Thread: Newbie, a few issues with Defender

You should have some fun with that car. Corey had quite a few runs with LROC in it. It should be pretty well sorted.

I'm no mechanic, but here goes:

1. They don't track as well as a Commondore or a Falcon. If its bad check the castor & toe, the castor changes with the lift. Check all the suspension bushes, even if the rears are worn, it might be steering from the back.

2. so does mine. It should pull up straight, culprit is probably radius arm bushes.

3. So does mine - responds to a pump of the pedal? I think this is an issue with the difflocks & aftermarket axles. I'm suspecting theres some end float in there, causing pad knockoff. Never seems to be the bearings. And there is an o-ring problem with Defender masters, they seem to last about 40,000 kms only.

4. Corey had the biggest of big chip upgrades. It gives a massive increase in the middle of the rev range, but nothing down low. I had the same issues. The transition is really noticable, hit 2000 rpm or so & it takes off. And a bit of surging in low range. I took mine back to Bruce Davis, & had the milder upgrade installed. More drivable, & the surging is gone. Its still got enough poke to enjoy though.

It'll be great to see your car out & about again. Going to bring it on any trips?

Regards
Max P

Can't help with the first lot but as for the BD chip & intercooler, it really should be OK, the surge could be a dirty air filter or faulty MAF sensor, ring B Davis and tell the problem, he should be able to help.

The flat spot is something i had when i had my air filter box modified and the chip was upgraded to the chip that goes in when the intercooler upgrade is done, it made the down low power woefull, it had nothing from idle to 2000rpm then it took off, i had it changed back to the old chip and the old air box refitted, and it is fine now.

Again speak to B Davis he is upgrading his chips all the time, so there could be a newer one to solve this.

Baz.

Originally posted by Tusker
And there is an o-ring problem with Defender masters, they seem to last about 40,000 kms only.

Must be lucky with mine, 130,000km and still ok. 8O

Hey Max
As soon as I get it together will join the club and would love to come on some trips. Am married with 3 kids and also work 6 days a week so my time is sometimes limited - are all the trips full on or are same a little tamer?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>1. When steering on centre the truck seems to wander a little, is the steering box adjustable on the Defender or do I look elsewhere? [/b][/quote]
this can be the tyres (some wander more than others), loose panhard rod (check bolt bracket at chassis end), too much toe out, lack of caster (if lifted) too much play in rear suspension bushes, either trailing arms to chasis or 'A' frame to chassis (have had both these bushes cause rear and roll steer at different times), etc....
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>2. On top of this it seems to pull to the right under braking, hoping this is a simple alignment problem.[/b][/quote]
see answers above :wink:
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>3. The brake pedal feel is not consistent - feels like a booster problem to me - I know that the master cylinder was replaced recently due to leak.
Sometimes pedal is hard, sometimes it drops closer to floor. If you pump once when close to floor it hardens up a little. This truck does not have ABS or traction control - was ordered without to accomodate Maxilocks front and rear[/b][/quote]

This is generally a wheel bearing issue. The brakes use a four piston caliper in the front, and twin piston in the rear. If there is any play at all in the bearings, you will experience what is known as 'pad knockoff' where a slight wobble in the disc (usually caused through wheel bearing play, although sometimes from a warped disc) will knock the pistons back into the bore. This generally manifests itself when cornering hard or on rough roads. Jack each corner up and see if there is any play when holding the wheel at 12 and 6 O'clock.

Sydney LROC has a variety of trips & grades. So finding something that suits you won't be a problem.

Keep an eye on the trips section here, and on the Overlander forum too. Every now and then you might see something that suits you.

Regards
Max P

Rick130 the pad 'knock off' thing is interesting in that I am getting some brake pedal pulsing on top of the other issues - thought this would be warped discs and was going to get checked for runout - will jack it up over the weekend and check for bearing play now. Thks mate Darren

Corey replaced the bearings not that long ago. It was always a point of discussion, how long they'd last with the big offset in the wheels he used to run. But he never had any bearing issues in the time that I remember.

The discs being thin is definitely a possibility. The rears particularly don't last long on a Defender.

Regards
Max P