Thread: Best Motor For Travel

I had a TD5 defender (sob sob) and I took it from Perth to Brisbane straight through the guts in summer (so rather hot), then to Cape york, then fraser and all over the top end to Gove, Kalumburu, Gibb River and back down to Perth trying to take off-road tracks where-ever possible. The only problem I had was the head light dipper switch went twice in about 70,000km's of loyal service. I also took it into some rather deep creek crossings and had water draining out of the computer box with absolutely no problem (and the dipper switches didnt go at that point by the way). THe 4WD capability of a standard TD5 defender can't be matched, and then you can chip them and play with them to make them better. After a few attempts we even got back up gun-shot creek up the Cape without a winch!!

my 10c worth.

Jim

Originally Posted by Jimmy

I had The only problem I had was the head light dipper switch went twice in about 70,000km's of loyal service.
Jim

Ahhh ... so the lack of relays to the headlights does trouble Landies then. I'm used to Triumph cars and this a notorious problem on the Saloons and Dolomites. Too much power through old dusty wires and the contacts burn out. On reliability runs in the UK (2,000 miles in 48 hours) I had two burn out in one weekend so always re-wire with relays in Triumphs to prevent the issue and add fuses. You also get brighter lights. I've seen kits for the Defenders, but to be honest you can do it for tuppence - some wire a couple of relays and fuses.

Here's before and after photos i took...
Might not look much different on screen but it makes a difference to what you see on the road

Gday All cheers for the imput

so far im pretty sure the Td5 has the lead lol but i will be test driving both real soon

just one more quick question , mainly for ppl who have driven or own a 300Tdi ... ive heard they are a tough piece of kit now ... they are only afew Kws down from the Td5 ... so my question

in a 300Tdi ... Can you keep up with Traffic or you always getting honked and told ... lol

cheers in advance

I personally think there are better engines to use than a TD5
Anyone who uses one must carry diagnostic equipment or at least have a very good understanding of how they work.
The Isuzu is Vastly superior and the Tdi300 while not quite as powerful is a whole lot easier to deal with when it goes wrong.
I will fly in the face of public opinion but I have used V8s for years with very few issues.

Originally Posted by Just_Roving_09

Gday All cheers for the imput

so far im pretty sure the Td5 has the lead lol but i will be test driving both real soon

just one more quick question , mainly for ppl who have driven or own a 300Tdi ... ive heard they are a tough piece of kit now ... they are only afew Kws down from the Td5 ... so my question

in a 300Tdi ... Can you keep up with Traffic or you always getting honked and told ... lol

cheers in advance

You keep up with traffic easily. On winding roads, they can't keep up with you (unless it's a steep climb). One a write up (I think it was in Overlander) some years ago, they noted that while a 4.2litre Troopy was faster off the mark, the Defender out accelerated it in the 60-100kph range, thanks to the turbo. At traffic speeds, there isn't any turbo lag, and I find it drives quite comfortably.

Originally Posted by Psimpson7

No they don't.

Id go for the TD5 and spend a bit of time understanding it before you go.

Yes they do in some applications and same as the australian army. not in their green fleet.

I had a td5 disco and the computer stuck me up twice. Luckily I was not far from home. The second time I had to limp into my rover service centre and have them reset. I was told that the engine computer did not like the auto box computer. One was German and the other English. So as I travel outback and I do not want to get stuck I sold the disco and bought a 300tdi Defender. What a great unit. I did not know the service history or what it had been used for in its past life so I have spent some money having the gear box and transfer case rebuilt as they were noisy. Next followed the front drive shaft and a frame ball joint, injector pump and misc other bits. I would drive this unit anywhere with confidrnce. I also have had gas fitted and this makes driving almost effortless. Jim

I own both 300 Tdi and Td5 Vehicles and you would not have a problem with either vehicle providing its well prepared and you spend some time before the trip working on / learning about the vehicle.

I actually bought a D110 Td5 for the big trip we did last year - did not miss a beat, only issue we had was a smashed windscreen in Karratha!!!

If you do go with a Td5 then buy a Nanocom and learn how to use it before you leave.

Just my 10c worth

HTH

LRH