What will break next? Advice on spare parts to carry for a month-long trip D2 V8 pre-facelift
Hi all,
I’m planning a month-long road trip around Southern Europe in my 2000 pre-facelift Discovery 2 4.0 V8, which is also fitted with a Prins LPG system. I’m based in northern France, so there will be plenty of distance involved just getting there and back.
I bought the car two years ago. It had apparently seen some fairly serious off-roading in its previous life, but my use is mainly overlanding, some relatively easy off-roading, and regular 500+ km motorway trips.
It’s now at 230k km (around 140k miles), 35k km of which I’ve put on myself.
I’m trying to put together a sensible list of must-have spares, particularly things that are difficult to source quickly while travelling. As the car will also be our main living space for a month, every bit of storage counts, so I’d rather not carry half a workshop with me.
The car was basically stock when I bought it (appart from the LPG), but I’ve put a fair amount of work (and money…) into fixing and upgrading it since. Most things have been replaced either when they failed or when they looked like they were about to.
Work done so far:
- New starter motor
- New battery
- EAS delete and +2” coil spring conversion
- New steering damper
- New A/C evaporator
- New O2 sensors
- Climate control panel LED conversion
- New auxiliary belt
- Inline thermostat upgrade
- Sunroofs sealed (needed for the roof rack installation)
- New rear door seal
- New AT3 LT255/60 R18 tyres + wheel spacers
- Steel front bumper
- Auxiliary lights
- New head unit
- New steering shaft
- New drive plate
- Retrofitted an older RRC transmission pan with dipstick and top filler
- Three Amigos shuttle valve fix
- New windscreen
- Sloppy new headliner job ( already sagging a bit )
Planned before the trip — parts already on the way:
- Fan clutch upgrade
- Water pump upgrade
- New silicone coolant hoses
I’m currently considering carrying:
- Fuel pump
- Alternator
- XYZ switch
- 2 bottles of steelseal
The fuel pump and alternator take up a fair amount of space, so I probably can’t justify carrying many more large parts. I’m happy to swap either of them for something more essential or more likely to leave me stranded.
For diagnostics, I’ll also be carrying a Nanocom and an LPG diagnostic tool, so I should at least have a reasonable chance of identifying most electronic or LPG-related issues on the road.
I regularly check all fluid levels. There’s been a very slow power-steering leak since I bought the car, but nothing significant. Oil changes, plugs and general servicing are all done according to the recommended intervals.
The Prins LPG system has been reliable so far, but I’d also be interested to hear whether there are any LPG-specific components worth carrying. Obviously, if the LPG system itself fails I can simply run on petrol, so I’m mainly concerned about anything that could potentially prevent the engine from running altogether.
So, what would you expect to fail next at this mileage, and what would you absolutely carry on a month-long trip?
I’m particularly interested in parts that:
- can fail without much warning;
- would leave the car stranded;
- are difficult to source quickly in Southern Europe; and
- are realistic to replace at the roadside or at a local garage.
Would be great to hear from anyone who’s done similar long trips — particularly what you carried, what actually broke, and what you wish you’d brought with you!
Also posted elsewhere, but sharing here as I’d particularly appreciate advice from this community.
