Thread: Are 4WDs too high-tech for the bush?

I'll hearing you. Pat

Originally Posted by PAT303

In the last 5 years how many outback K's have you done in your stone reliable Isuzu?,I've done a few hundred thousand all across WA,SA,NT in my L322 and TDCi defender without one single mechanical or electrical fault,not one,I can't even remember changing a globe.IMHO people will criticize what they don't like or know about and will make up any type of hypothetical argument to back what they say,your Isuzu would be stopped dead in it's tracks by any number of issue's regardless of how little amount of electrics it has.All you people who knock modern vehicles,guess what,they crap all over your old ones in performance,power,economy,comfort,ease of use and most of all capability,a bog standard D4 would eat a county for lunch,it wouldn't even touch the sides. Pat

Now you've done it Pat, my D2 ran & hid in the garage , trembling with fright, after hearing that. Oh well, I've promised it new springs & shockies, to make it feel better. And I don't care if I break down, I have 2 weeks worth of rat packs, & a fridge full of beer, Bob

This thread comes to mind:

Murphys-law-catastrophic-failure-very-bad-place.html (Greg's new L322 RR which blew a rear shock on the Canning Stock Route, and took many thousands of dollars of LR-Assist to get on the road again).

Maybe the 20" rims were the cause? Is that fit for purpose? Because it is such a specialist car, you can't just go to your local Repco and ask for a shock absorber. At least with something more 'traditional' like a PUMA, you stand more of a chance of being able to get something off-the-shelf that can be adapted.

We went through all of this when working out what sort of truck to buy. Something older that a old fashioned diesel mechanic can fix, or something new that needs a factory computer to diagnose. Talking to companies that use trucks in the outback, their attitude was - once these new trucks are bedded in they are ultra reliable and the electronics rarely give problems. So in the end we decided on new.

We had had an "Engine Light" issue in the first 1000 Kms. It went back to MAN and they hooked it up via a satellite to Germany and someone over there diagnosed a faulty 02 sensor. It was still drivable, so hopefully things hold together like that until you can get it to a dealer.

Again this thread shows a total lack of knowledge about late model Disco's or Rangies. For less than a couple of hundred dollars you can buy an impressive diagnostic tool that reads and clears faults which can otherwise stop the vehicle in its tracks.

While most of you guys with much older and supposedly more reliable vehicles carry around a decent sized tool box full of hand tools and lots of other gear, most late model Disco owners only carry a small diagnostic tool, a better than standard jack and a tyre repair kit.

I have a reasonable working knowledge of how most mechanical things work but if my 21 year old D1 decided to stop in the middle of no where I would have far less chance of getting it going than if either my D3 or D4 did.

My D1 has 16" rims, my D2 has 18" rims, the D3 has 17" rims and the D4 for now 20" rims, but will sooner or later have 18" rims with LT A/T fitted.
Good off road Tyre and rim sizes are far less of a concern now then many of you think they are.

Can one of you please show me the Series, County, Fender or early Disco model section where there are no posts about broken down vehicles with on going common reliability issues please.

Well, I think I had better rush out and buy a few lottery tickets. I've taken my previous D3 and current D4 to places where it shouldn't have been and I'm not supposed to have made it back alive.

The world has changed (for the better), in my opinion.

Hang on... I just remembered - I did get two errors pop up on my 16,000km trip to Broome and back:
1) water in wheel height sensor gave a suspension fault. I had to actually turn the car off and on again to clear that one - such a hassle! Left me stranded on the way out of Bungle Bungles - for all of 1 minute!
2) washer fluid level low - luckily, I had the technology to fix that one myself!

How could I have forgotten those two close calls with the grim reaper!

I would imagine the old timers riding horses had similar thoughts about those new fangled mechanical contraptions. Go with the flow. The latest 4wd's are very capable in extreme conditions, and more reliable than we give them credit for. If we act like they are made of eggshells, we are not going to see much of the outback are we ?

When I bought my first D2, I got all the stories about reliability and electronics - how it was all bad and my car was a terrible choice and not fit for "real" bush...what ever that is.

Neither D2 ever left me stranded travelling through every state and territory except W.A.

Sure I had the odd breakdown - front drive shaft gave up.... had a radiator spring a leak....and out of Alice springs I developed a diesel leak from the fuel hoses near the tank. Over 200,000Km of happy motoring in those 2 vehicles

Yeh seems those hitech electronics are terrible things hey....

So bad I've recently upgraded to a D4 and there is no question, that car will travel like the previous ones.

I'll go prepared and I'll have a bloody good time...these things were not designed to hide them in cities....