Corgi_express
Well-known member
In the comments of another Lucky 8 post, they said there was an issue with the Compos, but didn't elaborate.
New Defender News
- Thread starter blackangie
- Start date
HUMMER/Expeditions
Well-known member
Umberto
U think u will have the 110 for the coyote flats camping day ?
I am excited to pull you out when you get stuck
?
definitely not going through the same way as the last time ?♂️
anyone making rock slides for the new defender? Or can it have one ? It doesn’t have a frame to bolt on.
U think u will have the 110 for the coyote flats camping day ?
I am excited to pull you out when you get stuck
?definitely not going through the same way as the last time ?♂️
anyone making rock slides for the new defender? Or can it have one ? It doesn’t have a frame to bolt on.
No. I am tracing the ship it's sailing on (yes, I am pretty anxious to get it), ETA to Port Hueneme is 8/24, so probably early September before I collect it from the dealer in Encino. My old red beast will have to do one more run up to Coyote Flats, lol. Looking forward to it. Lucky8 has sliders seemingly ready for the new Defender.
ChasingOurTrunks
Well-known member
Lucky8 has a post on Instagram that showed some rock sliders. They looked pretty good, though I’m not sure about release date.
Corgi_express
Well-known member
Lucky 8 has shown a prototype, but nothing for sale yet.
Why would being unibody stop the Defender from having rock sliders? Jeep XJ's have had them for decades.
DieselRanger
Well-known member
Ok, but what's the *best* out there? A vehicle with a fully locked drivetrain? Not sure why 0.8s gets only 2 stars on a couple of those....
DieselRanger
Well-known member
In other news, it appears Tuffant makes D5 compatible 18" steelies for $850/set of 5!?!? Where have they been all my li- Oh, Australia. And they're sold out.
DieselRanger
Well-known member
On the contrary, the entire vehicle is a frame. I've got bolt on sliders on my D5. They bolt into the mounting points for the factory side steps with six huge bolts, sounds like the Defender has the same capability.
Corgi_express
Well-known member
It didn't They are giving it one star per "successful" test, so the count just goes up by one after each test.
DieselRanger
Well-known member
Ah, missed that. Late work night last night so my reeding comprehenshun is marginal....
ChasingOurTrunks
Well-known member
TFL just posted this video; a few notes to keep in mind when watching:
- The Gladiator Rubicon is described in another build video. It’s twin-locked with a 2.5” Lift (maybe 2”, I’m not 100% sure) with at least 33” tires (Factory tires are 32”, I believe). [EDIT: Thanks to @Carson G; the Gladiator is running on 35” tires]
- The Defender in the video is a First Edition. It’s totally unlocked, and the only mods are a set of KO2s (Nothing fancy, same size as stock just better grip) and a set of lifting rods which, as you’ll hear in the video, “trick” the suspension into thinking it’s on-road height, when it’s actually lifted.
I’m pretty impressed with how well the Defender did. I know it’s just one video, but that Gladiator with all it’s bells and whistles is supposed to be the bees knees off road, and it’s being compared with a Defender that isn’t really properly set up, but the Defender walked up the hill with minimal fuss. Of course, the old Defender — Which is a 90, locked, on 36” tires — did far better, but that’s a highly built machine relative to the others and one would expect it to do so.
I also am curious about the lift rods - I understand what they do, but I don’t fully understand what elements determine how the Defender uses it’s TC system. The TC system seems so good that I wonder if ‘tricking’ it with lift rods may actually make it perform worse than if it’s just left alone — from what I can tell, the lifters make it ride at ‘off road‘ height all the time, but the same height and clearance could be achieved with a button push, right? Unless the lifters allow you to go to max off road height with the button, and then they add an additional bit of clearance? I don’t think that’s the case in this video but I don’t know, Does anyone with more experience with this kind of a mod/suspension system care to weigh in?
- The Gladiator Rubicon is described in another build video. It’s twin-locked with a 2.5” Lift (maybe 2”, I’m not 100% sure) with at least 33” tires (Factory tires are 32”, I believe). [EDIT: Thanks to @Carson G; the Gladiator is running on 35” tires]
- The Defender in the video is a First Edition. It’s totally unlocked, and the only mods are a set of KO2s (Nothing fancy, same size as stock just better grip) and a set of lifting rods which, as you’ll hear in the video, “trick” the suspension into thinking it’s on-road height, when it’s actually lifted.
I’m pretty impressed with how well the Defender did. I know it’s just one video, but that Gladiator with all it’s bells and whistles is supposed to be the bees knees off road, and it’s being compared with a Defender that isn’t really properly set up, but the Defender walked up the hill with minimal fuss. Of course, the old Defender — Which is a 90, locked, on 36” tires — did far better, but that’s a highly built machine relative to the others and one would expect it to do so.
I also am curious about the lift rods - I understand what they do, but I don’t fully understand what elements determine how the Defender uses it’s TC system. The TC system seems so good that I wonder if ‘tricking’ it with lift rods may actually make it perform worse than if it’s just left alone — from what I can tell, the lifters make it ride at ‘off road‘ height all the time, but the same height and clearance could be achieved with a button push, right? Unless the lifters allow you to go to max off road height with the button, and then they add an additional bit of clearance? I don’t think that’s the case in this video but I don’t know, Does anyone with more experience with this kind of a mod/suspension system care to weigh in?
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ChasingOurTrunks
Well-known member
I took the liberty of saving that video and trying to straighten it a bit, and even then, its’ pretty steep. Doubly impressive that this is on street tires. Full credit to someone named @tonyinthedale on Instagram for the original video:
View attachment trim.7C057256-C2AA-487E-A91C-521A7048F515.MOV