Thread: Just "Defender" or bad quality?

I can understand where you are coming from Nuggett. I would hate to pay good dollars for a brand new unit only to find common sense things getting on my nerves. All that could be said about it is that Land Rover don't seem to care about the defender, pure and simply.

Sure it is buit to a price, all manufacturing these days is exceptionally lean, but what are the QC on rear diffs, is anyone auditing for supplier compliance.Being hand built simply magnifies the problem and the margins compared to D3 or RR must just compound it. QC along the whole process must be near non existant. I would be asking the dealer what there pre-delivery department does. Failure to capture problems out of the factory is bad enough, but also at the dealer. Just says they have contempt for the Defender buyer.


Paul

Originally Posted by isuzutoo-eh

Aren't industrial/truck/tractor/Land Rover gearboxes designed to have backlash, and whilst that leads to more slop, it is also one of their strengths? Something to do with the finer the tolerances, the more susceptible to wear causing problems?

yes they are...........

Landys, are the vehicle equivalent of an AK47 assault rifle.....which is perhaps the most 'utilitarian' weapon ever made.......reeeeal loooose tolerances, to allow for copious amounts of mud, dust and ice... not great in the 'accuracy' dept, but if you want something that can survive dropping in a mud puddle or a swamp or large amounts of desert sand..then the AK is the 'go-to' gun.

Its the old KISS rule........'over-complexity' and 'fine-engineering' will kill any device designed for hard use.

your average passenger car gearbox is designed with helical cut gears to ensure nice smoooooth gearchanges........problem with this design is it ain't too strong. 'Straight-cut' gears are inherently much stronger, look at the gear setup on heavy duty winches or turret gears on a tank, or tboxes on older trucks............all square cut.
Yes they clunk and graunch, but with the minimum of care they'll last forever.

Originally Posted by mudder110

hi.all.im.new.here.hope.ya.dont.mind.me.commenting .i.work.and.play.in.the
gulf.of.carpentaria.just.did.12.weeks.at.doomadge.
i.would.not.touch.anything.with.direct.injecton.as .they.are.much.more.likely.to.cause
problems.when.touring.my.98.110.tdi.has.never.miss ed.a.beat.270000ks
but.there.have.been.probs.with.direct.i.have.seen. one.with.a.puma
and.is.looking.to.be.expensive.but.the.most.seem.t o.be.with.the.new.cruisers
and.nissans.ya.can.google.it.and.read.it.for.yours elves.defender.owners.are
i.think.enthuists.unfourtantly.alluminum.and.steel .dont.mix
but.in.saying.that.i.dont.wait.5000ks.to.check.thi ngs.out.i.enjoy.the.hands.on
deal.with.my.110.as.for.electrics.maybe.landrover. need.to.pick.there.act.up
if.i.was.gunna.spend.60grand.on.a.new.truck.woulda nt.be.a.puma.
but.they.are.still.on.par.with.anything.jap.in.doo madge.the.cops.and.the
ambos.take.turns.pulling.each.other.out.of.the.gre gory.river.crossing
as.the.cruisers.alternators.are.to.low.and.dont.ev en.wanna.start.me.on.the.
starter.motors.cheers.all.and.happy.new.year.sorry .about.all.the.stops.space.bar.broken

Morse code?

Originally Posted by dullbird

Morse code?

Ha ha - I thought he was .NET programmer (that's how properties/methods are specified), but no, a simple explanation:

....sorry.about.all.the.stops.space.bar.broken

On the subject of dealers and LRA, these guys have a huge influence on how we see the Puma. I bought mine in Townsville too and the dealer, David, is a Defender man and makes sure that when you buy one you know what you are buying and that it is fundamentally different to a car-based 4wd. I'm now in Tassie and I have found a south African chap who knows his Defenders at the local dealer and I talk with him about squeaks, rattles, drive line slop because he has not handed me the "harden up it's a defender" line. He says that an amount of play in the drivine is typical to allow for field servicing in less than ideal conditions, however this should not be excessive. So a clunk when changing from first to reverse or vice versa is ok but a clunk on every gear change is not. I'm actually happy with a dealer who is honest about these things.....
Chops110

Originally Posted by chops110

On the subject of dealers and LRA, these guys have a huge influence on how we see the Puma. I bought mine in Townsville too and the dealer, David, is a Defender man and makes sure that when you buy one you know what you are buying and that it is fundamentally different to a car-based 4wd. I'm now in Tassie and I have found a south African chap who knows his Defenders at the local dealer and I talk with him about squeaks, rattles, drive line slop because he has not handed me the "harden up it's a defender" line. He says that an amount of play in the drivine is typical to allow for field servicing in less than ideal conditions, however this should not be excessive. So a clunk when changing from first to reverse or vice versa is ok but a clunk on every gear change is not. I'm actually happy with a dealer who is honest about these things.....
Chops110

A good point! I too will happily live with clunks and backlash if I knew there was a reason for it and they weren't fault based. Finding a dealer who knows anything about the car that they are selling seems to be the challenge though and when questioned many just seem to make up answers on the spot. Good on you for finding your bloke, an honest dealer is worth their weight in diesel.

Originally Posted by chops110

On the subject of dealers and LRA, these guys have a huge influence on how we see the Puma. I bought mine in Townsville too and the dealer, David, is a Defender man and makes sure that when you buy one you know what you are buying and that it is fundamentally different to a car-based 4wd. I'm now in Tassie and I have found a south African chap who knows his Defenders at the local dealer and I talk with him about squeaks, rattles, drive line slop because he has not handed me the "harden up it's a defender" line. He says that an amount of play in the drivine is typical to allow for field servicing in less than ideal conditions, however this should not be excessive. So a clunk when changing from first to reverse or vice versa is ok but a clunk on every gear change is not. I'm actually happy with a dealer who is honest about these things.....
Chops110

I would love to have him in Brisbane! What you say is exactly right..we just want an honest answer so we know where the goal posts are. LRA want to keep it extremely vague so there can be no finite answer. As I have said before, I have 24mm movement at the hand brake drum when in neutral. If LRA said 32mm is acceptable, we will monitor it at each service and fix it if reaches 32mm, fine. This..."its a Defender" ain't cutting the mustard anymore.

Imagine if the same thing was happening to the brakes and they didn't work for the first 24 m and then cut in..do you reckon we would be accepting....."That's OK, it's normal Defender"

Based on the definition you have been given, mine is unacceptable.

Just wondering if anyone has check the diff breathers on their Puma and found the same problem as me.

Interested if it is a common thing or if mine is just oddball.