DEFENDER 110 Overland Build

[overlander]

I would agree with Chris. how the vehicle looks should be the last thing you would consider. Your very first priority, and an absolute requirement of any vehicle being considered is reliability. I would replace everything on your cooling system first (as this is always the biggest point of failure with older vehicles), all the suspension bushing, repack all the wheel bearings, and shore up all major leaks in the powertrain, before any modification. Then get out and see how it performs, get the workshop manual and learn about your vehicle as-is, and understand, like Chris said, your stock capabilities. You are not building a rock crawler. If you go with appearance first, you'll end up wasting money and redoing things when function and form clash in the field. You can buy and install a RTT in the blind, then find that your spouse doesn't like climbing the ladder and wants to be on the ground. You can put in a 3" suspension and find that your family doesn't like the stiffness of the suspension, and prefers the stock. For overlanding, it all needs to be a group decision, and I suspect that your family probably has not done much camping. You need to get them out there and start doing that, while working the priorities of work on your vehicle we have advised you of. A slow and deliberate introduction to outdoor living, and how you execute that with your family, is the most important decision you have to make. You will not create a positive reinforcing experience with your family on a scheduled weekend camping trip if you breakdown, but have a 3" lift. Nor will they enjoy their experience if they have to sit in the 110 in an unexpected all day downpour on a precious free weekend, but your 110 has a new paint job. You start with short wins of positive experience outdoors with your family on camping trips, then work your way up to overlanding. Let's remember, while highly debated, the universal commonality of overlanding attributes are long distance and duration vehicle based travel. If you can't get them to want to do a weekend within a couple hours away, you aren't going to get them to agree to Baja or Belize.

 

[rijosho]

Drive the truck around a bunch to see what the actual limitations are. These trucks come very capable in stock form for most everything you'll be demanding from it. Starting off by asking the best wheel/tire combo should probably not be your first mod, unless they are somehow dangerous currently. Take some trips - 2 hours out, 2 back (aka within your AAA distance) for a few weekends and see what the truck actually needs. Bring the family out a few times, pack as completely as necessary but as lean as possible - a rack may very well be necessary for everything, but packing as lean as possible is also important. See what the biggest complaint(s) is/are and then adjust from there.

 

[overlander]

With that said, if you are planning for a family of 5, having a family of 4 myself and a 110 built for overlanding, I can assure you that you are a candidate for a camping trailer. You won't even have enough room left in the 110 for the non-negotiable toys, before you have even loaded the first cooler and sleeping bag.

Here's a few thoughts in your build planning
1) what would it be like broke down on the side of the highway halfway into the mountains, fully loaded with camping gear and your family of 5, waiting on a part to be overnighted to the nearest town.
2) have you ever seen a tow truck that can fit a family of 5 in the cab plus the driver?
3) as small children are amazingly impatient, can you serve dinner within 30 minutes of arriving at the campsite?
4) how will you handle having to take a child to the emergency room at the nearest town at 1am from a campsite?

 

[rijosho]

With that said, if you are planning for a family of 5, having a family of 4 myself and a 110 built for overlanding, I can assure you that you are a candidate for a camping trailer. You won't even have enough room left in the 110 for the non-negotiable toys, before you have even loaded the first cooler and sleeping bag.

Mark, you should just buy a second Defender - the 147" gets my vote. Your wife and kids can ride in that with all their toys, and you can follow behind them in the 110. Done and done!

 

[overlander]

Mark, you should just buy a second Defender - the 147" gets my vote. Your wife and kids can ride in that with all their toys, and you can follow behind them in the 110. Done and done!

Ha! As we say in the military, "that is A way, not THE way!". My wife has a DII, so I could switch mine to the CT support 110! Just think, me and 3 fridges! Oh yeah, and the 37 stuffed animals.

 

[EIGHTLUG]

That's the thing. I don't consider it to be reliable. I don't trust it. I have ZERO desire to take it out on the trails with the LR3 as a chase vehicle, just to watch the Defender fall on its face due to mechanical failure. Then tow it home. If I'm going to "fix" anything, or everything, I'll fix it to the best it can be. I'm in no rush to go out to see what i can break. I'm not flipping it. I don't care about resale. I do want it to be a nice, comfortable, very off road capable vehicle, all around.

- The truck is apparently new to you.-Yes, took delivery on 11/12. I got a really good deal on it and thought, why not.
- You aren't totally sure what motor you have, yet you are ready to replace it with something, maybe even a GM powertrain.-Yes. Very familiar with GM power and reliability. I know what engine is in it. I'm just not 100% sure it is original to the vehicle. Not knowing it's previous history, I'd like the piece of mind of knowing what I'm working with. From day 1 I had no desire to keep it's current diesel. Everything from an EcoBoost V-6 to an LS3 has been on the table as options for power. But recently I've wanted to stay true to its heritage and keep the powertrain Land Rover.
- You want to lift the truck-Nope, not originally. But, after several posts suggest a 2-3" lift, it sound like a very sensible modification.
- You're considering using spacers. Nope, I was "open to using them" if that was the route most suggested. Myself, I'd rather have a wheel that's the correct offset to fit the most capable tire.
- You want to run 33" tires. I really had no set diameter before starting this thread. But, with many posts suggesting the same size tire, 33 sounds like the way to go.
- You're picking out paint colors. Yes. Right now, the paint on it is hideous. It's a brushed on acrylic blue, applied by the previous owner. I'd like to get it stripped down to metal to see what kind of corrosion repair is in store then get it painted. Right now I'd say, five new doors and possibly a bulkhead need to be ordered.

Sorry if you're frustrated. I do appreciate the suggestions. Right now, I'm still wanting to find the weak links and see what options are out there to get it up to what is par for me. I know it's capable. That's why I have it, but I know it can be capable of much more in every aspect. I guess it frustrates you that it's good enough for you, but it's not good enough for me?

 

[EIGHTLUG]

With that said, if you are planning for a family of 5, having a family of 4 myself and a 110 built for overlanding, I can assure you that you are a candidate for a camping trailer. You won't even have enough room left in the 110 for the non-negotiable toys, before you have even loaded the first cooler and sleeping bag.

Here's a few thoughts in your build planning
1) what would it be like broke down on the side of the highway halfway into the mountains, fully loaded with camping gear and your family of 5, waiting on a part to be overnighted to the nearest town. We always travel with one of our other vehicles. If you have one you have none. So either the LR3 or L322.
2) have you ever seen a tow truck that can fit a family of 5 in the cab plus the driver? See question 1.
3) as small children are amazingly impatient, can you serve dinner within 30 minutes of arriving at the campsite? They are a pretty low maintenance bunch. They really enjoy their time in the mountains. A lot of the reason I'm doing this build is because it's family oriented.
4) how will you handle having to take a child to the emergency room at the nearest town at 1am from a campsite? I have a SPOT. Push the button and a helicopter gets dispatched. I often hit the mountain trails solo on my GS. A SPOT is a must have.

 

[EIGHTLUG]

Those are some really good pointers. Thanks! I guess I come from a different school of approaching a Defender build. For everything else I've done it was a blow it apart to the frame and build it up. I've never been one to be emotionally attached to mechanical parts. So, replacing them with updated, better parts has never been an issue. I was looking through some of my parts catalogs and R.N. does advertise 3" lifted coils that are "Comfortable." I may start out with something like that.

I would agree with Chris. how the vehicle looks should be the last thing you would consider. Your very first priority, and an absolute requirement of any vehicle being considered is reliability. I would replace everything on your cooling system first (as this is always the biggest point of failure with older vehicles), all the suspension bushing, repack all the wheel bearings, and shore up all major leaks in the powertrain, before any modification. Then get out and see how it performs, get the workshop manual and learn about your vehicle as-is, and understand, like Chris said, your stock capabilities. You are not building a rock crawler. If you go with appearance first, you'll end up wasting money and redoing things when function and form clash in the field. You can buy and install a RTT in the blind, then find that your spouse doesn't like climbing the ladder and wants to be on the ground. You can put in a 3" suspension and find that your family doesn't like the stiffness of the suspension, and prefers the stock. For overlanding, it all needs to be a group decision, and I suspect that your family probably has not done much camping. You need to get them out there and start doing that, while working the priorities of work on your vehicle we have advised you of. A slow and deliberate introduction to outdoor living, and how you execute that with your family, is the most important decision you have to make. You will not create a positive reinforcing experience with your family on a scheduled weekend camping trip if you breakdown, but have a 3" lift. Nor will they enjoy their experience if they have to sit in the 110 in an unexpected all day downpour on a precious free weekend, but your 110 has a new paint job. You start with short wins of positive experience outdoors with your family on camping trips, then work your way up to overlanding. Let's remember, while highly debated, the universal commonality of overlanding attributes are long distance and duration vehicle based travel. If you can't get them to want to do a weekend within a couple hours away, you aren't going to get them to agree to Baja or Belize.

 

[chris snell]

The Army officer in me finds your general cluelessness about offroading quite alarming. Push a button and a helicopter gets dispatched? Are you kidding me? Is that your actual contingency plan?

You're free to make your own decisions on your truck but if you make choices on tires, lifts, and other offroad kit based on the peanut gallery here, you're going have a bad time.

 

[overlander]

You've got some good answers so I'm not going to dwell on it, since, as mentioned, we are trying to share our collective experience and (at least for me) painfully learned wisdom on this very connundrum many of us have faced, of how to go about this. If you sense any frustration, it is (again at least with me) from frustration with ourselves, in the mistakes or better said, historically proven less optimal decisions we've made in the past, and would like the world to know so they are not repeated.

I can tell you that I have a 3" lift and 33" tires, and I love it. I could not be more satisfied with my suspension. But I can also say that I am building an overland vehicle in the truist form, as my objectives with my 110 are for trans and intercontinental travel with friends and or family. I have at this point the utmost confidence in being able to travel from my home to Canada or Central America, and the reliabiltiy to get there, as well as the ability through skill and kit to address most unexpected issues along the way. But to get there, I have spent the last few years, while my kids got a little bigger, to invest the time and money into focusing on refreshing the power and drive train to obtain that reliability from what is a 20 year old vehicle.

When I was in Guatemala with NLX last year, I was amazed at what they could get their 110's to do, deep in the jungle, repeatedly, and without fuss or reliability issues. They have older 110's than mine, and they do it with 200 TDI rover engines, 10 spline axles and if I recall, 2" lift. But they make sure to put the time in to maintain those vehicles religiously for their commercial use.. But still, a great example of how durable an old Rover can be.

It sounds to me like your objectives for the 110, at least in the foreseable future is for a weekender recreational vehicle, not for overland trips. I myself wouldn't call it an overland vehicle, since you don't intend to equip or use it that way, but those ultimately are all words that don't really matter. Whatever is right for you, and whatever your intended purpose, I would focus on reliability first. The point I am trying to make is that your 110 can be made very reliable, and the rover TDI's are very good engines. Once you achieve that, you do not need to limit your scope of purpose for that vehicle, but rather, it will add options for you in the future. Good luck and please share your buildup!

 

[chris snell]

So, replacing them with updated, better parts has never been an issue. I was looking through some of my parts catalogs and R.N. does advertise 3" lifted coils that are "Comfortable." I may start out with something like that.

This may be the greatest troll in expo history.

 

[EIGHTLUG]

Do you have a better option to get yourself or someone to an emergency room, when you're in the middle of nowhere? In the Air Force we had PJ's. They would pick you grunts up in a helicopter and work on you until you get to the ER. So, you were one of "those" Army officers huh?

The Army officer in me finds your general cluelessness about offroading quite alarming. Push a button and a helicopter gets dispatched? Are you kidding me? Is that your actual contingency plan?

You're free to make your own decisions on your truck but if you make choices on tires, lifts, and other offroad kit based on the peanut gallery here, you're going have a bad time.

 

[overlander]

Do you have a better option to get yourself or someone to an emergency room, when you're in the middle of nowhere? In the Air Force we had PJ's. They would pick you grunts up in a helicopter and work on you until you get to the ER. So, you were one of "those" Army officers huh?

Curt, the point I was trying to make about the emergency room was the consideration of how to outfit, with the assumption of solo travel in your 110 with a family of 5, and the merits of having a camping trailer to give you the freedom of movement to do something like make a run to the emergency room. If you go camping with a second vehicle, then the emergency room issue is resolved. But those were just examples of things to think about when outfitting for family outdoor travel.

 

[North America Overland]

That's the thing. I don't consider it to be reliable. I don't trust it. I have ZERO desire to take it out on the trails with the LR3 as a chase vehicle, just to watch the Defender fall on its face due to mechanical failure. Then tow it home. If I'm going to "fix" anything, or everything, I'll fix it to the best it can be. I'm in no rush to go out to see what i can break. I'm not flipping it. I don't care about resale. I do want it to be a nice, comfortable, very off road capable vehicle, all around.

I agree with eight lug, I would never consider any vehicle, let alone a 29 year old one, suitable for back country travel until it has been mechanically baselined. If this wasn't recently done by the previous owner, then you need to do it yourself.
This means any questionable parts replaced and all maintenance brought current. Since a Defender is such a simple vehicle I'd just tear it down to the bare frame and rebuild. Most neglected Rovers that I have the task of baselining I just tear down and rebuild, it saves a lot of time and money down the road. It only takes a day to disassemble the entire vehicle, just about every part is readily available and upgrades to newer parts are easy and well documented. While it's disassembled you can strip and repaint everything any color you want.
-Mike

 

[EIGHTLUG]

Nope, I totally understand where you were coming from. I took Chris Snell's remark to mean something totally different, though. We do carry blowout kits (first aid w/ tourniquets, scissors, etc) in our vehicles and have the basics covered, as far as emergency training goes. One of my tasks for the company I work for is in program safety. So, safety is always first.

I was actually looking at different off road capable gear trailers, just yesterday. I do see the merit in having one. This was more for gear, obviously, and not a camper.

From here, it sounds like I need to regroup a bit and nail down exactly what it is that I want to do with the rig. Maybe not a purists overlander, but maybe more of an off-road-long distance-trail rig.?

I spoke with John from Automotive Alchemy, earlier today. John runs a Rover shop in Boulder. He was suggested to me by Jeff at JC's British, here in Denver, to do the swap from what I currently have to the 300 TDi. If we went ahead with the swap, John asks that the rig not be painted. So that aspect may be put on hold. I'll know more, later this week when I sit down with him at his shop.

Curt, the point I was trying to make about the emergency room was the consideration of how to outfit, with the assumption of solo travel in your 110 with a family of 5, and the merits of having a camping trailer to give you the freedom of movement to do something like make a run to the emergency room. If you go camping with a second vehicle, then the emergency room issue is resolved. But those were just examples of things to think about when outfitting for family outdoor travel.