Thread: defender build quality

WHen I saw the words "Defender" and "Build Quality" in the same sentence I eolled around on the floor laughing my a-- off !

Then I recovered and thought "WHat sort of freak would buy one of those?".

And then I remembered I have just spent all day in mine ! On the road.

Originally Posted by VladTepes

On the road.

why not off?

Twas raining a LOT and Crystalvale was shut.

A comment on "Build Quality". When most reviewers talk about build quality, they are talking about panel fit, quality of paint finish, that sort of thing.

These are totally irrelevant when talking about a Defender. The sort of build quality problem that they DO have is things like the injector harness on the TD5 getting oil in it.

As far as the question of ergonomics goes, it is a matter of whether you want to retain the interchangeable parts with much of the last fifty years of production, or start with a clean sheet - but if it were to be redesigned from scratch, you can be sure you would lose a lot of the current advantages, such as the meccano-like body construction which makes modifications and repairs so much easier than any other vehicle.

Meanwhile, I can confidently drive my twenty year old 110, with nearly 500,000km on the clock over the twenty kilometres of appallingly rough fire trail to the bitumen, quite confident that nothing will break (thinking of my next door neighbour's ornament by his house yard gate - a Hilux front shocker, complete with half the chassis bracket!), turn onto the bitumen and drive the remaining thirty five kilometres to town at the speed limit, comfortably and easily, or confidently set out on a 1000km trip to my son's in Melbourne with no expectation of trouble (although last time I did this at Christmas I did a tyre on the way back).

John

Originally Posted by VladTepes

Twas raining a LOT and Crystalvale was shut.

BUGGER!

Originally Posted by incisor

BUGGER!

Jeez Dave, selling the Disco to buy a Defender, what gives?

been looking for a fender van for best part of five years.... wanted one when i got the disco but just couldnt find one i could afford, then i tried for 2 door discos, couldnt find a good one, so got the one i have now. tried to talk the missus into a rangie, but she hates the look of them, then this fender bobbed up... caught her on the rebound i think, lifes full of little wonders :P

cant wait... got some ideas i want to try out, but am under orders to sell disco and build a shed first.... so ideas have to wait a while... sclarke is doing similar to what i had in mind... hopefully learn from his experiences :P

Originally Posted by JDNSW

As far as the question of ergonomics goes, it is a matter of whether you want to retain the interchangeable parts with much of the last fifty years of production, or start with a clean sheet - but if it were to be redesigned from scratch, you can be sure you would lose a lot of the current advantages, such as the meccano-like body construction which makes modifications and repairs so much easier than any other vehicle.

As proof, look at this thread http://www.aulro.com/afvb/showthread.php't=34859 AND see that the Defender was repaired for $100 worth of parts from an old Series Landie!

You can't do that with any other modern 4WD.

Ron