Overall width - anyone had width issues laning?

[landroversforever]

Hello all,

if you’re not following my threads at the moment I’m looking at widening my axles. What I don’t want to do is hamper my laning opportunities due to width.

So have any of you had width issues laning? If so how wide is the car and how much of a problem is it? I’m thinking narrow welsh lanes and stuff in the Lake District. Both areas I’ve not yet been to. 

Thanks in advance   

[Ed Poore]

I've done most of the lanes in Wales and Surrey with my L322 which is a reasonable chunk wider than a Defender (I think technically it's not supposed to fit through 6'6" width restrictions but with the air suspension the mirrors tend to clear). 

The biggest issue I had rather than bodywork width was the fact the beam being wider meant I was continually scrubbing tyre sidewalls as most tracks are made by Defender width vehicles. Should be less of a problem if you keep sensible size tyres on but because of the 6 pot brembos the smallest wheel is 19" therefore (compared to Defenders) stupidly skinny tyres which means the sidewalls are made of cheese.

First 3 years I spent £3k on tyres... 

[SteveG]

When I used to lane the p38, ~2001, there were only about 3-4 lanes I couldn’t do due to gate width. Typically one of them was ‘Lane from hell’ which was a pain in the derrière. Not an issue anymore as it was a RUPP, and some of the other ones may have been as well, so irrelevant now. 

Only other issue was doing a couple of lanes on the mountainside where it felt like the ruts were the only thing stopping you from sliding down the mountain. In the p38 you could only drop one side of wheels in.  Still here, so obviously not an issue, but it certainly made you wish the Lane ended soon. 

cheers, Steve 

[landroversforever]

I’ll have a look at ther overall widths of the P38 and the L322.

Steve, is the Lane from Hell down Dorset way by any chance?

[Ed Poore]

L322 is 75.7" but I think that's the mirrors.

Never had an issue with actual width of the bodywork unless you are fussed about scratches. Sidewalls was my only real issue. I've avoided a few lanes in Surrey because I known how scratchy they are, they're tight even for a Defender so even though I'm not precious over the paintwork I won't go out of my way to destroy it.

[landroversforever]

At the moment I'm looking at about 1978mm or just under 78". Or pushing it out another 20mm would help, but that brings it out to 1998mm or 78.6". Of course the axles/wheels are the widest point and the defender body is still quite narrow. 

[SteveG]

6 hours ago, landroversforever said:

I’ll have a look at ther overall widths of the P38 and the L322.

Steve, is the Lane from Hell down Dorset way by any chance?

No, although I’m sure there’s plenty of Lane from hell’s. This one is in South Wales, with a less than p38 wide gate at the top.  Here’s a video of Mark90 driving it...

 

[Chicken Drumstick]

On 22/04/2018 at 5:52 PM, landroversforever said:

At the moment I'm looking at about 1978mm or just under 78". Or pushing it out another 20mm would help, but that brings it out to 1998mm or 78.6". Of course the axles/wheels are the widest point and the defender body is still quite narrow. 

That sounds pretty wide. Also suspect you may end up tearing up fresh ground if you are running where others haven’t due to your track. 

Ive been on some fairly tight Welsh lanes. One had a gate that touched both sides of my Disco. Albeit aftermarket wheel arches to cover wider tyres. 

Have also been on some lanes with deep tramlines on a track running lower than the adjacent ground. Wider track than a stock coiler and I suspect you’d have had some issues. 

[Chicken Drumstick]

Do you think you’d be too wide to stay on the drive line for places like this?

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Tight enough you couldn’t really open the doors to get out.