Chicken Drumstick

Personally I wouldn't even consider the Land Cruiser as an alternative. They are minging visually. Also less powerful engines and lower spec in general. Good vehicles I'm sure, but not for me. If you don't need the towing ability the 5dr Wrangler is quite a similar vehicle in every other regard. Seems prices on these have jumped by nearly £10k since last year though. So very very similar to the Grenadier.

Very true, but have you seen the crazy prices being asked for on the used market these days. It is completely mental in my opinion.

I got the email too. Some prices and specs, but the build configurator looks like it will go live on the 18th May. Prices are high, but probably not unexpected to be honest. Starting at £52k for the base model and then two other variants starting at £59k - which sadly puts them firmly beyond my reach! Hoping used prices in 3 years time when the first batch of PCP's come to end will be nearer my budget.

Looking about it would seem a standard length rear Defender shock is: Shock Length open :- 560mmShock Length closed :- 346mm https://gwynlewis4x4.co.uk/product/old-man-emu-standard-length-rear-eye-pin-shock-single-gl2003/ And a +2" Defender rear is: Shock Length open :- 593mmShock Length closed :- 349mm https://gwynlewis4x4.co.uk/product/old-man-emu-plus-2-rear-eye-pin-shock-single-gl2004/ Think the hole in the bush would be too big and a different bush would be needed though. But potential scope maybe.

Wonderful, thanks very much

Thanks. Mine is on coils these days, so I can make use of longer shocks off road. Wallows less than the air. I did like the air. But I couldn’t figure out what was wrong. And coils were a lot cheaper. However I think the wallow is the way the airbags work. They have an initial softness before they stiffen up. When you turn you get that instant lean/wallow with the airbags. Shame they never put ACE on the p38.

Thanks. Appreciate it. I’ve got the +2” Terrafirma’s on now. But the rears seem to have started making a noise. They are under 2 years old and not done many miles. The fronts are newer, but they don’t ride as well as the stock shocks I took off. I wouldn’t say they are bad or anything. Just wondered if a shock for something else might happen to be the correct lengths. As they are eye on the top and pin ok the bottom like the rear shocks of a Defender/D1.

Does anyone know the open and closed lengths of the front and rear shocks on a p38? Either that or options on +2" shocks that would work and aren't Terrafirma. Thanks.

Big fan of the out going model (and the Ranger in general). Bar the engine in the Raptor. The 2.0 litre bi-turbo is ok, but not for the price of the vehicle. Even more so as the regular US spec Ranger gets a 270hp 2.3 petrol engine. Looks like Ford are addressing this with the new Ranger Raptor however. I believe the same 2.0 litre diesel will still be available, but so will a 392bhp* petrol twin turbo V6! 😇 Very sadly I've heard that while Oz and the USA will get 392bhp. The UK one is destined for 284bhp... but the same engine. Hoping it is only electronically hobbled and not physical parts. That is a HUGE difference and rather disappointing. Also rather sadly, I suspect it'll be way out of my price range. But I can always dream.... 😻 It really does appeal as an 'ideal' vehicle for me. I love American trucks and cars (hence the Camaro). Always wanted a Dodge Ram with a V10 or Cummins. The Ram TRX is also pretty darn cool and the F-150 Raptor. But if I'm honest, the full size pickups are really a tad too big for UK use. The Ranger on the other hand is not! It comes with permanent 4wd, but has a 2wd Baja mode, locking diffs front and rear and a host of off road goodies to make it fast and capable everywhere, even on the tarmac. I've really rather been fancying a supercharged Range Rover Sport, but the Ranger Raptor is just so much more me. More rugged, less luxury, more utility. Hopefully it actually makes it to the UK, although I shudder to think of pricing or how few they will probably sell here.

Something more modern really. I.e. electronically controlled and know the throttle position. I'm not saying the old setups aren't good. Plenty of production vehicles from years back are like it. But autos have come a long way really. A nice RV8 with a ZF HP24 or similar would work well. Or maybe the entire Td5 + auto setup from a D2. Suspect an M57 (3.0 BMW diesel from an L322 RR) and the 5 speed they use would probably be made to work too or the HP24. Or if you want to go full out the gearbox from a D3/4/RRS using the ZF 6 or 8 speeds with the DD295 transfer box. Land Rover essentially used this setup on the 70th Anni model of the Defender. All of these are likely bigger more expensive builds though. And potentially more complex with electronics. Td5/RV8 would be the cheapest of the above options.

This all depends what you want. While I know there people who are happy with auto Tdi's. Some facts are, the torque convertor will sap power and you will have only 4 gears. So performance will as a rule suffer (and they aren't speedy to start with). MPG will also likely drop. Also most 300Tdi conversion will be to an old school auto box, which means limited or no programming. Lazy kickdown and probably unable to lock the torque converter up for cruising or when off road to get engine braking. On the flip side, they will and do work.

I have some first hand experience on several of these. I have X3’s on one of my vehicles. 33.10.50R15. My Uncle has KM3’s in 255/85R16 IMO the KM3 is better off road, but the X3 nicer on road. The KM3 is probably good enough to consider using for trials events off road (still not as aggressive as the remould offerings). Whereas the X3 would be out of its depth in trials events. I’ve not been impressed with the STT Pro seeing people using it. I have the older STT and it is the worst Mud Terrain I’ve ever used. Hopeless off road! We also have a set of the Toyo’s in 235/85. Not a bad laning/touring tyre. But far more of an All Terrain off road compared to the others. The Maxxis I’ve not run. The Geolander looks like one of these AT hybrid patterns. Suspect similar to the Toyo but maybe better on road. Depending what type of off road you plan. Ie how much mud etc and the type of mud. Maybe an aggressive AT would work? I have Maxxis Wormdrives on my Jimny. Really nice on the road and about on par with the likes of the Toyo off road. My brother has BFG KO2’s (33.10.50R15) on his 90. And I’d say likewise with these. In the past I’d always have gone MT. But my thoughts have changed slightly over the years.

What engine do you have? And what gearbox. Many of the diesels will happily pull 5th at 30mph.

But the V8 90 isn't owned for mpg reasons.... and it isn't really the first choice vehicle for motorway cruising either. I do get where you are coming from, but a more perky gearset will liven the car up a lot and make it more fun for all other types of use.

Thanks. Pretty happy the gearing will be better. I’d say I’m the opposite and often think vehicles are over geared. I have a 3.9 RV8 in a TR7. But that runs super short gears for 116mph at the red line in 5th. But it’s a riot to drive. Also the V8 won’t actually rev higher than a diesel with the same gears. But it will still have a wider rpm range.

Not sure which number is the date code on these. No real cracking, just some stress marks if you zoom right in. 235/85’s.

Does anyone know if it is a direct swap over or if I need to change anything. Vehicle is a factory V8 (1985/6), it had a 3.5 on Strombergs, but now a 3.9 EFI. The gearing is a bit tall to make the most of the revs. It has the LT-85 (silver case) gearbox and I 'think' 27D LT230 (1.192:1). Looking to swap in a 22D (1.410:1) from a 2.5TD 90. Thanks.

I have STT’s on my 90. I’ll have a look at the date code too. TBH - I like the “looks” of the tyre and on road they are nice. But they have been the most hopeless mud terrain I’ve ever used. Not that they make them any longer. But I’d not buy a 2nd set.

Tyre cracking is pretty common tbh. I wouldn't worry too much unless its really bad. As a rule they will still be legal and pass an MoT. As for the age... meh. Had tyres crack in less time. Could be many factors. And as for the warranty, it can't be point of sale date unless you bought direct from Cooper. UK law is your agreement with the seller. And a seller could keep the tyres for 10 years and then sell them. The maker has no control over this.

They seem fine thus far. Guess only time will tell.

I did this last year. There is an official part number, but I used this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224144606416 A U channel I think would be maybe be difficult to install, as you have to slide the window back and forth.

Thanks. Looks like they should fit then. Will get some ordered up.

Thinking outside the box. The BMW M57 3.0 litre S6 diesel (fitted to TD6 L322 Range Rovers and BMW cars) is probably the most powerful modern viable diesel that is a moderately easy swap and been done before. Not sure if you have access to such engines in Canada/USA though? But such a swap really needs to be done for the fun of it. Not for fuel saving costs, as it'll cost you thousands to perform the swap IMO.

The D2 was offered with the Td5 2.5 litre Turbo Diesel engine in the UK and other markets. The Td5 is quite nice tbh and fairly tunable. And should offer more mpg than a petrol Rover V8..... BUT... The V8 is more powerful than even a tuned Td5. And when you tune a Td5 and drive it hard the mpg will be a lot lower. As you'd have to remote buy and ship and then convert. I suspect the cost vs fuel savings simply is not worth it. This is likely to be true of any local engine you could swap in. You basically have a few options. You either need to find an adapter to fit the current transmission, or an an adepter to fit a new transmission but mates to the LT230 transfer box or you replace engine, transmission and transfer box with donor ones and fab up some way of connecting to the axles (or replace the axles too). Either way I can't see it being cheap or any savings to be had. The 2.8 cummins above is nice engine as a new crate item. But that engine alone must be worth several times what your entire D2 would be worth in perfect running order. From what I've seen the 2.8 Cummins offer similar performance and power to the Land Rover Td5. Personally I'd stick with a petrol V8.

I have some rock sliders fitted. Wondering if anyone knows of any folding side steps that are compatible? A look online and the factory style folding step looks like its fixing points are obscured by the rock sliders. Wondering if there is an easy way around it? Thanks.