OT: Elderly 4x4's for the poor elderly.

Will a freelander have the oomph?

It fits all the other criteria if you pick up a good HSE Freelander 1. TD4 auto

Expect to spend a fair bit fixing plenty of niggles on a 100K vehicle though

Id say pick up one 2k cheaper than your budget, and spend that in whatever the reason for its sale was...

Can't help I'm afraid but curious about what you mean when you say "low-range is locked or not". Not come across the term.

Tim

In message , Tim+ writes

On the Jeep, when I go into low range, there is no differential between the front 2 wheels and the back two. I spent part of this morning on a heavily pot-holed tarmac and occasional grass area testing this. This is just like the area in boatyards and elsewhere that our boat and fishing boats are stored.

On juggling back and forwards, with alternate lock and generally trying to simulate putting the tow hitch (and trailer if attached) to a very awkward spot, I could hear the suspension winding up and then one tyre would spin to release the tension.

The Disco would leave all 4 wheels driven via differentials.

I think I want the opposite of what off-roaders are after.

AIUI, Freelanders don't have the 3500kg towing capacity that I need.

No. 2500kg on a hippo :-(

Was there ever an auto defender?

Oil can get into the loom and find it's way the ECU, it's the latter bit that is not nice rather than oil in the loom.

TD5's are common rail so the injectors are a little buried. But they last as long as the engine... Donno if this applies to other engines but if you change a TD5 injector you also need to tell the ECU the new injectors code. I think this is so it knows how that particular injector performs. The TD5 turbo is easy to get at.

Disco III's are a nightmare as far as the electronics is concerned. The air suspension on a DII can be a bit of a liabilty, bags only last 60,000 miles, but not overly difficult to replace. The ride height sensors are also a bit unreliable but cheap and easy to replace.

DII's have traction control so may or may not have the center diff lock present. If it does have the centre diff lock bits ISTR that it's possible to fit the hi/lo/difflock shift lever and cables from a Disco I. If you do that you also need to switch off the traction control, when engaging the diff lock which I think means the ABS and HDC are also switched off and the dashboard lights up like a christmas tree with all the warning lights. B-)

I was quite impressed with the nissan navara, very comfy, auto diesel,

He means the diff lock, when its locked, it doesn?t act as a differential anymore, so one wheel spinning in the mud doesn?t stop it moving forward.

En el artículo , Bill escribió:

I really don't think you want a Freelander. Don't they have the Rover

A friend had one in the Canary Islands. After only a few months of the winding, steep roads it was shagged.

Prior to that, he had an open-top Jeep which was great fun but disappeared one day and he wouldn't discuss it no matter how much beer I fed him. I never did find out what happened to it.

En el artículo , Bill escribió:

Is Toyota Hilux pickup an option? Maybe with the roof cover wotsit over the back? Truckman Top or something like that?

The deisel on freelander 1 is the bombproof BMW 2 litre moderately turbo.

Yep, That petrol engine is bad bad news.

Daihatsu fourtrak. Basically a totally reliable Defender without the diff lock. I only had manuals, but I imagine there is an auto? The later version with coil rather than leaf springs rides a bit better, although I hated the huge alloy wheels. (Recognisable by the wheel arch bumps to cover the wider wheel).

Is another Jeep not an option?

Chris

In message , Mike Tomlinson writes

Pulling together a few notes and to thank everyone...

I think all those pickups - HiLux, Navara etc. have too long a wheelbase to be able to manoeuvre the vehicle + trailer on son's path where we keep the trailer in the summer. It's on a steep slope so without the vehicle we would need to use winches to park it. I have an old towbar electric winch, but would need to wire up a vehicle to provide the high current at the back.

I know of someone with a Nissan Pathfinder, which has a reasonable towing rating, so I might be able to have a look at that. I've been looking at specs online, but there's no mention of low ratio, although specs of anything never seem to mention that.

Another Jeep? No way. The Mercedes 2.7 diesel with one bolt holding each injector down, mounted so that you have to hack the bodywork away to fix it, is one problem. The fact that I was turned away by 6 repair garages before I found someone to take it on was the real killer. I've now had advice from one garage this morning and, as a result it is back being looked at by the people who fitted the insert into the head that is leaking again. That will have to be fixed before selling it. Plus I don't like the 4WD system. We have now spent the 9 months since I bought it driving between garages, using my bus pass to get home etc. etc.

SWMBO is now encouraging me to spend cash we haven't got on something else, which is unheard of, hence my original posting. Depending on what today's situation turns out to involve, the hope is to keep the Jeep in trade-inabble condition until I find something. There's a bit less pressure this year as No 2 son has got his inner-city school to invest in a 45-foot racing yacht and they did brilliantly in last weekend's "Round The Island Race", so he's busy and I may have to just maintain our boat without his driving force, rather than get it in the water.

Diahatsu Fourtrak looks very interesting, but not many advertised and none automatic that I can see. Also all seem to be 3 door, which isn't ideal for transporting OAP's when the main car is off the road.

I've asked locally about the Disco2's traction control and "my man" says that he thinks I'd have no problem with the difflock situation. He maintains a lot of these and has never heard of a problem with the suspension winding up (which is what I can make the Jeep do, and which its user manual warns against).

A son has a Lotus with the 1.8 petrol engine. I know about that. :-(

Sorry to drone on and thanks to all.

A hyundai teracan is another possible, although I don't know about tow capacity, but they should be cheap, it is short and diesel auto.

Have you thought about a small agricultural tractor for towing, and a conventional saloon for the other work?

The Terracan is something I didn't know about, and looks interesting, although towing capacity is listed as 2800kg as against the Disco's

Not sure about a tractor for road use. For boat + trailer long road tows we hire a van, short road use plus fields/boatyards was a Disco and would be the Jeep replacement, others use tractors kept on site in other boatyards. The empty trailer has a long tow home and back each year, is quite heavy (4 big Land Rover wheels) and I wouldn't want it on the back of my car.

I keep telling my son he needs an old tractor for his big garden, but he hasn't yet bitten.

Yes, they are all three door which helps to keep the wheelbase short for turning. They are also relatively small, an advantage when you have a narrow access like mine, not so good for less agile rear seat passengers. Mine had the two "jump seats" in the back which are easier to get into, less ideal for long journeys.

Maybe they don't have an automatic. (Troopers and Shoguns seem to be mainly automatic).

If anybody finds a half-way passable Fourtrak surviving, let me know, because there's a whole raft of hill farmers who would love to have it. They're quite probably the most common older 4x4 round these parts, mostly clinging to life with structural sheepshit.

I'd love an excuse to have an old tractor, but have to satisfy myself with just an old Landy.