once a wheel lifts in the air. TC does help but it's a far cry from CDL.

it depends on what else you plan on doing to your truck. i took my stock 99 without enganging the CDL and without TC active on bald street tires and i did pretty damn well at keeping up with the pack. my last time out stil no cdl or tc but now i had a 2 1/4" suspension lift and 3" bigger M/T tires and i did a lot better. next time out i will have the CDL , the TC and really be kicking it.

i say take it off road so you can see firsthand what its capabilites are and then make a decision of what to do next. you can always rebuild the TC or replace it if you really want to. or if your truck falls in the '03 death vin range maybe sell it and buy a different disco with CDL already in it.

I just spent 5 days in central PA and North central PA with my '03. it does have larger tires and the lift but I had no problems. I got stuck once for a 20 minutes when I had to move over for some really rude snowmobilers. I ended up with the passenger side in a 2 foot gully had snow past the diffs . dug out a littel and then just worked the truck in low range and I was out. The CDL on a truck is great if you plan on going places that I have truly "deep" terrain. i.e. MOAB or certain forested areas in the northeast. But if you are being smart and going out with friends and you all have recovery gear you should be fine. I know folks with CDL who can still get stuck.
I do plan of re-doing the transfer case at some point to have CDL but until then I drive smart.

Yes it falls into the death range but it has 100k miles with-out the oil pump failure, so I will keep an eye on it and take my chances. Just curious where this death range came fromm in the first place? I dont see land rover putting that out.
Anybody here swapped out the center diff with a locking unit from another year?

CDL is good, and makes it even better, but TC does work extremely well, you just have to get used to how it works.

A CDL "Only" equiped vehicle will get cross - axled and go no where in no time like a Disco 1, where as even a TC only equiped vehicle, cross-axle situations are a thing of the past.

So with the TC working best with all 4 tires on the ground, would it be better to disconnect the swaybars before hitting the trails to help keep the tires on the ground more?

Why not just add a locking front end to your '03? The ETC on a DII is good when it is not disabled by the 3 amigos.