First off-road drive in my first Defender

[The Cone of Silence]

Arrived back in Sydney yesterday after a sensational weekend away in the Morton National Park area just past Nowra.

Went down there with a mate of mine who drives a Hi-lux and we spent most of Saturday enjoying the fresh air and generally having a bit of a laugh, finding some different types of terrain to see what we could do. We were even fortunate enough to find some wet bits too.

A cracking night camping out under clear skies and then in the morning we found some much deeper wet stuff and some awesome rocks to really get the coils working...well, leaf springs for my mate.

I am SO, SO happy with my purchase. I love the Land Rover - it made good enough sense on the way down; comfortable enough for me, quiet enough, cool enough...and then on the dirt tracks it was brilliant. Once I had it in Low Range though...that's when everything about the Defender seemed to come together. Everything I threw it at was climbed, mounted, forded, descended or gripped with only minimal interference and complaining from the traction control and ABS. Staggeringly good. I even had the sheer, unbridled joy of rescuing my mate from being bogged in some really gooey mud.

Getting back on the road to Sydney was almost sad but then it reverted back to being comfy and quiet and I loved it. Can't wait for the big trips.

I'd love to share the pictures but everytime I try, I keep getting a "remote file is too large" error and if I make them any smaller I shan't be able to see them. It's really annoying!

p.s. Loads of scratches down the side from bushes and the odd tree (!) - What's the recommended solution - polish? respray over the top then polish?


Bobby

[The Cone of Silence]

Ok so they're tiny but you get the idea. I shall do better next time....

Forgot to mention previously...

Highlights:
Low Range
Rescuing my mate
Stepping the back end out on the loose stuff
Creating my first bow wave....that wasn't in a boat.
UHF conversations

Lowlights:
Traction control making odd noises
Slipping out of high range once I'd put it back in. Twice
Scratches on the side
Having to come home

[flagg]

Awesome :)

Good to see a shiny one getting a good work out! For the High Range / Low Range.. that is common. What sometimes happens is that it doesn't fully engage when you move the lever - there is no synchro in the transfer.

When I change high range / low range I move the lever as far as it goes, and then very gently let the clutch out a little.. just so the gears in the transfer box turn 1/4 to 1/2 a turn. As this happens, the lever will move easily and lock properly into place.

Its quite common for it to sit half in place for a while before popping out. It can scare the life out of you as it feels like you've really busted something expensive!

As for the paint, go to your favourite auto store (super-crap don't usually have the full range) and get the meguires scratch / circle remover.

[The Cone of Silence]

Flagg you're not wrong mate. I was straight on the radio to my mate out in front and said I'd lost drive and thoughts turned to the wallet....but fortunately having an old British sports car, I've learned to work through the symptoms first....so I looked down....and there it was, sitting in Neutral (between H and L).

No synchro - no dramas. I'll know next time....and let's hope it's not too long. I am completely in love with my new hobby.

Cheers for the paint tip - I'll give it a go.

[newhue]

you might get sick of polishing out those scratches, defenders have a habit of going out to play more than sitting in the shopping car park.
I look at the scratches in mine, smile and think, I remember that weekend, and this mark here...well it was from.....

[Nera Donna]

Fantastic to see such a positive post. I’m glad to hear someone really enjoying and happy with their new vehicle.
Enjoy Bobby :D

[Beckford]

The tracton control making noises is normal. Mine does the same thing. I find it handy as it wakes me up when it gets slippery.

Accordining to the book, if you are having trouble getting it into low range, engage 2nd gear, back into neutral and then try it again. Worked for me.

[PAT303]

I always change from low to high while moving,walking pace only and you'll feel the gears engaging all the way.The traction control makes ugly noises,both my TC vehicles do it. Pat

[Shonky]

Highlights:
Low Range
Rescuing my mate
Stepping the back end out on the loose stuff
Creating my first bow wave....that wasn't in a boat.
UHF conversations

Lowlights:
Traction control making odd noises That's just what TC sounds like. ;) Same with ABS.
Slipping out of high range once I'd put it back in. Twice Yeah you get that. My 300Tdi does it. My RRC did it. My Series trucks do it. The Triton does it as did the Patrol before it.
Scratches on the side ...and?!
Having to come home Yes, fully agree. :(

Good on you mate - looks like you had an awesome weekend!

I took a neighbour down the back of his property last week because he had some work to do down there. He was convinced that it wasn't accessible to vehicles. Quite apart from being scared ****less, he was blown away that Defender just wandered down there as if it was nothing... He thinks I'm gods gift to driving now. I wasn't going to tell him it was more to do with the truck!

B)

[Yorkshire_Jon]

p.s. Loads of scratches down the side from bushes and the odd tree (!) - What's the recommended solution - polish? respray over the top then polish?


Sounds like you had a great time. Im ever so slightly envious, I spent the weekend with the mrs and horses!

As for the scratches, lLeave them be. Buffing them out will reduce the available paintwork to scratch next time:p, and respraying is gonna get VERY expnesive if you do it everytime you go away!

Think of them as a means of your 110 ammassing character and you memories;)

When you see mine, you'll see what I mean. Mine was near showroom condition when it came of the boat from the UK, now it looks at home:)

R
Jon

[THE BOOGER]

Good to see you had fun you missed 11 of us from the forum out on monkey gum and mint bush fire trails on sunday :D As for scraches dont they come from the factory:p

[justinc]

I agree with the scratches, I have the same feeling about dust in hard to get places. Whenever I felt like it I used to look hard into the door pillars of my Rangie and the colours of layers of dust would remind me of where this magnificent vehicle had taken us.

JC

[The Cone of Silence]

Ok so I'm getting the "keep the scratches, they're character" vibe here. Consider it done!

If I do get a bad one though, that goes through the primer, what's the go?

Bob

[slug_burner]

It is aluminium alloy so will not rust like steel panels do.

You can get yourself a touchup pen if you want to reinstate the colour.

No touchup pen will cover the hail damage:eek:

[Loubrey]

The Stealer will sell you the proper touch up kit. 2 little bottles a bit like the missus' nail varnish. The one is the actual colour and the other a clear coat to seal it. Little pricy for what it is, but it is the correct colour.
My stornoway grey 90 needed a bit of a touch on the one wing corner after a deep scratch from a rock thrown by a road train. I firmly believe in the scratches and character idea, but I also agree that some are just unnecessarily unsightly and need tidying up.

If they don’t have it in stock and they want to order it, just do it yourself from Duckworth’s in the UK. This is what any Land Rover dealer should be the world over!
http://www.duckworthparts.co.uk/landrover/index.html (http://www.duckworthparts.co.uk/landrover/index.html)
Cheers!

[The Cone of Silence]

Thanks Loubrey. I have a spray can of Stornoway Grey at home - would it be easier using this or the touch-up paint? I've never tried to use either before and don't want to make a mess of it.

I've got a scratch on the roof so I can probably practice up there first and then when I balls it up, cover it with a roof rack!

[Loubrey]

Carefull with the spray. I have only used it to "colour code" one or two small accessories that came in some unneccesarily bright colour.

Unless you have auto detailing/panel beating experience, spray cans are difficult to operate without messing up. The two part brush or pen sets works a lot better for individual deep scratches as you can "build up" a couple layers to get back to the surface.

Unless the scratches are through both the clear coat and colour coat (you'll see the white undercoat clearly through your colour coat) you'll do better to try and buff it out as suggested earlier. I would only go the paint route as very last option.

[The Cone of Silence]

Right you are Loubrey. One of the scratches is definitely through the clear and colour coat so I'll get onto the Stealer or Duckworth's a call and get myself a brush kit.

Thanks for the advice mate.

[blitz]

scratches on the landy are like the wrinkles on my face; character lines :D:D:D

Means been there done that got the scars to prove it.

[lardy]

Mate glad you made the purchase 'one more of us one less of them'
Regards the paint I went drab olive green as per Australian army purely because my paint was knackered and I find that it's easy to blow over once every couple of years when it starts looking tatty, some people buy 4x4's to use as armoured personnel carriers for the kids school run, but if you plan to continue to use the landy in anger I would probably not worry about the scratches so much if it is white you can always get a colour match rub it back and blow it over if it worries you a lot, mainly enjoy it;)
Regards Andy

[copba]

[QUOTE=slug_burner;1546893]It is aluminium alloy so will not rust like steel panels do.

Actually it looks like a Puma, the doors, and bonnet are steel.

[rockyroad]

What you need to do now is get yourself a sticker that says "hilux recovery vehicle" in time for you next outing with your mate.

[rar110]

LT230 transfer cases have a habit of jumping out of gear after a change.

I learned from one of the few good dealer mechanics a way of dealing with this problem. That is to hold the transfer leaver in gear after making the high/low or low/high change and while moving forward. You can then let it go and the transfer case leaver will then generally stay put. It seemed to work for me.

I now have a LT95 with intergral transfer box so haven't tried this for a while.

[The Cone of Silence]

What you need to do now is get yourself a sticker that says "hilux recovery vehicle" in time for you next outing with your mate.

Genius. Spare wheel cover.