Discovery 3 (LR3) and Discovery 4 (LR4) Registry

[Shigeta]

I bought my LR3 about a year ago (October 2019) and have been slowly, but surely going through the circular (and never-ending) process of shakedown > modify > tweak > repeat.

Originally, I chose the LR3 as I wanted something that could do the following:

• Tow a dirt bike on hitch
• Tow a race car in enclosed trailer
• Moderate offroad capabilities to get to more remote campsites/trailheads
• Sleep my 6'3" self in the back at the trailhead or racetrack

Of course, scope creep set in and after a few trips with close friends to the Sierras, I found myself getting more and more into the "overlanding" scene. Before doing too many mods, I spent a lot of time and money addressing some of the inherit weaknesses of the platform and get it to "stage 0."

For the time being, I'm just about done with it. I'd like to add sliders and possibly a tire swing out, but it suits our needs pretty perfectly as-is.

2006 LR3 SE V8 — 161,xxx miles

• Maintenance
  • New OEM Front & Rear diffs; PO roasted them by never changing fluids
  • New OEM front and rear control arms, upper and lower. (I replaced the bushings/ball joints on the take off arms with OEM units in preparation to redo the suspension arms again in a few years)d
  • New OEM sway bar end links
  • New OEM wheel bearings on all 4 corners
  • New OEM sunroof drain tubes all around
  • New Arnott air struts on all 4 corners (Arnott lifetime warranty + reinforced eyelet)
  • New OEM air distribution blocks—front, rear, and center
  • New AMK compressor upgrade
  • New OEM alternator & NAPA AGM battery
  • Upgraded metal transmission pan + general service
  • New pads, rotors, and lines on all 4 corners; flushed and bled with Motul RBF660
  • New radiator, coolant "T"
  • New brake light switch, OEM brake light bulbs
• Modifications
  • ProSpeed Roof Rack + Dual jerry can mounts + spare tire mount
  • Pelican Recovery Case + Maxtrax with various bits of recovery gear
  • ProSpeed Ladder
  • Ox hitch
  • Traxide dual battery kit + Optima Yellow Top
  • Custom auxiliary fuse/relay panel; all aftermarket electronics are isolated from the factory electronics system
  • Warn 12-S Platinum Winch on Terrafirma hidden winch mount (< I regret spending money on this mount; it's trash)
  • Baja Designs LP9 lights - 1 Spot, 1 Driving/Combo
  • Yaesu FTM400-XDR Radio (Licensed to operate) + Comet CA-2X4SR antenna on custom fender mount
  • Various custom OTRATTW switches for auxiliary electronics
  • Goodyear Duratrac 265/60/18 Tires + OEM full size spare
  • RAM iPad Mount + Powerwerx 18W USB-C Panel Mount
  • Weathertech floor mats
  • Bearmach rear upper loadspace shelf

 

[jerdog53]

Interested to hear why you think the Terrafirma hidden winch mount is junk?

 

[Shigeta]

Interested to hear why you think the Terrafirma hidden winch mount is junk?

Great question! Here are my issues with the Terrafirma winch mount:

• The "M" logo cut out of the bottom of where the winch sits snags on synthetic line and the abrasion sleeve on the winch line. When spooling on my line, it snagged and tore the abrasion sleeve. There is no way around this. It's an unnecessary bit of branding that is invisible once installed, so there is no reason to have it there. Even without the relatively baggy abrasion sleeve, if the operator is the slightest bit distracted and isn't tensioning the rope just right when spooling back on, the point in the "M" will grab and snag/tear strands in the line.
• The brackets with nuts they provide to secure the winch mount to the flanges on the frame are all spot-welded on poorly. Instead of the nuts sitting flat on the plate that goes on the backside of the truck's frame flange were welded so poorly, they were off-axis from the bolt's axis by about 7°—aka, cross-thread central for the unsuspecting DIY'er. I had to grind the weld off, then had the nuts welded back on to the plate, but flat and in-line with the axis of the bolt so that it would thread on properly.
• The supports for the valve body and washer bottle are flimsy and failure-prone. The valve body side of mine had a crack in it all the way down. Statically, it held the weight of the valve body fine, but with the vibrations that an off-road vehicle would experience would have exacerbated the crack; failure was a matter of time. I had that re-welded with a gusset added.
• The instructions are basically useless. There is an extensive amount of cutting needed on the LR3 to get it to fit. I expected that going into it, but other instructions at least provide some kind of template or—at the very least—a reasonable explanation of what cutting is needed and expected.

There aren't many options out there nowadays, but if you want a mount that lasts, is functional, and won't damage your line, you either need to look elsewhere or prepare to modify/fix some pretty glaring issues. I'm surprised that so many people have installed these without complaint. Perhaps their quality has declined recently? For context, I installed this mount literally 1 month ago (Nov 2020).

 

[XJLI]

Figured I’d post here too. Picked this up (actually it was dropped off) last week. 2013, one owner Colorado truck with 46k miles. HSE w/ HD pack. No offroad time yet, but that’ll change soon enough. Feels good to be back in a Rover.

 

[Carson G]

Figured I’d post here too. Picked this up (actually it was dropped off) last week. 2013, one owner Colorado truck with 46k miles. HSE w/ HD pack. No offroad time yet, but that’ll change soon enough. Feels good to be back in a Rover.

Super jealous. I love getting behind the wheel of the 5.0 LR4’s.

 

[XJLI]

Super jealous. I love getting behind the wheel of the 5.0 LR4’s.

The power is goooood. I was originally settling on a Toyota/ Lexus but coming from a LS powered truck they all felt like a big downgrade.

 

[dsrtrvr]

Hello everyone. It's been years since I've been active on any sort of forum, so this should be fun. I just picked up this 2011 LR4. I was looking for something to turn into a light overlander for family adventures. It has been well maintained and the 115k mileage was within my acceptance range. I already have some parts on the way for typical preventative maintenance as well as a prioritized list of changes/upgrades to do in the next few months.

On the way:
NGK plugs
Ignition coils
Gap Tool
2 new keys

Planned fixes:
Full Orange Polybush kit (would love some input on how difficult removal of OEM bushings is)
Maybe a compressor replacement

Planned Farkles(is this term used outside motorcycle communities?):
Terrafirma Steelies(only because I can't get TuffAnt wheels right now) wrapped in Kenda A/T2 tires - will require some caliper modification
Hidden Winch Setup(for now) in the future I'll be getting the Proud Rhino Bumper - for now going with the Harbor Freight 12k winch(currently $499!)
Roof Rack - I'm most likely going with Gobi, but am still interested in the ProSpeed
WeatherTech Mats
And many more further down the line

I'd love to connect with anybody in the Phoenix area for some light wheeling in the near future to really shake down the rig.

 

[Errant]

I picked up another Rover. It’s a 2011 LR4 HSE Metropolis LE. Aside from buying OEM rubber mats, Gap IIDTool, and MityVacI’ve not done anything to it, yet. I think I’ll start with sliders and 18” wheels, and maybe feet to move my RTT on Thule crossbars from the D1 while I decide if I want a Prospeed rack?

 

[jerdog53]

Like the ProSpeed rack!

 

[A.J.M]

After 8 years, mine is getting stripped and moved on to pastures new.
Been fun having it and I’ll miss it when it’s gone.
But it’s cost a fortune this year in repairs and the specialist I’ve been using as let me down with poor workmanship and tore the ******** out of getting it back to me after a breakdown. 11 weeks and a few attempts to sort a problem left me disappointed and zero faith in the car. It’s still not right which annoys me.


So all the off road kit bar the snorkel and light guards are coming off and are being sold on to get some cash back and then the car is gone.
View attachment 601674

well....
Despite it being stripped down, and some parts sold off.

the actual car still remains under my ownership and hasn’t sold.

My gf has now thrown a curve ball into that as now we have bought a house.
She has said, if we leave it till next year.
We can save up and bring the car back to life, fix the rusty sills and arches, sort the mess the “specialist” made of the work done and bring it back to this look and keep it as a weekend, towing and long trips away car.

which means the old tub will likely live to see another day.

Old landys never die, they just wait to be reborn....

 

[sunrisehiker]

I forgot that I have never registered .2005 V8 LR3 approaching 300 000 miles and full of adventure memories.

 

[jerdog53]

Nice!

Kinda looks like mine!

 

[krick3tt]

jerdog53,
Haven't heard from you in a long time, hope you are well and enjoying that great looking LR.
Morris

 

[greg00]

Here‘s mine. 2005 LR3 SE

 

[TexasTJ]

A little more Texas Snowpocalypse 2021