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Karma is a b*tch

B

Best4x4

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,042
Location
Vidor, TX
I was actually there (with my Jeep Club at the time). That hole the Series II Discovery is stuck in had extremely deep ruts from modified ATV's. No one was driving thru that mud hole, until the Land Rover decided to try it. He even doubted he'd make it before he attempted it. He totally high centered his front end. The H3 gave him a tug and he was out in no time. It was a great day of wheeling!!

The Land Rover dealerships at the time were going nuts selling those tire covers. Karma is a b!tch, though I do agree lol. I owned 5 Rover's and they spent 90% of their time off road vs on, 87-04 had some very capable rigs from Land Rover. Anything after that is to $$$$$$$ and complicated to actually wheel em hard.
 
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High Five H2

High Five H2

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,627
Location
West Texas
its not karma, it states very plainly on the tire that it's a vehicle that's meant to be recovered by hummers! :)

no hate to land rovers though, I had a D2 and it was a pretty cool little truck, i just couldn't keep up with repairs.
 
SuperBuickGuy

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
the biggest issue with the D2 and similar chassis'd rigs is you can't lift them enough to put a decent tire under them - and even if you did, you'd break just about everything starting with the front driveshaft
 
Airborne

Airborne

Just a regular dude
Messages
294
Location
Utah
There is not a land rover I have seen that I have been impressed with... The Range Rover Sport on the other hand with a nice lift and some decent tires would make me look twice. those are gorgeous. There is a tiny little land rover trolling around my area with a hummer recovery vehicle tire cover and stickers all over it. It looks like a kia suv to be honest. It sure as hell isn't recovering anything.
Every time I see it or pass it I think how bad I want to park on top of it...
 
B

Best4x4

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,042
Location
Vidor, TX
Like I said earlier that bog he was in had massive ruts towards the end from ATV's tearing it up. He went in, and high centered near the end. Earlier D1's had a central locking diff, all D2's except for the 04 did not have a center locking diff transfer case linkage. Some earlier D2 owners were lucky to have transfer cases with a center locking diff, they just had to get a linkage setup out of an earlier D1.

You can lift a Rover with EAS very easy! Get longer air bags, recalibrate the EAS suspension PCM using blocks of your desired lift and call it a day. I did that to my 97 Range Rover HSE AA Yellow Vitesse and I was running 33's without an issue.

I'd own an 94-97 D90, 94-98 D1, or 89-02 Range Rover without even thinking about it, but finding one in decent shape that hasn't been ghetto rigged around here is very hard.
 
SuperBuickGuy

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
Best4x4 said:
Like I said earlier that bog he was in had massive ruts towards the end from ATV's tearing it up. He went in, and high centered near the end. Earlier D1's had a central locking diff, all D2's except for the 04 did not have a center locking diff transfer case linkage. Some earlier D2 owners were lucky to have transfer cases with a center locking diff, they just had to get a linkage setup out of an earlier D1.

You can lift a Rover with EAS very easy! Get longer air bags, recalibrate the EAS suspension PCM using blocks of your desired lift and call it a day. I did that to my 97 Range Rover HSE AA Yellow Vitesse and I was running 33's without an issue.

I'd own an 94-97 D90, 94-98 D1, or 89-02 Range Rover without even thinking about it, but finding one in decent shape that hasn't been ghetto rigged around here is very hard.
Click to expand...

I'm part of Snohomish County search and rescue - the county where I live is King County. The head of King County 4x4 (who I see a lot) has a defender. I love D90s - if I had all the money in the world, I'd start with a D90, but even he admits that it really sucks to only be able to get 33s under his rig.... this admission came courtesy of me pulling his stuck self out of a hole I drove through in front of him. No pictures, though, he's a super nice guy and I know how these pictures can take a life of their own.

The problem with the Land Rover suspension is you can't lift them without dropping the rear attachment points - picture the spring hanger on the H3 times 2 - because the caster would be wayyyy off if you simply springed them. Rover didn't put enough adjustment in the arms to go taller. And where I live 33 is the absolute minimum - 35 is recommended and 37 is actually just about right for what I do.
 
High Five H2

High Five H2

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,627
Location
West Texas
man i'd love if they brought defenders over here. I would be nice if the solid axle off road world wasn't dominated by the "you wouldn't understand" crowd.
 
B

Best4x4

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,042
Location
Vidor, TX
My brother had a 66 109 Safari Wagon with a rare inline 6 vs the standard 2.5 inline 4. It was a rust free rig, and when the windows fogged up in the rear you could see all kinds of South America off road rally stickers, and other misc off road event sticker residue! My brother had it for 15 years and it even sat 6 years without moving, and it cranked right up once the battery was swapped. It's 4Lo was like nothing I've ever seen. You could put it in 4Lo 1st gear get out of it, walk out in front of it, lay down, and let it drive right over you to diagnose something, roll out the side, and get it without ever having a fear it was going to flatten you lol. Sounds crazy, but without power steering it wasn't going to change coarse, and 4Lo was so slow you had all the time in the world lol it worked and we diagnosed a few odd issues that way lol. Only 1st and 2nd gear were synchromeshed. 3rd & 4th took some skill to shift smoothly, but once you got used to it, it was a fun rig to cruise around in. It was a barebones serious off roader that did awesome with skinny 30inch (if that big tires).

Rover has of coarse changed a lot since then, but 87-04 were the last years of the "Best 4x4 By Far". Jeep's YJ was nothing vs a Rover, and they only took over the off road market as #1 once the Defender 90 stopped being imported and Jeep came out with the TJ Rubicon in 03. If Land Rover had kept the D90 in the states Jeep would have had some serious competition. Same with the Hummer, once they went out of business Jeep was left all alone. If Hummer and Land Rover were still in the mix Jeep wouldn't be nearly as successful.
 
Mb30sdl

Mb30sdl

Hamster that pokes Bears
Messages
1,588
Location
Raleigh area NC
Best4x4 said:
My brother had a 66 109 Safari Wagon with a rare inline 6 vs the standard 2.5 inline 4. It was a rust free rig, and when the windows fogged up in the rear you could see all kinds of South America off road rally stickers, and other misc off road event sticker residue! My brother had it for 15 years and it even sat 6 years without moving, and it cranked right up once the battery was swapped. It's 4Lo was like nothing I've ever seen. You could put it in 4Lo 1st gear get out of it, walk out in front of it, lay down, and let it drive right over you to diagnose something, roll out the side, and get it without ever having a fear it was going to flatten you lol. Sounds crazy, but without power steering it wasn't going to change coarse, and 4Lo was so slow you had all the time in the world lol it worked and we diagnosed a few odd issues that way lol. Only 1st and 2nd gear were synchromeshed. 3rd & 4th took some skill to shift smoothly, but once you got used to it, it was a fun rig to cruise around in. It was a barebones serious off roader that did awesome with skinny 30inch (if that big tires).

Rover has of coarse changed a lot since then, but 87-04 were the last years of the "Best 4x4 By Far". Jeep's YJ was nothing vs a Rover, and they only took over the off road market as #1 once the Defender 90 stopped being imported and Jeep came out with the TJ Rubicon in 03. If Land Rover had kept the D90 in the states Jeep would have had some serious competition. Same with the Hummer, once they went out of business Jeep was left all alone. If Hummer and Land Rover were still in the mix Jeep wouldn't be nearly as successful.
Click to expand...

I have seen you tube vids with that option, guy was walking up the hill next to d90 i think. That was very impressive.
 
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