Thread: defender build quality

Originally Posted by novice42

I picked a 4wd magazine today, some kind of guide for buyers for 2nd hand 4wds.

Its review of the Defender is along the lines that it is super cabable offroad, but is completely woeful on road, engine noise, cabin water leaks in rain, steering difficult when doing over a 100k's and it went on.

Is this an accurate reflection of the defender?

YES!

YEP
They build them like that so only us serious NUTTERS buy them
Keeps the workers in the tojonissamitsi factorys in employment
All 4x4s have their problems.
Andrew

Originally Posted by novice42

I picked a 4wd magazine today, some kind of guide for buyers for 2nd hand 4wds.

Its review of the Defender is along the lines that it is super cabable offroad, but is completely woeful on road, engine noise, cabin water leaks in rain, steering difficult when doing over a 100k's and it went on.

Is this an accurate reflection of the defender?

Pretty much so , the noise isnt that bad i drive most of the time by myself no one is game enough to ride in my car

dont know about the water leaks it hasnt rained long enough in vic to prove this ok it does leak not bad tho

hey but if you want a realy good car off road just do it

to tell you the truth your family and kids will love it mine do and i use to have rangies

If the steering is difficult over 100k the tyre pressure is incorrect or there is a fault. The current Defender is a lot quieter than earlier Landrovers - BUT

The Defender is structurally very similar to the 1948 Landrover, which was designed as a utility vehicle that could be made with a minimum of tooling.
Unlike structurally modern designs which have an integrated body/chassis with almost all the bits welded to each other, usually by robots, the Defender is made of a large number of smaller parts, many of them bolted together by hand, and made on jigs that in some cases are almost fifty years old. This makes the vehicle very flexible, in that , for example, it is easy to convert from station waggon to ute to van to double cab with nothing except hand tools, or to remove the body (in pieces) without a hoist, just with a couple of helpers. But the downside of this is that it is almost impossible to keep water out - none of the joins fit properly, and there are a lot of them, and this also results in a lot of wind noise and difficulties in soundproofing (not that there is a lot of this in standard form) and often a lot of rattles.

On road, they should have handling that is quite good compared to other similar four wheel drives, in particular the ride is good on rough roads, but the ultimate handling is very dependent on tyres. There are other criticisms on road, such as poor aircon and poor ergonomics, but you need to realise they are designed as a utility vehicle.

Offroad, there is nothing comparable as sold, although the D3 may be as good in sheer get there ability, although they have not been around long enough to talk about durability and fixability.

John

i agree with JDNSW!
there are some rattles and squeeks due to being hand built. but you also get these in anything else.

ive driven alot of cars in my life so far, i grew up with pommy stuff, though the disco and my current defender are the only english ones ive ever owned.

i would never again buy anything else! its that simple to me. its just something you dont get in any other make of car.

cheers phil

I think John and Phil have perfectly summed it up.

It was originally a work truck and to be used for hard going in rough conditions and last forever. It wasn't ever meant to be luxurious and comparing it to any other ute on that point is useless. It does however do all the ute and truck functions PERFECTLY, and more economically than any of its 'rivals'.

I love them, and counties, but I have a problem, the other half won't come on any trips with me unless she brings the rangie too . So I made my rangie as much like a defender/ county as possible to compromise. But, it won't ever BE a 110 , so I can just keep dreaming,.....And enjoy driving the odd one.

If you want a rugged reliable high capacity and economical touring vehicle, go Isuzu county(If you can find one) or Defender pre Td5.


JC

I disagree about the driving on road and the steering dfifficult over 100km/h.

I find them quite easy to drive on road and at above legal speeds.

They can be a tad noisy but you'll enjoy driving one. In some ways I find them more fun to drive than my Rangie - but the Rangie is far more civilised.

Ron

I cant disagree with what anyone has said,
What I would note is that my old Stage 1 with leaf springs at 120kmh putting 2 wheels off of the single lane sealed roads in the territory is a far more comfortable place to be than a modern Land Cruiser.
I have had many more sphincter clenching moments in modern vehicles than in Land Rovers.
Oh and the Land Rover in question is 26 years old not many Japs that old still doing it daily.


Water all I can say is thank God I dont live anywhere it rains.