Off road mods - what mods for small ££'s??

Tuskenraider said:

Have you extended the breathers?
CB
Rear spot light for reversing/working at the back at night whilst out laning.
Modulars
Rip the carpet/underlay out

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Breather kit is on order so will get done this week. I have just removed my CB from my campervan, will be wiring that up as soon as I have decided where to mount it. I just need to wire up my rear light and thats done. Im not going to rip out the carpets yet, well, im not planning to but I may end up doing it soon...

And modulars, whats the benifit of them? I have got 8" weller wheels at the moment, are modulars going to benifit me? I cant see how really...

I have decided its winch time so have been on the phone to extreme 4x4 (who are 300 yards away which is nice) and am gonna order one up, just need to decide if I can mod my bumper or if its worth getting a proper one, im a handy welder so may just cut mine about, the proper ones only mount to the same place anyway!!

sorry to hijack your thread Jon, but what are the benefits of removing the underlay and ditching the fan? and do you need a electric fan if you do?

the underlay is a ****er to dry.

fan splashes water around in the engine bay and is rarely needed in the uk climes

goonarmy said:

fan splashes water around in the engine bay and is rarely needed in the uk climes

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cheers! may remove mine this weekend when I pull the inlet and intercooler off for a clean

the best thing to do is put in a switchable electric fan just in case.

Flat-eric said:

sorry to hijack your thread Jon, but what are the benefits of removing the underlay and ditching the fan? and do you need a electric fan if you do?

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the interior of my disco was always condensating and the windows would freeze up from the inside

carpets were aleady gone so i ripped out the underlay and it was soaking wet,since its been removed i havent had much of a problem

GreenHornet said:

I do Like Defenders and would fancy a nice one but what would be the benefit?

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Ian.

Defenders are better off road because they are:

Narrower bodied and lighter.

They are better for maintenance and repair because they are:

Available to buy in many more parts. The body comes away with nuts and bolts so sections can be replaced. Easy to remove floors for servicing etc.


There are downsides, the huge cost of the basic vehicle, the off putting theft problem, the general discomfort, the small size of a 90, the great length of a 110, distinct lack of width in the front!


However, a Disco is the cheaper car because a Defender costs more to make and tbh is a better car for the offroader or working man.

So there

Mr Noisy said:

Ian.

Defenders are better off road because they are:

Narrower bodied and lighter.


a Defender costs more to make and tbh is a better car for the offroader or working man.

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i would have to disagree there mr n
ive had a defender fully modded and a challenge spec rr bobtail and currently have the disco bobtail

and i have yet to find anything that the defender will do that the disco wont
im not pro defender or pro disco ive had both and can give my opinion based on owning and driving both offroad,unlike some who say sell the disco and buy a fender purely cos they have a fender

after i sold the rr bobtail i wanted something i could use as a toy purely for offroading and the disco fitted the bill perfectly.

so to say the fender is better isnt strictly tru imo

wiltshire landyman said:

i would have to disagree there mr n
ive had a defender fully modded and a challenge spec rr bobtail and currently have the disco bobtail

and i have yet to find anything that the defender will do that the disco wont
im not pro defender or pro disco ive had both and can give my opinion based on owning and driving both offroad,unlike some who say sell the disco and buy a fender purely cos they have a fender

after i sold the rr bobtail i wanted something i could use as a toy purely for offroading and the disco fitted the bill perfectly.

so to say the fender is better isnt strictly tru imo

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I too have owned a defender , and now have a disco , as a day 2 day car , and for lanes , i would have disco everytime, if it was just as a wkd toy, then defender all the way. but for what it costs to kit a disco out on a budget, they are dam good value for money. what i have seen so far ,a disco goes nearly everywhere a defender goes , maybe touch and go on height and width sometimes on disco.

1spin said:

I too have owned a defender , and now have a disco , as a day 2 day car , and for lanes , i would have disco everytime, if it was just as a wkd toy, then defender all the way. but for what it costs to kit a disco out on a budget, they are dam good value for money. what i have seen so far ,a disco goes nearly everywhere a defender goes , maybe touch and go on height and width sometimes on disco.

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especially with 35" tyres 2" suspension lift and 2" body lift

At the same time lads I agree with both of you. As you know JIM this weekend could have been said the typical days laning and the discos were no better or worse than the defenders. To be honest, all the lads in defenders were complaining of sore back/legs etc whereas the disco drivers were quite comfortable.

However I've been on more extreme laning trips and particularly off road days where the weight of the disco is a MAJOR disadvantage compared to a 90, especially mine which is fully loaded and a few heavy extras.

A 100" defender is often regarded as the perfect land rover and I would agree, the aluminium defender body is the big weight saver but a 100" wheelbase is ideal.

So yeah it's hard to put your finger on, a disco/rangey is a superb car and certainly better all rounder than a defender mainly from the passenger comfort point of view, but when it comes down to it more people go overlanding, trialling and winch challenges in defenders than disco/rangey so its definitely the favourite.

As it happens I can't see myself having a defender, not in the near future, im completely happy with my disco, it's superb value for money (owes me about 7k, heavily modified and that's including all my recovery and camping gear, navigation blah blah blah) and I couldn't handle the risk of it getting robbed, cos that would be seriously uncool.

Cheers

good points made there SAM.

The question of defender or disco was a serious one and the answers have been informative.

I have never owned a Defender but really like the look of them when modified. The only downside that I thought they had was the initial cost as they retain their value and the comfort.

I have always wanted a 100" defender and agree with Sam that the ones that LR made for the Siss army (I think it was for them) were renowned to be the best all rounders. Now that I have tackled the Discovery I just may see about a conversion.

Anyway I like the Disco as it suits the day to day off roading toy need that I have at present. As mentioned above it is comfortable and cheap to modify. I guess as time passes and I start to formulate exactly what I want from my vehicle through more experience then I will be educated enough to decide this question for myself.

Now V8 or Diesel......... Lol

Sorry to hijack the thread. I have seen quite a few pictures of modified 4x4 on the net. I was searching through pirate 4x4 last night as it happens and this thread should be a good place to show case descent mods that make a distinct benefit but don't break the bank. Unfortunately I don't have anything to offer and that's why I'm broke lol.

GreenHornet said:

Unfortunately I don't have anything to offer and that's why I'm broke lol.

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That gave me lols!

I've had a little think, tbh there arent many tweeks or cheap mods to do, but:

Extend your breathers, including fuel tank breather, up to the snorkel. Might as well get some mpg out of your fuel tank fumes!



Extend your rear brake mount with threaded bar. Saves buying +2", but tbh I noticed my extended brake hose was getting tight on full droop so did this anyway!



Angle your roof lights out to the side, much better for all round vision when laning. They're useless at high speed cos you can see the bonnet but are superb for night time navigation of lanes.



Fit 200tdi rear lamps and ditch the lamps in the rear bumper. They just plug right in. Whilst you're at it if you've got a trailer socket, move it to under the OSR lamp. There's a plug there ready, and you can get the loom from allmakes to plug straight in.



Remove rear wheel hanger and put wheel in boot. IMO looks better and takes stress off door.



Fit defender gear knobs, fiver each off britpart and much nicer IMO, also not weighted so I get a better feel of the somewhat tricky gearbox. LT77 type needs drilling out a few mm, R380 type screws right on, transfer case the same.



Fit some heavy duty ciggy sockets front and ideally rear, that are powered up all the time. Much easier connecting hand lamp, compressor whatever to sockets than battery, but normal socket can't handle it.




Can't think of anything else, there is plenty though I'm sure

Some good tips there Noisy I need to organise my boot better but not sure I want the spare in there Are the siggy sockets wired straight off the battery via a fuse? what rating did you go for? and where did you get the sockets from?

Hi mate

Yeah I have no read seats so I have extra room. 5dr commercial basically!

Urm yeah the front sockets are wired from the bulkhead fitting where all the power comes in from the engine bay (200tdi thing I think) and the rear sockets are picked up from the aux power feed that is part of the trailer wiring prep, it's fused to 15 amps. I also run my amplifier off that feed.

As such i fused the front to 15amps, that's 180w minimum handling.

Sockets are eBay mate!

Cheers

Yer keep thinking of ripping the rear seats out of mine but I like taking my mates out when i go laning etc. I have still got some A Frame bushes to fit lol. Roll on the spring

Find a breaker that still allows you to take the parts off yourself. These are great places for finding little gems like a small electric fan that can be zip tied to the radiator of a Discovery (I got mine off a small car and cost £5)
More modern vehicles have lots of little gizmos with a little imagination can be integrated into a Land Rover.
Plus great fun on a Sunday morning digging around old snots looking for bits and sometimes you might even arrive to find a Land Rover christmas tree has arrived.