I am retiring the p38

[M.Allison]

Hey Guys

I have decided that i am going to retire the range rover from off roading for good....i am still wanting to make it into a touring vehicle but thats about as far as i want to take my project...

I am really disappointed that i had to make such a decision but the range rover just isnt built as strong as i thought it would be...

What has brought on the decision has been this list:

Break lines
Rear Dif
Front Dif
Viscous Coupling
ABS

It is a great car for offroading i have proved alot of people wrong about range rovers...however the fact still remains that in my eyes for the 4wding i do i really need a car that can take a massive beating and then if it breaks be able to get parts for it at a really cheap price...

I will still continue to put a bullbar, rear bar, roof rack and re-leather the interior, install a fridge in the boot and install gas injection.

those are the list of things i will do to it and that will be it.

So on another topic.

Im thinking Suzuki sierra?

peoples opinions?

Mike

[rofosixone]

i can sorta argee with what you said /i would rather drive 110 or series in river or through bushs ect /but i am yet to break the above items you have listed ,may be i am too fussy serviceing on mine /went to suzuki club outing and found they are great little 4wd but there cv joints are weak ,its a design fault like old series landie axles (not strong ) .
up the hillclimb seen 5/7 of them snap cv"s ,even filmed it /were landies didnt ,just leting you know in advance ,i use and designed mine for road useage mainly and love it but still do silly things off road ,cheers.

[M.Allison]

i can sorta argee with what you said /i would rather drive 110 or series in river or through bushs ect /but i am yet to break the above items you have listed ,may be i am too fussy serviceing on mine /went to suzuki club outing and found they are great little 4wd but there cv joints are weak ,its a design fault like old series landie axles (not strong ) .
up the hillclimb seen 5/7 of them snap cv"s ,even filmed it /were landies didnt ,just leting you know in advance ,i use and designed mine for road useage mainly and love it but still do silly things off road ,cheers.


lol heres the thing tho i service mine all the time! i check all the fluids before i go offroading and everything...im baffled as to how it broke!

hrmm interesting thought about the suzukies.

[big guy]

For series bush bashing you need a special built job.

Range Rovers are road cars that go very well off road.

When pushed, something usually the weakest link will break, so if you strengthen that, the next weakest link will break and so on.

There is no such car off the shelf that will do everything you require, what you have however is a wicked compromise.

[DT-P38]

Just thinking... if you were to shell out for a decent zuk or anything else to bash, you will probably spend the same as a cheap P38. :p

Why not buy another P38 and have a full set of spares? :angel:

Good luck either way, for the same reasons (except I haven't broken anywhere near that much) I tend to favour using the Mrs 100 series for off roading these days... Definetly cheaper to fix and less head f#$*'s when pushing it! :eek:

In saying that, there is however no better feeling than romping past cruisers and patrols in the rangie (especially uphill in mud)!!! :cool:

[HangOver]

try an early-ish rangie classic, you still get the comfort and on-road manners but cheap as chips to buy so are the parts and maintenance can be do easily by yourself.
Also they are awsome off road

[HangOver]

IMO suzukis are fine as long as you dont raise them, they have a tendancy to roll.

[PaulP38a]

Sounds like you've had a bad run Mike... and fair enough, you've had a gutfull. I wouldn't say all P38A's are like that though.

Guess I've just been lucky that I've never broken anything off-road (not counting "the river incident"). I'm not exactly gentle with my 4wd's either ;)

Zooks are a lot of fun too. I bought one for $3K about 15 months ago after "the river incident" while I was between P38A's, spent another $5k on it for new suspension and 2" lift, bullbar, new seats, wheels and tyres, sports-back etc. Took days for my bum to recover after 1 day's off-roading :o

A few scary moments on uneven surfaces in the Zook that I probably wouldn't even notice in the Rangie. A roll-cage is a must.

Beware water crossings too.. the little 1.3L struggles to push through anything past he bumpers in high range. Low range is very capable though.

Easy to work on, popular for Vitara or Corolla engine transplants and lots of cheap parts from India on eBay... search for Samurai instead of Sierra

Have since sold it to a mate for a lot less than it owed me.

If I was to do it again, I'd go with HangOver's suggestion and get a Rangie Classic. Parts are very cheap now and the old 3.5L V8 is easy to work on.

Cheers, Paul.

[2door grover]

i have to say i agree with you.

sierras are the way to go. cheap,easy to work on. yes they do brake cvs when you go bigger tyres. a sierra on 31's is running tyres 5 inchs bigger than it came out with from the factory.

[rofosixone]

yes but the ones i filmed were on std tyres as well / but it was a steep rutted hill climb so it was extra tuff on them ,film doesnt lie .
by the way i argee with paul they are dangerous when pushed hard around corners . i had a rented sierra on 2 wheels , shock of my life almost rolled it /i will never drive that again .

[DT-P38]

I had a pretty early 1lt 4speed sierra soft top when living in QLD as a young fella (20 odd) and used to constantly have it on 2 wheels (either side) driving familiar roads to and from work (NO SH#T). :D Also had a ball off road because it walked over sand and climbed anything (virtual feather weights). I believe the later model 1.3 lt had a wider track and 30% power increase which would have to be virtually unstoppable, assuming they stay upright!

However, its demise came at the hands of my (more) inexperienced younger sister who took it for a drive one day and rolled the thing...

Morale of the story - know the vehicle you drive and its (or your own) limits.