Both of these have the center locking diff, which can be likened to a locker of sorts, but they do not have the optional rear locking diff that came with some LR3’s. We have a third LR3 (not in this video series) that has the covered rear locking diff. It’s a great addition however has not been a make or break capability in wheeling these rigs.
I have a 2005 LR3 with 165k and a 2010 LR4 with 187k, both on their original EAS. I love the EAS, but with the age and mileage on these trucks I will probably switch over to coils if/when something does fail.
Hi and thanks. Yes we have considered spacers, however the only available spacers we’ve seen on the market are the ones from Lucky 8. We bought them and have them in our shop but they would result in too much of a CV angle, leading to premature wear or breaking on the trail. Ideal for ground clearance and CV health would be about an inch more of height, not another 2+ that would be the case with those spacers. We’re also looking for bigger struts that have 3” of height instead of the OME ones that provide around 2”. Not a lot of information out there on other coil lift options though. The search continues…
I have a 2006 lR3, switched to heavy duty EMU coil springs with 2" lift. I added a 1 inch spacer to the coil springs so the vehicle has a 3' lift. I have towed 6000lbs no problems. The extra lift does great to overcome obstacles when off roading. I currently run 275-65--18 tires and I am now installing 35.4' tires which will provide even more clearance. My vehicle has the front heavy duty bumper, rear tire carrier, underbody protection, rock sliders, rear tow assembly, slimline roofrack etc. The best rig I have over owned.
Thanks Harry!! That’s great news, what spacers do you have? I have only seen the Lucky8’s spacers which result in much higher than 2” of lift and will tax the CV’s. Then there was the old forum production from Toddco (some guy named Todd) but no one had heard from him in years.
Thanks buddy. It’s a conservative 32.5” Goodyear Duratrec tire on 18” steel rims. It’s been a very successful combo for us for years. We run this on 3 of our LR3’s in our fleet 👍
Hi Steve and thanks for the interest. We use our truck for lots of different uses so we do take the truck camper off a lot or when we’re not using it often. That being said it does stay on for weeks or a month at a time here and there.
Does the self leveling system in a pickup enough to level the camper? if so can you sleep in it while on the bed of your truck? Sorry but I have so many questions,
Then my mind is made up, 3500hd flatbed with the Host Mammoth, all you need in life, a good woman and God on your side. Oh and my dream truck camper combo helps make the trip easier.
Haha, love it! Think you will too. We’ve had the Mammoth for 4 years now and it’s served us well. The layout continues to be perfect and we are dialed in on how we store things and run our camps out of it. We’ve also added a 900 amp hour lithium solar system which makes it excel long term off grid and still have the 2500 onan in there as well. 🙌🇺🇸
I had 1994 discovery which drove with lots of stability and control on the road. After getting my P38 with air suspension, it definitely did not have that feel. the P38 was just all over the place with stability and control. It was like riding on a boat. I had to get use to the ride but for some reason, it always felt like I was floating around on the highway. After switching to coils on the P38, it was much more stable, which I liked but the air suspension took the bumps much more easier over the coils. However for my purpose, the coils would be the better option since i'm a city driver not pulling anything with exception to snow days. I can raise the hight and run over any snow Hight without worry.
Absolutely, your discussion reveals that in the end there is no clear “winner” or better system. It’s all what your specific application is and what your looking for as far as maintenance and risk.
I have a 2002 P38...after the 18th yr, I switched to the coils and don't regret it. The air suspension was taking too long to rise continually and was a pain, even after fixing them, they eventually would have something else go wrong with the suspension.. The air ride was smooth when hitting bumps, however, on highway and daily drive was about the same with no noticeable difference. The toughest part was just knowing that I no longer had the air rise capability, which at times felt I no longer had a real rover. The overall quality of life and sleep was increase 1000x fold just knowing I would never have suspension issues again. I got stuck over 200 miles from home and had to drive back on the bumpers because air suspension failed. That was always a concern when traveling long distance. But that was the past and it was worth the peace of mind going with the coils. It made my P38 much more reliable overall any long distant travels. If I had to decided again, I would change them out with no second thoughts. As long as you replace them with quality coils and shocks, its worth the peace of mind any times due to the high issues with these vehicles. One less thing to worry about. However, let me clarify, that I am only driving on highways with decent roads, and not pulling anything. If I was trekking off road and/or pulling heavy loads, I would never switch to coils.
Thanks for sharing your experience! I believe when discussions of vehicle reliability arise, 9 times out of 10 for the Rovers it’s about the air system; which is incredibly capable but does require more maintenance, and with it the risk of being stranded.
@@MilitaryMobility with the LR4, they now added the timing chain dilema… thinking of getting an LR4 but that timing change fix is not easy on the wallet. Would be nice to see a video on the LR4 from your channel.
LR3’s are when Ford owned Land Rover, and LR4 are when the India Tata motors took ownership. The 4.4 V8 in the LR3 is a Jaguar engine that’s been around forever and is very reliable. The switch to the 5.0 V8 and turbo 6 did create some engine issues. There’s a lot more things to look out for on LR4’s and they can be great vehicles if they’ve been cared for properly. Here’s a decent thread on selecting a LR4… until we can get our hands on one. landroverforums.com/forum/lr4-38/best-year-lr4-features-look-111637/page2/
So many Landrover videos no questing of its ability, should be more on its reliability and fixing the things lol I’ve made a mistake 3 times now . Never again
We've have over 500,000 miles on our 3x LR3's, have a Disco2 with 175k and a Defender 300tdi with 140k and they have not been without maintenance like any other vehicle would require but have proven very reliable for us. Maybe we're lucky, or know how to maintain vehicles adequately. In either case, we hope you're having better luck with whatever you moved on to and are still getting to explore the backcountry.
Very interesting video. Also some of the best testing I have seen online. I know you have had trouble with the air suspension system in your Disco 3/LR3 and when the vehicle goes into limp mode. In my experience in owning my Disco 4/LR4 2010 with the 2.7l Diesel for a few years now, it has been different. Maybe it's a change between year models. When I bought it, it had quite a few problems and I have been working on it steadily for a couple of years to iron them out myself. In those couple of years the car has gone into limp mode many many times, but the mode only returns the vehicle to normal operation height, restricts vehicle to 3rd and reduces engine performance. So never have had an issue with the air suspension lowering the car, the car is 14 years old with 300 000kms / 185 000miles on the clock. Has always got me home so far, even with the issues it had when I bought it. Issues it had were with the power systems, fuel pump, transmission and epb. God has blessed me in figuring out every issue and fixing them myself for very little cost thankfully, big learning curve though.
Thank you for the compliment and sharing your experience. Yes, when we got the vehicle donated to us the air suspension was out but we've been doing well since that initial fix. I think the issue for some is , depending on your size tires, when you go into limp mode if the tires are bigger than around 31", then they will rub bad while driving. Best of luck with your rig!
Hello you mentioned that you had a backup system for the air suspension if it went out and said you would go in-depth in another video. Did y’all ever go over the backup system? I watched the other lr3 videos unless I missed it.
Bags are very reliable and it’s usually, 1) electronics 2) valves, that cause a failure. Oddly enough the cheap looking plastic lines have proven to be very strong. We bring an extra (old) front/ rear air shock on our long expeditions but not for most wheeling. If your bags are newer and good condition they should be very strong. We put 200k miles before one of ours developed the slowest leak. Past that if there is still concern, might be a good candidate for coils 👍
This is the best Christmas present we could have ever received!! Making us feel like a million bucks, thank you. We really enjoy off-roading and love sharing adventure with others.
I'm an Aussie and I love what you're doing, and absolutely love my old, new to me lr3. Fantastic machine. All the best to me, you and US. It is a beautiful looking vehicle!
Hey! Just discovered your page- I am a recently retired Army grunt. Have been offloading since I was a teenager. I'm currently driving a '12 LR4 and while there have been quirky reliability issues with Air, I would never convert. I am in the south and would love to engage with you guys because I love the idea of the program. Feel free to reach out if you guys are still active!
Hello, thanks for the interest and for reaching out. Yes, we've been going strong for 7 years now with no end in sight. Please follow us here, on Instagram/ Facebook and send an email at info@militarymobility with ideas about engagement. Happy Holidays!
I think that coil conversion actually does affect the terrain management, It can no longer sense what the tires are doing as hence cannot redirect the power to the required wheel. In some cases when the articulation was not a factor, the coil converted LR3 was just slipping wheel even when it did not have traction. Even when all tires are touching the ground, the amount of friction they can attain would be different based on the force put on each individual tire, cannot sense that without understanding what the suspension level is. Generally the suspension that is least extended will have the most friction and the best traction. Without being able to sense that, the terrain management system becomes a little handicapped.
Great info and insights to off roading and processes involved. Thank you gentlemen, really appreciate it. im curremtly looking into buying a Disco for family fun and general go where the vibe takes you times... Very good videos and content * * * * *
I know I'm a bit late to the party and haven't read through all the comments. I have a 05 lr3 with the air suspension but did install the SYA kit from Lucky8 Off Road. Keeps the truck from coming all the way down if the air suspension were to fail for those of us running 32"+ tire size. Some guys are using this kit with the coil conversion to gain another couple inches over just the coils alone. Keep up the good work and hope to see some more Lr3 content!
What part of Jersey you from.....Essex county here. Also can you go into more depth about your "independent air suspension kit"? I have a Touareg and would like to do something similar to avoid be stranded..Thx
So what is the plan should an air line break or any other component in the system that renders the truck stranded? I mean you can't carry spare parts for every component. I think id carry conventional parts and do the swap to make it hom. IMO the level sensing air setup is another major win when you have a loaded truck.
Old man emu springs raise the vehicle 45mm and use the OEM shocks alongside the OME coils. Apparently the OEM shocks have sufficient travel to go with the OME coils My understanding is that any further will stretch the ball joints and CV joints.
Hi Paul and thanks for going the conversation. I’d say 45mm (approx 1.75”) is what we gained as well. As for the shocks I was a bit confused as the OEM shock is the air shock which would not be compatible with a coil spring, unless you were referring to models that came from the factory with coils; which to date I have come across zero in the US. I think that both Atlantic British and OME have been very conservative in their height to avoid ball joint and CV failure however the stock air suspension has massive travel and compared to how you can flex the AB/OME coils. Granted, that is why LR only wants you using the extended and super extended modes periodically and self lowers at speed (also for reduced risk of rollover). All that to say I believe 3” coils could be a feasible option if they were available. See you on the trail!
@@MilitaryMobility apologies for the confusion, it is the OEM shocks that came out with the.coil.only models done by Landrover. I have one.of these, and there are a few of them here in Australia, but the air shocks are also available here.
I found this series fantastic. I often tow with my Disco3. I had a hitch made up that takes a NATO pintle so that I can tow military trailers. It's amazing having a hitch that can rotate 360 degrees. Not that I want to test it and roll the car though :) I have had the car at around 30 degrees and the trailer 30 degrees the other way. Looks kinda cool.
The air LR3 wa way too high. The high center of gravity over sand would have unsettled it. You need to test at the same height as the coils. There is a reason why Land Rover programmed the vehicle to lower when going fast.
Our air LR3 at normal ride height sits about 1” higher than the coil LR3 does, that is the lowest we could get it without scraping the crap out of the 32” tires in the wheel wells, which the air sprung one does quite regularly. Our air LR3 still lowers at speed if it’s in extended mode, which it never was during the sand testing.
Cool video! I replaced the entire air suspension with all new components for £900. That's compressor, valves, reservoir, bags etc. It wasn't broken, but after 15 years i thought I'd give it a refresh. Not expensive at all.
Absolutely awesome. one of the best off road Discovery (LR3) videos I've seen. Do you not get the diesel version in the US> here in the UK I get around 32 mpg on a long journey with 26 mpg urban. It also has a ton of torque!
Hi Peter and thanks for checking the series out. Both of these rigs are identical and have the center locking diff but not the HD package which included the rear locking diff I believe you’re referencing. We’ve recently picked up a third LR3 that does have the HD package and will be doing a comparison wit it in the near future so be sure to subscribe for updates. Thanks again!
I’ll share the short answer in the meanwhile, the rear diff is great but isn’t a night/ day difference if you know how to drive offroad properly. If you have the chance I’d definitely get it but would t pass on a great deal with the center locking only. Big investments to lock front and rear with ARB’s and that type of investment may be better suited for rigs with bigger tires and articulation for more aggressive terrain. That being said your stock LR3 can do AMAZING things!
