BeepsUSA Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 So on a limited budget I’m trying to upgrade a bit on my 1993 defender 90. First I’ve recently returned from a off road weekend and was a bit humiliated having to be winched up a few very slippery/muddy hills while everyone else was making it with ease. I’m considering lockers but on a limited budget $1,500 I have been told to consider on rear lockers and upgrading axles and purchasing new or used tires. Any thoughts or if anyone has anything for sale to help, would be much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 I've moved your topic to the Defender forum as you'll get a better response here. What tyres do you have on your car at the moment? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landy7 Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 In my opinion and experience, tires make a big difference! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo Murphy Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 ... as does driving technique. Mo 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 ^ What they said, a lot of the time if you fail or get stuck you need to read the terrain, adjust your driving, think more about how the vehicle works before throwing money at the "problem". We've all seen people turn up at events in full challenge spec trucks with winches & lockers and someone in a stock Series will drive circles around them because of experience. But, assuming you're already a driving God and/or there's nothing better to spend your money on, you need to tell (or show, we like pictures) what your truck is currently like. Biggest single difference is tyres (or possibly tires), there's no point doing anything else if you're not on good tyres. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex Member Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Detroit locker and Ashcfroft halfshafts in the rear axle. Should be well under your budget and will make all the difference in the world. What tires do you have currently and what pressure were you running? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid_From_Hell Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 Ashcroft ATBs front / Rear and or Rear Detriot Locker or even tru tracs are budget but bloody strong and make a huge difference …. vs 2 x Lockers which will blow your budget somewhere near Jupiter Nige 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EeEk Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 No point in having any lockers if you dont have tyres.....get decent tyres....not BFG...and run them at a low pressure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deep Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 10 minutes ago, EeEk said: No point in having any lockers if you dont have tyres.....get decent tyres....not BFG...and run them at a low pressure. Not BFG??? KM3s are wonderful and will cost Beeps far less because he/she is in the U.S.A.. Anyway, if you are not making it up slippery muddy hills that others are getting up, tyres are the first suspect (assuming you had the right pressures and good throttle technique). Keen off-roaders these days tend to put very large tyres on their trucks and push them with powerful motors. Doing that in a Defender is going to give you axle trouble very quickly! If your vehicle is standard, get decent tyres but not bigger than 255/85x16 and follow Hybrid_From_Hell's advice above. With a little fettling, you could fit 285x75/16s, which allows you to fit some very aggressive but cheap Chinese rubber. The money saved will get you those Ashcroft/TruTac/Detroit diffs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escape Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 As above, start with a good set of tyres, and run them at low pressure offroad. If you still need more traction, an ATB in the rear will be a lot of help. With reasonably sized tyres and some mechanical sympathy you should be fine with standard half shafts. Filip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 A more basic question... was your diff-lock in? 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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