Further to my previous thread on finding a good one, I bought a 2004 with 74K miles. It has a full dealer service history, including head gaskets at 52K.

I think my first step will be to check or overhaul the front driveshaft. Has anyone any experience of these items? (or a different recommendation)

1999 2004 Land Rover Discovery 2 Heavy Duty Front Driveshaft Drive Shaft New | eBay

Land Rover Discovery 2 CV Front Drive Shaft 1999 2004 | eBay

 

You can do the shaft yourself for about $70 and a few hours of cursing.

But that's all the help you'll get from me until I see pics posted!

 

Wish I could help with the pics but it's on a truck right now, somewhere in the US. I'll post a pic when it's delivered!

 

Congrats on the purchase, Mark. When you get the truck, if the u-joints have grease nipples on them, then it's already been updated at some point.

I bought a heavy duty front driveshaft from BP of Utah. You can also rebuild your stock shaft with the greasable u-joints and centering ball. There are lots of posts on here with part numbers and proceedures.

 

Oh, and get yourself an Ultragauge to monitor the engine temp. Off topic, I know, but important!

 

Hi Steve,

My impression of dealer serviced cars is that they will only replace with stock items - so it's probably not been upgraded. I like the Ultragauge - nice price too.

 

Welcome. x2 on the Ultragauge, it's nice/essential to see actual data of what's going on under the hood, etc.

 

My driveshaft was $300 and took 20 mins to replace...gave me 3.6 hrs of my life back. If you plan on going with a lift/bigger tires, I'd recommend going with an aftermarket HD shaft. If you're going to keep it stock, rebuilding is fine if you don't mind losing a pt of blood.

 

Yes I'm tending towards your line of thinking, plus it would be a selling point if I ever am selling the car.

 

Lucky 8 is out of stock on drive shafts, British Parts of Utah is a out 350 plus their outrageous shipping charges. If you take it off hand have a local drive line shop rebuild it, the cost is around 200 to 300. Either option is good, it is a easy project to do it, if it needs to be done.