G'day mowog.

I haven't responded to your posts before this that I can recall, and I do not wish to get you offside as I'm reasonably familiar with your choice of vehicle and unlike many others, appreciate it's finer points. However as part of my VERY part-time job is to call on Land Rover dealers, along with many others, BMW, Audi, Citroen, Peugeot, VW, etc: Would I not be wrong in my concerns of how few Land Rover dealers still existed in Australia.

I understand the reliability factor, but a breakdown in outback Australia in a Land Rover could prove far more costly than 100 Litres of excessively priced fuel, or am I barking up the wrong tree?

Again, please don't take this the wrong way as I have a good respect for your choice of vehicle. Just not sure about adding all that extra weight that you may only require on a few rare occassions!!!!

Best regards, Lance.

Lance...

Fair points

But honestly the only other choice in the 3500kg tow class is the LC200 and they have most certainly proven to be a problem for many owners. They are actually having a lot more problems with LC200's than the Discovery 4. There are a good number of converts over at the Land Rover forums.

I don't claim that the Discovery 4 is the best thing on the market (but many reviews have) but it was the best choice for us.

Anyway the reason for the visit back to this thread is that the Kaymar Bar and the Long Ranger tank have been fitted. The cost $5463.00.

YouTube Video..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSrmAM6mlMI

G'day ,that rear bar looks great and so does the rest of the Disco ...Well done ..Cheers ..Bob..

What are your plans for tyres/ wheels.
That's the only downside for me in the D4- 19" rims as a minimum.
limits the choice (and availability) of "good" LT tyres- tread depth pattern.

There are a group of D4 owners working on a group buy for some 18" wheels that will go over the brakes. There is a design that will fit but the maker cant slot a production run in for us at the moment. I am not going on any big trips till mid next year. Hopefully by then we will have an 18" wheel to fit.

If not I will get a set of Cooper Zeon LTZ's and another set of 20" rims.

http://www.coopertyres.com.au/index.php ... &tyre_id=9

Most 4wd extras are costly, that's par for the course, we have the basic bits required for extra comfort ect, such as Dual Battery plus heavy duty wiring and Outlets for onboard Fridge and other things, the Patrol comes with a Sub Tank but in total we carry 120litres all up, I agree extra fuel comes in handy, also fitted was a Heavy Duty Bullbar and Driving Lights which comes in handy when we do beach fishing at night, you can see the washouts way ahead up the beach, we very rarely do night driving in the out back, to many four legged obstacles on the road, I agree, if you want the extra bits on your vehicle for comfort and security why not get them.

Cheers

In the planning for my mods the total project cost is around 10% of the total vehicle cost to me that isn't a bad figure spend for the extra capability.

Thanks for the reply- I have not looked into it, but would it be posible to engineer a different set of brakes?

Sure it may cost $4k, but I'm sure the 20" tyres would be near $500 each not to mention the second set of rims.

BTW- very nice vehicle- shame they don't release a "offroad" pack for some of these vehicles from the factory. The lower spec D4 sort of fits the bill- but if a better engine is available thats what you want

There is a quick but rough (possibly not legal) fix for the front brakes. If you grind some of the cooling fins off the front calipers then a wider range of 18" wheels will fit.

I am not prepared to grind my calipers.

In the UK they have a commercial version of the D4 with coil springs that would make a great base for an expedition rig.

The 18" Wheels have been found that will fit over the Discovery 4 3.0L brakes. I have 6 rims on the way for stage 2.

Stage 2.5: The Tyres... What a minefield this going to be...