hello i was just wondering my friend keeps telling me that the land rover defender is the best off road stock vehicle.does anybody agree or does any of the landcruisers easily compete with the defender?thanks the reason i ask is because i own a 1986 4runner but my next vehicle that i get will be a diesel and probably a land cruiser for bush bashing what do you think.thanks

 

hell my friend tells me that the land rover defender is the best stock off road vehicle. is this true or does any of the landcruisers easily compete with this?

 

I am a strong believer and defender of the defender being the best off-road stock street capable vehicle...

yup

 

I'd be thinking more along the lines of a Unimog....if that qualifies.

 

Define off-road. Unimog won't fit anywhere I wheel.

Lamm

 

I wish i had the 90 grand to get a new unimog... that could put me through college easy.

 

Lol, y buy brand new to wheel?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MERCE...16504281QQrdZ1

Though I do agree it'd be completely impractical for road use.

 

I agree. Best stock off road capable vehicle.

 

Unimog !! YEAH!!

 

i believe, a stock locked front and rear LC could put up a good fight, but ground clearance is an issue. and I hate to say it, but the rubi is a good one to.

 

Compete sure I guess the TLC Icon could cetainly kick its ass but not sure if that falls in the stock category persay. But like my other post about rover fuel economy goes it just depends what exactly you are trying to compare part for part price for price and so on.


Aaron

 

Is your friend concerned about reliability in offroad vehicle? A LC will easily compete when you take that into consideration. I would expect my factory front/rear/center diff locked, solid axle front and rear, 4 wheel disc ABS, coil sprung, 80 series, is pretty competetive offroad, with a similar wheelbase Defender. I certainly wouldn't trade it for a Defender.

 

True, as far as reliability goes yotas got it. Especially if we are excluding the over seas rovers which use diesel instead of the US gas motors.

Aaron

 

My near-stock FJ40 (only a rear locker) has outdone a number of Defenders. Its about the driver. Plus, the defenders electrical system sucks. It is known to be a huge failure mode for that vehicle.

I have a friend who LOVES his Rovers, but he willingly admits jealousy when it comes to my landcruiser's reliability. My 35 year old truck runs farther and longer than most other vehicles out there bar none.

 

my friend is talking about reliability and off road capability and i do not know alot about the landcruisers but i am pretty sure one of the early landcruisers would easily compete with the defender,you guys would know.what model or models of landcruiser do you think is the best choice and how hard is it to get parts.thanks to everyone who has replied.

 

there isn't really a best choice. if you can't find a nice BJ42 for a reasonable price, you're golden. the JDMs are very appetizing too. as far as finding parts, it will be much easier getting parts for a 40 series than for the defender. if you're looking to get more info on land cruisers, check out www.ih8mud.com

 

A little off-topic, but just wondering if I'm the only one who sort of hopes that toyota would buy LR from ford (it's rumored to be for-sale) and build a defender with all the crappy parts replaced by toyota parts. Defenders have a certain something about them that nothing less than 30 years old does, if I could only get one with toyota reliability....

 

never happen. the vast minority of people that would actually like to see something like that produced can't afford it, so no attention gets paid to them (us) by the manufacturers

 

Yeah, when the only good reason I can come up with is that I would like it, I'm pretty sure it has no chance. Not many customers to be won by toyota there, but I can still dream.

 

If you want to compare like vehicles, the FJ-40 is the closest Land Cruiser to do a side by side comparison. Both are relatively the same size - However the FJ-40 is a much better vehicle. It is more dependable, and easier to get goodies for, not to mention cheaper to build up. There are TONS of upgrades for the FJ-40 on the market. I suggest getting a FJ-40 in dependable condition and building it up from there to whatever is needed.