Defender TD5 90 County 2003 Cruising speed 45 miles an hour

My cruising speed is about 45 miles an hour and at a push I could do 50 mph in 5th. Can I assume that this is so low due to the type of gearbox or transfer box I have fitted? Can you change either to give a slightly higher cruising speed and longer gears as you are through the box to 5th by 40 mph.

shiftybeans said:

My cruising speed is about 45 miles an hour and at a push I could do 50 mph in 5th. Can I assume that this is so low due to the type of gearbox or transfer box I have fitted? Can you change either to give a slightly higher cruising speed and longer gears as you are through the box to 5th by 40 mph.

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What size tyres do you have? If they’re 205’s it will slow you a bit

Is the handbrake on?

Def90man said:

What size tyres do you have? If they’re 205’s it will slow you a bit

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Hi Def90 they are 265 75 16's.

shiftybeans said:

Hi Def90 they are 265 75 16's.

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They should up gear it a bit then. You can change the transfer box to a discovery one and that will up your gearing a good bit

A standard TD5 should be doing a wee bit more than 45 to 50mph ..... somethings not right with that picture ...

miktdish said:

A standard TD5 should be doing a wee bit more than 45 to 50mph ..... somethings not right with that picture ...

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Completely agree with this. You have the same setup as I do ‘54 plate with 265/75 and I can cruise at over 80 if I am happy to watch the fuel needle go down. But it will sit quiet happily at 65 with no problems at all.
You are in high range? you could Probabaly just about get 50 in low if you redlined it. What are you speeds like in other gears if you top out at 50?

Definitely not right, sounds as though you are stuck in low range or your clutch is slipping badly. A comfortable cruising speed on my TD5 is 60 and can easily exceed 80mph with standard gearing set up. (allegedly as I would never exceed 70)