P38 off road

billybuilder · Jan 27, 2010

Owned my 97 HSE for about 6 months now and thanks to this forum have sorted all the niggly problems with EAS,HEVAC,A/C etc etc so the old girl is as about as well behaved as she ever will.
Thoughts turn to using some off her off road capabilities and initially a bit of greenlaning. Read all kinds of things on interweb about lack of off road bolt ons for the P38 but the need for 2 proper recovery points at the front, one at the rear, steering guards, sump guards, diff guards, mud tyres etc etc - the list seems endless but I can't find any of it for sale or any details. Sure I will spark a debate now that P38s are no good at off roading but I am sure they are - any advise would be welcome guys i cant be the first to want to get the most of these great vehicles but don't know where to begin and more and importantly don't want the grand old lady to come to any harm.

goonarmy · Jan 27, 2010

It'll be good offroad but you wont get many bits for it.Recovery points are quite difficult and may require some cutting of the front valance

Medusa · Jan 27, 2010

I can't point in the right direction for off road bits but I know of a few on here that take their P38's offroad/laning, I'm sure they'll be along later

hammy2909 · Jan 27, 2010

billybuilder said:
Owned my 97 HSE for about 6 months now and thanks to this forum have sorted all the niggly problems with EAS,HEVAC,A/C etc etc so the old girl is as about as well behaved as she ever will.
Thoughts turn to using some off her off road capabilities and initially a bit of greenlaning. Read all kinds of things on interweb about lack of off road bolt ons for the P38 but the need for 2 proper recovery points at the front, one at the rear, steering guards, sump guards, diff guards, mud tyres etc etc - the list seems endless but I can't find any of it for sale or any details. Sure I will spark a debate now that P38s are no good at off roading but I am sure they are - any advise would be welcome guys i cant be the first to want to get the most of these great vehicles but don't know where to begin and more and importantly don't want the grand old lady to come to any harm.

I don't know if he'll still be interested in doing it, bu if you PM CrazyJase, he was manufacturing a steering guard with built in recovery points. It'll cost you though

jlsplinter · Jan 27, 2010

My 02 P38 have one recovery point in the front and one in the rear. Are those weak or the early P38 did not comes with those that I have? BTW I've use mine few times off road and did not get stuck with street tires, so unless you try some awfull things I don't think you will need recovery points.

rewmer · Jan 27, 2010

The old p38s are very capable off road. I use mine regular off road for shooting escapades round the local farms. Mine is bog standard, on road tyres and have not had to be recovered yet, even though I've been axle deep in slop. A good set of BFG all terrains Would be my first purchase if I was to take it further.

kooky_guy · Jan 27, 2010

jlsplinter said:
My 02 P38 have one recovery point in the front and one in the rear. Are those weak or the early P38 did not comes with those that I have? BTW I've use mine few times off road and did not get stuck with street tires, so unless you try some awfull things I don't think you will need recovery points.

You're not referring to the tie down loops are you? If so, they're not really up to recovery purposes (although I did manage to pull a certain members' RRC out using my rear one).

There was a thread on here somewhere (http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f10/off-roading-winches-95760.html) mentioning proper recovery points. Rangerovers.net has an article on making some front ones.

I've only ever got stuck on an icy hill so far. I'm pretty impressed with it off road, but it certainly pays to be prepared - I've just bought a removable towbar to provide a rear recovery point so that's better than nothing. Or it will be when I get round to fitting it.

One other point - P38s are quite big so tend pick up bramble rash quite easily...

Guy

jlsplinter · Jan 27, 2010

Well I guest those are tie down loops. Anyway mine have a towbar also so I could get one of those loops that attach to it and it would do the trick.

billybuilder · Jan 27, 2010

Thanks for all your help so far guys. I have got the factory build towing point at the front but assume this is not strong enough and a swan neck towbar at the rear and I guess that might do the job?

kooky_guy · Jan 27, 2010

billybuilder said:
Thanks for all your help so far guys. I have got the factory build towing point at the front but assume this is not strong enough and a swan neck towbar at the rear and I guess that might do the job?

It'll do in a pinch but it's not ideal - P38s are a bit poorly served in this area by the aftermarket. Towbar ought to be fine.

I wouldn't worry too much though - it takes a lot to get one of these stuck. Even on road tyres I never got stuck.

Guy

Datatek · Jan 27, 2010

The towing eye on the front of mine was strong enough when I was pulled out a 4 foot deep ditch after my little off road excursion on the ice, took two enormous 4WD tractors linked together to get enough pull so it must be strong, no sign of damage to the towing eye after either.

jlsplinter · Jan 27, 2010

Good to know.

SpudH · Jan 27, 2010

Went two years of heavy off road use without getting stuck once and then got stuck twice last week!! Was getting too cocky!!

Self recovered both times using handwinch off front tow point so technically I suppose I wasn't stuck just detained

Anyway, its good enough for a tow but wouldn't stand up to some of the more daring recovery techniques used by serious off roaders like kinetic recovery and such.

996TURBO · May 29, 2011

SpudH said:
Went two years of heavy off road use without getting stuck once and then got stuck twice last week!! Was getting too cocky!!

Self recovered both times using handwinch off front tow point so technically I suppose I wasn't stuck just detained

Anyway, its good enough for a tow but wouldn't stand up to some of the more daring recovery techniques used by serious off roaders like kinetic recovery and such.

That's why i engineered a Front Hitch Receiver using factory holes for OEM winch setup

Can even hold a removable winch setup (replica of the OEM fixed winch setup)

dogsbody · May 29, 2011

That's a nice piece of engineering and fabrication.

CEZ1869 · May 29, 2011

Nice p38 too.!

TAKdriver · May 29, 2011

kooky_guy said:
You're not referring to the tie down loops are you? If so, they're not really up to recovery purposes (although I did manage to pull a certain members' RRC out using my rear one).

There was a thread on here somewhere (http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f10/off-roading-winches-95760.html) mentioning proper recovery points. Rangerovers.net has an article on making some front ones.

I've only ever got stuck on an icy hill so far. I'm pretty impressed with it off road, but it certainly pays to be prepared - I've just bought a removable towbar to provide a rear recovery point so that's better than nothing. Or it will be when I get round to fitting it.

One other point - P38s are quite big so tend pick up bramble rash quite easily...

Guy

Hi
I'm assuming the tow bar was removed on mine sometime in the past. Rear bumper has the "slot" where it would have been visible.
I'm not familiar with the structure underneath so far as mounting a new bar is concerned.
Can anybody give me an idiot's guide to what should be under there for a two bar fitting and where I should be looking for a replacement ?

Pete The Biker · May 30, 2011

Have you seen this recent thread?

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f10/p38-off-roading-131676.html

Pete

996TURBO · May 30, 2011

Here's a photo of my NAS setup?

P38 off road

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