2004 Discovery TD5, a.k.a "The Bear Bus"
Discussion
So after a lot of prevaricating, a few threads here and elsewhere, numerous visits to look at Jeep Grand Cherokees, discussions on 3rd car aesthetics with the girlfriend (she wanted something that had a high seta and looked "tough") I finally tracked down some Disco TD5s in manual, with dark leather and dark paint to view. The deadline was to have a dog wagon for our upcoming holiday in Cornwall, one that can also tow and launch our boat and that could be useful in Yorkshire snow.
The first one sounded ideal, the seller was going to hold it for me as I was going to view it the next morning at 8am. Unfortunately he didn't tell his son and he sold it in the meantime. So I went to view a couple more, ummed about for a couple of hours after viewing them both, decided to put an offer in on the cheaper one only to find it had been sold. After a pint in the pub this left me with one vehicle and pressure from the girlfriend not to "lose it" to someone else. A phone call and text later it was secured.
So after the joy of trains taking 4 1/2 hrs compared to what would take just over 2 in a car we now have a Discovery TD5 Landmark, just over 100k miles and most importantly it has had a new rear 1/3rd chassis (they tend to rot out). As it's a Land Rover, and a 13 year old one at that it has a few minor niggles to sort.
Obligatory petrol station shots on collection:
It was here that I discovered the fuel filler flap catch needs replacing, it took a fair bit of fiddling to get it closed!
The first one sounded ideal, the seller was going to hold it for me as I was going to view it the next morning at 8am. Unfortunately he didn't tell his son and he sold it in the meantime. So I went to view a couple more, ummed about for a couple of hours after viewing them both, decided to put an offer in on the cheaper one only to find it had been sold. After a pint in the pub this left me with one vehicle and pressure from the girlfriend not to "lose it" to someone else. A phone call and text later it was secured.
So after the joy of trains taking 4 1/2 hrs compared to what would take just over 2 in a car we now have a Discovery TD5 Landmark, just over 100k miles and most importantly it has had a new rear 1/3rd chassis (they tend to rot out). As it's a Land Rover, and a 13 year old one at that it has a few minor niggles to sort.
Obligatory petrol station shots on collection:
It was here that I discovered the fuel filler flap catch needs replacing, it took a fair bit of fiddling to get it closed!
On getting it home a few choice modifications were required to transform it into a dog transporter.
Firstly a dog guard, luckily one had been fitted previously so the brackets behind the rear seats and in the rear grab handles were already fitted, it was just a case of bolting the metal "ears" to the guard and sliding it in place, securing with the thumb twist screws that came with it.
The dog is only young, under 10 months, and still has a slight tendency to be car sick, so a cheap liner was sourced and slid in to place, the lip should be enough to retain vomit/mud/drool.
This was put to good use last weekend as we crossed North Yorkshire to drop the dog off with my dad, the dog was only sick twice.
This weekend's job is now to fix the fuel filler cap clip and investigate the u/s driver's door speaker.
Firstly a dog guard, luckily one had been fitted previously so the brackets behind the rear seats and in the rear grab handles were already fitted, it was just a case of bolting the metal "ears" to the guard and sliding it in place, securing with the thumb twist screws that came with it.
The dog is only young, under 10 months, and still has a slight tendency to be car sick, so a cheap liner was sourced and slid in to place, the lip should be enough to retain vomit/mud/drool.
This was put to good use last weekend as we crossed North Yorkshire to drop the dog off with my dad, the dog was only sick twice.
This weekend's job is now to fix the fuel filler cap clip and investigate the u/s driver's door speaker.
They make for steady progress, natural gait on a A roads is a comfy 55-60 and on dual carriageways/motorways (of the continental speed limited variety 
) 75 seems comfy. What has surprised me is that the centre of gravity feels lower than I would expect from the appearance of the vehicle. The cabin is also pretty light and airy as you sit quite high above the waist line, and it has two sunroofs. It is still a live axled ladder framed dinosaur so can feel a bit fidgety but is quieter/plusher than my VW T4 van and a surprisingly enjoyable place to be.
) 75 seems comfy. What has surprised me is that the centre of gravity feels lower than I would expect from the appearance of the vehicle. The cabin is also pretty light and airy as you sit quite high above the waist line, and it has two sunroofs. It is still a live axled ladder framed dinosaur so can feel a bit fidgety but is quieter/plusher than my VW T4 van and a surprisingly enjoyable place to be.It's had some more use, we took it down to Cornwall as dog transport (as well as the VW T4), ideal for going down the beach, frying halloumi for sandwiches and general duties.
And has been used for local mountain biking duties too.
And has been used for local mountain biking duties too.
Edited by TiminYorkshire on Friday 15th September 13:53
Edited by TiminYorkshire on Friday 15th September 13:54
And catching up a little more, I fixed the passenger side electric window mechanism, it was properly chewed up, but didn't fix the driver side bass speaker.
I started using this as my daily as the VW van was shonking about a bit and I had some CBA around fixing it (brakes and wheel bearings).
It's done a bit and been a few places last year/year before;
Race director/marshall/support crew for a half marathon I organised for a few friends in December 2019:
I went for a run myself in January 2020
Last week of the French ski season as you know what arrived....(there and back for the nay sayers)
Sunset reflections..
Lockdown stag do:
[video]https://i.imgur.com/gkB66II.mp4[/video]
Supporting Future-Mrs in Yorkshire on a self initiated trail marathon down the coast
And it has been collecting hay bales over the summer (socially distancing, can't do this work from home etc.. luckily didn't need to test my eyes)..
I still enjoy it, pretty agricultural handling wise but that makes it fun in this day and age.
I started using this as my daily as the VW van was shonking about a bit and I had some CBA around fixing it (brakes and wheel bearings).
It's done a bit and been a few places last year/year before;
Race director/marshall/support crew for a half marathon I organised for a few friends in December 2019:
I went for a run myself in January 2020
Last week of the French ski season as you know what arrived....(there and back for the nay sayers)
Sunset reflections..
Lockdown stag do:
[video]https://i.imgur.com/gkB66II.mp4[/video]
Supporting Future-Mrs in Yorkshire on a self initiated trail marathon down the coast
And it has been collecting hay bales over the summer (socially distancing, can't do this work from home etc.. luckily didn't need to test my eyes)..
I still enjoy it, pretty agricultural handling wise but that makes it fun in this day and age.
So this went through a Colin Chapman phase, self lightening.
1 sidestep and the rear step fell off...
Then the alternator went a few months later, doh!
Even with the battery light on it got me home fine, so the battery went on charge in the house and got me to work/the garage the next day (20+ miles).
The garage soon had the alternator changed, the other side step fell off when they stepped on it at the garage. They were quite apologetic, I just found it funny.
So now without side steps, that aids the ground clearance, plus they're heavy buggers, so the fuel consumption on the hills has got to be better!
1 sidestep and the rear step fell off...
Then the alternator went a few months later, doh!
Even with the battery light on it got me home fine, so the battery went on charge in the house and got me to work/the garage the next day (20+ miles).
The garage soon had the alternator changed, the other side step fell off when they stepped on it at the garage. They were quite apologetic, I just found it funny.
So now without side steps, that aids the ground clearance, plus they're heavy buggers, so the fuel consumption on the hills has got to be better!
If only everything in life was as reliable as........
.......... a Land Rover!
The van has a slight rogue drain on it, so rather than jumping it off the leisure battery I went for a jump off a running Disco!
That's 5 litres, 10 cylinders in that picture, a few tonnes and just a smidge over 200 bhp on a good day.
.......... a Land Rover!
The van has a slight rogue drain on it, so rather than jumping it off the leisure battery I went for a jump off a running Disco!
That's 5 litres, 10 cylinders in that picture, a few tonnes and just a smidge over 200 bhp on a good day.
Edited by TiminYorkshire on Saturday 6th February 10:17
This had taken to squatting at random times, and then every time after being used. A neighbour asked if I was stashing gold bullion in the back! Some water and fairy mix has revealed a leaking rear airbag, new ones ordered and arriving tomorrow, hopefully I'll get some time to swap them out over the weekend.
J4CKO said:
"Bear Bus", do you mean for the large dog, and not for carrying some chunky, rugged, bearded gay chaps round ?
The former for us, but I'm sure it could do the latter quite happily if that's your flavour. Just make sure the two in the back seats are short, the leg room for seat 6 & 7 is limited. This kept squatting, just occasionally, then more and more often. So I sprayed one rear air bag (spring) with a technical water/fairy mix. It bubbled. Utilising a mixture of a degree in Engineering Science Degree from some New College and a dash of obvious thinking I decided that the air was better off staying in the afore mentioned bag. A neighbour also asked how much gold bullion I was stashing in the back and if that would be safe in the village car park.
I decided to buy some new bags. Given the number of Disco TD5s converted back to springs I though a new pair were going to be horrifically expensive, but a set of Dunlops were cheaper than my last set of trail shoes.
So a bit of setting the suspension on high, faffing about with axle stands soon had me realising that I'd never reach the 10mm brass connector in a minute gap between the chassis and body. It was time to bring out a French precision tool, this is an "Opinel" it folds so it doesn't stab you when in your pocket. Normally I use this for technical tasks such as cutting cheese on a holiday hike, or trimming cable ties that are holding the rusty bodywork together on the Disco in a drift warrrior wannabe style. It was time to let the stabbing commence, don't mention the binding rear calliper and rusty outer disc......
It was actually pretty easy to deflate then, undo the connector, twist the old bag 90 dgrees anti clockwise, remove, insert new bag, twist 90 degrees clockwise. The next job was trimming the connector of the air tube, as the Dunlop bags just kind of grab the tube. This was all done, and the engine started to bring the compressor on and partially inflate the bag, seemed pretty sorted.
Rinse and repeat for the other side and it was riding high again and hasn't sagged since. Success!
I decided to buy some new bags. Given the number of Disco TD5s converted back to springs I though a new pair were going to be horrifically expensive, but a set of Dunlops were cheaper than my last set of trail shoes.
So a bit of setting the suspension on high, faffing about with axle stands soon had me realising that I'd never reach the 10mm brass connector in a minute gap between the chassis and body. It was time to bring out a French precision tool, this is an "Opinel" it folds so it doesn't stab you when in your pocket. Normally I use this for technical tasks such as cutting cheese on a holiday hike, or trimming cable ties that are holding the rusty bodywork together on the Disco in a drift warrrior wannabe style. It was time to let the stabbing commence, don't mention the binding rear calliper and rusty outer disc......
It was actually pretty easy to deflate then, undo the connector, twist the old bag 90 dgrees anti clockwise, remove, insert new bag, twist 90 degrees clockwise. The next job was trimming the connector of the air tube, as the Dunlop bags just kind of grab the tube. This was all done, and the engine started to bring the compressor on and partially inflate the bag, seemed pretty sorted.
Rinse and repeat for the other side and it was riding high again and hasn't sagged since. Success!
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