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parts painted. very disappointed with 2 different rustoleum primers. neither worked well with lacquer rustoleum bright green paint ( and rustoleum doesn't label primer cans as to which topcoat they work with)! Should have powdercoated, but then I would have to press out all the bushings...no biggy. going under truck anyway....rustoleum gloss black worked great on the D shafts.....waiting on new tie rod ends for the heavy duty rods...
BTW... those are 6 degree caster rods from adrenaline 4x4...super fast shipping to USA! and they fit perfectly.
I may be ordering those soon. I have the ones from RTE, but I've gone thru 2 "Heavy Duty" drive shafts. The first one that came with the RTE kit lasted about 10K.
The second one from Abran at CARS4X4 lasted about 3KK. I dont know if the lift angle is too steep or is related to the castor arms. I recently moved to Reno, NV for work and found British4X4of Reno. Brian is the shop owner and is awesome with his attention to detail and work. Apparently the Tom Woods driveshaft company is aware about the front drive shafts failing on lifted D2's and is working with Shane there to build a proper HD shaft. I lube my drive shafts every other oil change. When I get my truck back to the shop and on a lift, Brian is going to look at the lift and angle to see if the RTE castor arms correct the degree of angle properly. If not I am going with the same setup as XRAD. I have the modified WATTS Linkage from RTE and have had no issues in the rear. My new custom Tom Woods shaft should be coming in about a week. If I was going to do this again, I'd still buy the RTE kit minus the drive shafts. I'll update when the new shaft comes in. Im currently in 2WD at the moment.
The added degree caster arms only add to increase the angle on the driveshaft as they lower the input shaft angle on front diff (bringing it back to stock angle). OEM caster angle creates a more gentle driveshaft angle with lift, but the steering can become more cumbersome as the caster is now incorrect. I had bad luck with a new TW and another brand heavy duty D shaft with the 6 degree caster rods..but worked fine with a lighter cheapy OEM d shaft. The original TW HD D shaft was smooth as butter with the lift and I am rebuilding that one.....
finally got around to installing 4" lift.......still have to install 6 degree caster rods, rear diff flange, and new dirveshafts..
lift includes 2" spacers, new spring mounts, new isolators, +3" adjustable shocks ( I added rubber shock protectors and got rid of the plastic red covers), extended sway bar links, TF medium duty springs, TF adjustable steering damper, EBC brake pads, vented rotors, +4" goodrich brake lines, extended ABS wiring, rear upper dislocation cones, rear lower spring retainers, ......etc.....
replaced the diff gaiter. Bought a set off ebay last year, included the diff gaiter and the hand brake gaiter. VERY nice for 27$. leather was soft and easy to manipulate. If you are wondering which glue to use, I used E6000, available at true value/ace. It's like shoe goo, but a bit stronger. sticks to leather and ABS.
I also tested my OEM jack which was not working. Turned out it was missing the ball for the valve. So I had a few ***** left over from front seat track repair. The ball measured a bit over 1/4 (actually, .275), but worked just fine. Use jack oil. You can get it at autozone.... Fill slowly at the valve until no more air bubbles exit.
I posted this info a few years ago, but thought it might still be helpful. If you want to use one of the blanks on the gauge housing to add another switch (to run accessories or lights..etc..), this is a way to do it. Get a matching color momentary used or new Disco switch w/led AND the wire lead w/plug! Get a latching switch circuit like this:
This is a great circuit because the freewheel diode and a relay are already built into board. You can get latching 500ma boards for less, but then you have to build the rest of the circuit. Also, the relay handles 10A at 12v, which will run most small accessories. If you want to run say ... a pair of 130 watt 12v spotlights like me, I then use this circuit board as the pilot relay to operate an appropriate sized relay. Also, this little board can be operated via the ground trigger built into the Disco switch (see drawing). You can box the whole board into a small plastic case...It unlatches when power is cut....This led light draws less than 1 A .....easy peasy....
Installing my Borla exhaust system. Super light compared to original. Original was I think the 'original' exhaust from 2004. front muffler inlet weld broke. i welded it up and used it for a while. I cleaned and high temp painted the Borla pipes. Borla says they are 'all' stainless, but the pipes are lower quality stainless than the muffler, and had very minor surface corrosion. A bit of paint won't hurt. I had this on my 2001 disco. I spoke to a Borla rep the other day. They do not make these anymore and don't plan on it, but the exhaust has a lifetime warranty so I could send it back for free repairs if ever needed.
The front clamp on the Borla muffler was bent. The studs in the OEM 'Y' cat pipe were frozen so I cut through the bolts and cut off both clamps. Tried to find stainless, but could not find 'molded frame' split clamps in stainless, so just ordered mild steel split clamps off ebay. will see how they work out. 2 1/2" ID for the clamps (the front clamps only!..the other two are 2 1/4 stainless band clamps)...
If you can get your hands on the Borla system, I think it is a great product... a little rumble, not loud at all.....
just got a 2001 RR 4.6 for a rebuild...don't know what it's like inside, but I know it turns over.....it's a big 'rub off' lottery ticket..lol... The plan is top hats, cam, minimum porting, cometic head gaskets, etc....
