Chicken Drumstick

For competition use, the late Defender style chassis (Td5 onwards) must either use the full factory mounting points, i.e. using the legs back the chassis/tank area. Or jate rings. If you are removing the tank, you could put a spreader plate behind the rear crossmember (min 3mm) and bolt all the way through, as per the older chassis. But you'll need to drill the captive nuts inside the crossmember to do this. This basic setup has proven to be very safe and durable over decades worth of competition use. Is the vehicle to be used for competition at all?

But then, a Discovery (or even a Range Rover) of any generation can also do this. I'm not sure it is these "things" that really define what the old Defender is or was. It is more the intangible stuff, the things the new one doesn't have.

Should be fine as is tbh. More about how you drive it than not. Plenty of Tdi and V8 Series’ kicking about. A Di will be well down on power. I’d est more like 70hp.

I think the issue is, most times the spring rate or intended use isn't published by the sellers/resellers in the UK. Years back Heystee used to have some good info on their site listing all of the different springs from 2 leaf through to 4 leaf rears for the 88. Looking today I can see that info isn't there any longer and they don't list as many options. Also their shop comes up with a Wordpress site so maybe they no longer trade anyway. If it wasn't for the info, I wouldn't have known what to look for. Rockymountain still have some good info: https://parabolicsprings.com/parabolicsprings.html

I'm willing to bet the parabolics are of a heavy spring rate. When looking into this over the years, almost all the sellers/makers only sell HD spring rates with 3 or more leaves. I suspect this is because a parabolic will allow more roll and they are trying to prevent this. Heystee offer some flexy light spring rate springs, but had none in stock when I wanted them. So I went with Rocky Mountain Spares (which are very similar). I went 2 leaf. Which was too soft for hauling, but rode very well on the road or rough terrain and had lots of flex. Sadly not mine anymore. Had a few other mods, but the parabolics worked very well.

That pretty much sums my take on it too

I've always had a very small budget to run vehicles on. Not much disposable money/income at all and nobody to help me out if I get in money trouble. I've run plenty of bangers over the years. But have always had to do long commutes (50-70miles a day+). Buying cheap motors cost hard cold cash to buy and maintain. Ultimately the last one I was running as a daily ended needing some work. Nothing really major, PAS and alternator. But being a more modern car, but still a banger. It wasn't as cheap to fix as I'd have liked. Certainly not when you look at the value of the car. But the biggest issue was, I was fedup of wasting my weekends maintaining it, it was also mid winter and cold and wet and I was working outside. When you rely on such a car and you are let down, it makes getting to work very difficult, or very expensive. And it might take me several weeks to get something fixed. Ultimately I'd had enough and eventually got myself to a point that I could buy something newer. I looked at buying used, but newer cars. But even at the £5000-7000 range. The finance options (HP) made the monthly repayments quite high. Or the cars were too old to even get finance on. And I didn't have the cash to pay this amount out. A £5000 car would likely cost £200/month+ on finance. So I looked at new PCP deals. In 2017 I bought a new Smart ForTwo. The sticker price was just over £14k, but it came with 0% finance and only required £500 down (I think I paid about £1100 through choice). And cost £185/month finance. This actually worked out cheaper a month than I'd recently been spending keeping the banger going. Although I did have to find a bit more money a month. But I then got 50,000+ miles 100% trouble free motoring from the car. I didn't have to put a spanner on it once. Never even opened the engine cover! It was also super nice to get into a clean comfy car were everything worked. Old bangers always have something that doesn't work on them. Modern tech and stuff also made it much nicer day to day as well. I was very happy with the swap to the Smart. Although I knew it would never be a long term keeper. But for only a bit more money a month (which I was eventually in a position to afford). I found it to be a very good step and do not regret the decision at all. However, I did want to look at changing the Smart after a few years. As I'd done massively more miles than planned and didn't want to be stung at the end of the PCP term. The Jimny just happened along at the right time. And I was lucky to have a a bit money come my way to secure the deposit. As it stands today, the PCP finance is more expensive on the Jimny. But that is due to their demand. But it is no worse than the interest a regular bank loan would cost me. The finance is £260'ish/month. Which is currently within my means to pay. And the value of the vehicle has actually gone up, although this isn't something I could have forseen. But if I sold it today, I could clear the finance and walk away with money in my pocket. However I'm not going to do this. I fully intend to keep the vehicle and will at the end of the term clear the remaining balance one way or another. I wouldn't go back to running a banger as a daily, not unless I had huge fund of money to ensure I could keep it running.

I guess, but on the flip side, if it was just being used as a Chelsea Tractor, people would moan that the only off roading it does is bumping up and down curbs. I guess sometimes people just can't win

Yeah sort of agree. Although surely that is the entire intent of all of the pay n' play sites? Not that I personally frequent them for that. But I can sort of see the appeal of having a play in a 4x4 off road.

Thanks for sharing. A good example of the wrong tyres for the terrain I think. Still full props for the owner using the vehicle like that.

When the Range Rover was introduced it too was just a model in the Rover car line. I don’t think early RR’s even had Land Rover on them any where. Later on Land Rover as a company was formed and separated away from Rover. Today Range Rover is a model line up.

We have a combo hitch on the V8. Only used for small light trailors, but has always worked fine. No real complaints. Has been on the vehicle for 2 decades maybe.

Not that I'm directly disagreeing. But it would depend on the rating of the ball. They are not all the same. Personally I've never known one to break under this usage (25+ years motorsport). And they are approved for certain types of off road motorsport as recovery points, backed by the MSUK.

What rims do you have? The offset of the rim will play a big part in how much room there is between the tyre and radius arm on full lock. The steering stops may not be 100% the same, as the front suspension uses a panhard rod. So depending on how extended or compressed the suspension is, it will vary the location of the axle. ie as the vehicle moves up and down, the axle will move left and right in relation to the body. Reducing the steering lock will prevent the tyre hitting the the radius arm, but also potentially increase your turning circle. Deeper offset rims and/or wheel spacers will allow for more lock and no rubbing (or just turn the steering wheel less ). If you are wanting to get a smaller turning circle. Re: tyres. Looks like you are in France. Not sure what the market is like there. But I didn't know of any shortage of suitable sizes in the UK. You can probably get away with quite a few options, so long as they are roughly the same diameter, e.g. 235/75 205 x 16 245/70

I have Kumho MT51's on my p38 Range Rover. No real complaints if honest. Pretty decent on the road, although the RR has lots of sound proofing. Worked well in the small bit of snow we had this winter. They look more aggressive in person than the factory photos. Not used in real heavy mud, but I suspect about as good as you can reasonably get with going for a more aggressive mud terrain. Not sure I'd really call it an AT too, maybe somewhat too aggressive. MPG has taken a hit with them. On my Jimny I'm running Maxxis Wormdrive tyres. I have to say they have surpassed expectations off road, even in wet mud. The Jimny does have traction control which helps, but the tyres have been very good for an AT. They have really quite deep tread blocks.

Hi and welcome to the forum. Not all car makers show individual trim levels with badges. Rover cars stopped doing this in the late 1990's I believe. Not really sure what kind of recourse you'd have with the dealer. Can't see that 'demanding' is going to get your far tbh.

The Caterham is a specialist in its field. And offers function over the form. The Wrangler and old Defender did the same. I.e. it’s native design is suited to its niche abilities at the compromise of other abilities. Has nothing to do with size or weight. meaning if you want the ultimate driving experience or track car. Something like the Caterham is about as good as you can buy off the shelf. Something like a Focus ST on the other hand, is capable of as fast or quicker lap times than many Caterham models. But will never reward the same or offer the same sensations. On the flip side the ST would be good for taking the kids to the supermarket. The Caterham would suck. the Wrangler does the same (or old Defender). But rather than track work, their specialty is off roading. The new Defender can use electric wizardry to enable to roll on the same dirt. But will be unable to match the specialisation ultimately or the sensations. But will be better as a daily driver or shopping car as a result.

I was meaning more that the new Defender ends up with wheels in the air, wheel slip and in the TFL vid that I took the screenshot from, looks a bit like a bucking Bronco in slow motion. Don't get me wrong, the TCS is very good. But it never seems as smooth off road. Watch vids of the D3/4 or L320 RRS off road and compare D2's and Defenders and you get the same sort of thing. Obviously the lack of traction devices on the older models mean when cross axled they are likely to be stopped. But overall the vehicles always look more composed and those with TCS or aftermarket lockers/ATB's seem to me much more smooth on such terrain.

For me I think this pic sort of sums it up. While the Defender can be made to be capable, it always seems like hard work. While something like the Wrangler (or RRC, Disco1/2, p38, traditional 90/110) just make it look effortless. The Wrangler is akin to the Lotus Elise or Caterham 7 of the off road world. While the new Defender is more akin to being the Focus ST.

It’s more to do with the entire NVH package that a Disco/RR has over a Defender. Lots of little things can make for a more refined vehicle.

Should be fine. Although if the engine is stock a bigger inter cooler and remap would make a world of difference to the performance. If you off road, 35’s present high probability of breaking something diff/axle wise.

Reckon I see 1 or 2 or more L320's every day. The comment in this thread made me think about it and actively look. I'm not doing big miles currently, only about 15 miles a day. But there seem to be plenty about. Although I suspect very few petrol powered ones. I do see probably double or triple the number of L494's however.

Thanks. Pump sounds ok when you turn the key. But haven’t checked it beyond that as of yet. Has had some injector cleaner through it. But yes, the driving sensation would seem to match.

Got a Td5 Disco that isn't running right, won't rev right and tops out at about 50-55mph. Have checked the wastegate/actuator, etc and no codes being thrown. Feels a bit like fuel. Have replaced the fuel filter in the rear wheelarch and put a diesel cleaner through it. It has improved slightly, but still not right. Is there another fuel filter somewhere on these or anything else anyone can suggest? The vehicle used to run really well, but has sat for about 12 months.

I wonder how D5 sales are by comparison?