thoughts on defender 130 now owned for a few months.

[Scott]

Was a while ago that I posted about the Defender 130 Jan 2002
Purchased from Pickles in Newcastle. See first post with pictures(search).
I have done 10,000km in it now. Nothing major wrong with it yet. I have added new OME shocks as I wrongly thought it might make it ride a bit smoother, It didn't. The others had done 100,000km so were problably due to be changed. I have given it the once over and changed the oil, is due again in 1000km. I am doing it every 5000km with caltex synthetic oil 10w-50w from memory. I am changing both filters, the spin on is a real ***** to remove.

I fitted a new windscreen, have got 3 chips and one crack in it already. The air conditioning works well, except the vents are too low. I fitted a new mp3 kenwood cd player, and purchased 130w 3way sony speakers to fit, did one and tested it the original landrover speakers sound better?

The Defender drives well, I got the wheels balanced as it was vibrating, not now. I am getting between 19 and 21mpg. Not terrific, I assume this is normal. I usually fill it up at around 500km when the light comes on. It goes quite well on the highway 120 easy but it lousy down low without the turbo, easy to stall especially with the air cond on. Is there anything I can do to make this better? I guess not.

I have got the windows tinted. I am going to raise the drivers seat with spacers as there is no leg room, and I am only 5'9 . The driving position is terrible, no shoulder room with the window up there is no where to put your arm. The handbrake doesn't bother me much. I have put sound proofing under the bonnet. Glued back from Supercheap, has made a noticable difference. The rear window rattles when it is open which is annoying but the air flow is terrific, no buffeting.

The truck handles very well and the way it corners is impressive. It is a little rough to ride in though. It has 10ply michelin tyres on it. It is reasonably quiet except for the wind whistle somewhere under the windscreen on the passenger side, may be the vent, not sure.

The water that pours inside from the roof guttering is great :roll: You think they could of fixed this. Happens every time you drive it in the rain.

Should you put the Defender into diff lock every time you go off road? I read this somewhere here. Even if you don't need it you should put it in, is this correct? I am a farmer, and drive it around off the tar all the time. Lately it has been wet, it will go everywhere without locking it, but someone said it it better to lock the transfer case because it will last longer if you do. Any thoughts.

Is a front outside sun visor available for a defender as you get some sun coming in the front sometimes and would be cooler with one.

I tried to get some side rails and steps to suit but I couldn't find anyone that makes them just to go to the back of the cab. I may put under tray tool boxes on in the future and don't want the steps to go past the back of the cab. All the ones I found go past, nearly back to the rear wheel.

I have fitted my IPF lights with HIR globes, I have had them 10 years and they are still going strong. Were on 2 previous vechicles.

The lack of a tacho is annoying and LR is very cheap by not fitting one. Although if it had one I may not drive it as fast. I usually drive it between 110 and 120 on the road. Not sure how many revs this is and glad I don't know. It will do 140 quite easily on the flat.

The RH mirror sometimes blows in on the arm is there any way to stop this happening, don't say drive slower

Overall the purchase has been a good experience so far and the truck is very good concidering the price $17K plus on road. Now done 112,000Km

I have the only one in town, 10,000 pop. There is one older 110 ute also a farmer, we haven't met yet but wave. Actually every defender owner I pass waves which is nice. The price I paid is half the price you would pay for the same age and condition Landcruiser or patrol, they are not twice as good. Don't tell, but I insured it for $28,000 and that was there figure not mine.

Cheers all
Scott

[one_iota]

Scott,

That is a great practical "in a nut shell" post.

Many issues for which I'm sure there will be responses.

[George130]

With the mirror tighten the nut on the bottom. It stiped mine from swinging in.
With the fuel I have been averaging 11.4L/100km that is with heaps of extra's and an auto upgrade with a computer mod chip. There great to drive though.

[disconut]

Are we talking TD5?
The oil sounds a bit hefty at 10W50?

Mine runs 5W30 8O

Trev.

[LandyAndy]

Hi Scott
Great post,you have sumed Landrovers up in a nutshell.You missed mentioning that you round up all the other farmers cruisers,hiluxs and pootrols on any sort of a hill,the Landy has heaps more power from a lot smaller motor.Also them jappers cant carry anywhere near what you can 8) 8) 8) 8) And the all coil spring suspension is alot more comfortable than the leaf/coil setups the others have,plus your articulation is much better.
With your CDL,no need to lock it unless the terrain is really tough,you need to be very carefull on steep hills,up or down with ruts.If the CDL isnt locked it can lead to loss of control which can be a tad alarming 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O .
ENJOY YOUR LANDY
Andrew

[Scott]

Thanks for the kind words. I ran out of time earlier to finish.
The Defender is a reg 2002 TD5. I thought the oil may be a little heavy as when its cold it just seems to heavy ie noise. But I have looked on here and there are differing opinions on the grade. I don't know, who to believe the manual says use the light grade, but isn't it written mainly for europe where its a lot colder than here? It does stay clean for at least 1500km which is very good because of the cyclo filter. My father has a 2.8 hilux and 5 min after changing the oil you wouldn't know, its that dirty. I maybe should change the grade on the next change?

It does carry a load very well, I have had 1300kg on it and it hardly sits down in the rear. Thats one of the reasons I chose the defender, its 3500kg GVM. I shouldn't complain about the ride, because it will carry a load, you cannot have it both ways.

It's not as good up hills as a rodeo, I have noticed coming back from Tamworth up the moobies, I couldn't keep up with one. Once you put it back to 4th I will hold it on nearly any large hill at 80km/hr. Some other trucks will keep on slowing down. I don't like to go more than 85 in 4th but it would probably do 100 if you push it in the same circumstances. I usually change from 3rd to 4th at 60 and from 4th to 5th at 80, this seems to work pretty well.

You only have to look at the thickness of the steel in the rims to know the truck is tough, it is twice as thick as any other make.

Another thing I have noticed is the lights won't stay on when you turn the truck off, only the parkers. I wanted to do some work at night on a piece of machinery and had to leave the engine running as the lights won't stay on.

The steering column indicators and wipers are all back the front. Even the way the wipers work is reverse of everything else. I am used to the blinker being on the left as I used to own a Peugeot. One of my friends who has a crusier took it for a drive and was complaining about this and also the fact you can hardly reach the window winder, and said he couldn't own one for these reasons only. I think he is just a "Cruiser man" and will always be one.

I have no preferences or preconcieved ideas about most vechicles and give them all a fair go, except holdens they are crap . Just kidding I would consider a 5.7 statesman. They really are rubbish though, otherwise the cab drivers would be using them.

Someone said to me the other day they believed that out here in the country most farmers and townies believe Cruisers and Patrols are a status symbol and that is why they have to have one and cannot even consider another make. I tend to agree with them, that is what they think. Just because someone else has one they have to, keeping up with the Jones's. I tend to try to do the opposite of everyone else as that is usually the best way to get ahead. ie if everyone is selling their homes you should be buying etc. The same applies here I got the Defender for half the price of a cruiser because they are not the flavour of the month and hence are cheaper on the market. While cruisers are in huge demand and for the same money I could of purchased one about 1997 model with 190,000km.

Thanks Scott

[disconut]

Originally posted by Scott

It's not as good up hills as a rodeo, I have noticed coming back from Tamworth up the moobies, I couldn't keep up with one. Once you put it back to 4th I will hold it on nearly any large hill at 80km/hr. Some other trucks will keep on slowing down.

Try the Bruce Davis Chip. It will give you heaps more torque for towing and up hills it is tops. Mine does the range easily, passing Cruisers and Patrols.

Trev.

[DEFENDERZOOK]

<span style="color:blue">hey buddy......

i run penrite HPR Diesel 5 oil in mine....
it has the required european specs.....

and as for your stereo sounding better with the old speakers.....
you will need an amp to power the new ones....the head unit doesnt have enough power to
run them...so all you will get when you turn the volume up will be crappy distortion.....



and as for your revs....at 110kph you should be doing around 2500rpm...in fifth gear</span>

[Scott]

Trev
Will the chip help off turbo where it really needs it? also on here I have heard stories about problems after remapping the computer. It isn't as simple as just putting a chip in is it?. The other thing that concerns me is the huge increases in power I have seen mentioned here. More power from a small motor means decreased engine life and the potential to blow head gaskets? Has this been the case or do you believe it won't do any long term harm. The "Bruce Davis" chip has what sort of gains in yours, can you get different amounts of gain with it or is it a one size fits all?
Thanks Scott

At present when driving mine the throttle is flat a lot of the time. Driving home from town it is 30km and the elevation rises from 550m to 800m and this goes up and down a few times. So its up hill most of the way.

Tony are you sure thats all the engine is doing? It sounds a lot more, thats less than a landcruiser at the same speed. I have been a little worried about pushing it thinking it has been mainly built for slow speed work and is revving heaps at 110. But if thats the case then I have been worrying about nothing. I assumed because the TD5 has a redline at something like 4800 that it would be revving very high to make power and need this at 100.

[DEFENDERZOOK]

<span style="color:blue">i will have to double check....it could be 3000rpm......(i have a really bad memory...)

aaahh......now im all confused......
disregard previous figures till i confirm them.....</span>