Went on the annual "Christmas / Holiday" run with the PCRC (Pacific Coast Rover Club) yesterday, for the first time. In the Coast Mountain range - between Portland and the beach. The folks on the trip were super, definitely a # of "recoveries" with winches, ropes, bubba ropes, traction boards.

The people leading the trip were Jedis and multiple times I was impressed with the ingenuity and attitude when things started looking grim (like when the P38 slid 50 ft down a hill backwards uncontrollably). Best part was working with the rest of the guys to recover Rovers, all day/every hill. Learned a lot and had fun.

Conditions = ~12-16" of snow on the trails, first snowfall of year. Temps mid 30's. Mountainous terrain, not rocky, mud/dirt/gravel base under snow.

Rovers = 2 L663, couple LR3/4, couple D2's, 3-4 RRC's, the rest were OG Defenders (of all types/variants ... some really cool ones)

This would be an easy intermediate run in summer ...the snow amped it up significantly. I have a decent amount of experience wheeling a variety of Rovers, but am no expert -- however, this was my first legit snow run.

#1 - The AT Goodyear Adventure Tires are utterly *disgraceful* in deep snow on trails. I would recommend to those wanting to take their Defender on the trails in the snow to get different tires. Big letdown as I have other vehicles w/ good AT's that would have handled conditions without issue. Tires were my biggest issue of the day. I repeat. PS I know the forum here warned me about this exact thing. You were right.

#2 - We had a # of trucks (17?) - all Rovers. With this large group, several times had to stop on uphill sections due to rigs in front of me getting stuck or sliding backwards. Each of those times, I got stuck. Could not get going fwd without either a pull, or traction boards. Stock tire probs. So lesson learned. Walk the hill or make sure the guy in front has cleared it before starting up. In mud conditions I wouldn't have worried about this, as I know I could have started forward again -- however snow requires more planning (I'm from the south and lived in CA, and OR otherwise - so not a snow-expert)

#3 - During one somewhat stressful "recovery" where I was up against trees on my passenger side -- I spun tires and switched modes etc for perhaps no more than 20-30 seconds. Nothing I haven't done in other trucks. After that - "bong" - lost special programs. After some maxtrax positioning, tried again (maybe 15 sec of attempting to move, with no forward momentum, tires spinning). This resulted in a transmission fault error message in cluster. (It might have said Gearbox, unsure). Engine would start but I was stuck in park - would not shift out of park (door closed, seatbelt on etc).. No resetting of pivi, or turning car off / locking door, opening/closing door, etc worked. I had to go under the passenger seat and disconnect the batt cable for a moment to clear it (with my 10mm Knipex insulated wrench I keep in glovebox - from advice here) This trans fault seems to either be a problem with my Defender or a software issue. I can't believe this truck can't handle trying to get out of a bog twice for less than 20-30 seconds each time.

#4 -- There was another L663 Defender with a body lift, insane 35" tires on I believe 18's, trimmed down plastics and relocated coolers... and this thing walked OVER EVERYTHING like a tank all day. Pics below. Super cool truck with super cool owners!

#5 -- I ended up airing down tires. First to 36, then to 28. Helped. (sorry to "Insider", it was snow ... no rocks, I had no choice . But after airing down, I got a stick stuck in between the bead of the tire and right front rim. Hmmm. It's holding air but definitely risky with these low profile stockers.

#6 -- The air compressor built into the back was super awesome for airing down and airing back up trailside. Although gave me an E4 code and there's a TSB about updating the software. My dog hated the hissing noise it makes in the cargo area though...

#7 -- The front and rear recovery points worked great with soft shackles -- used em all day. Also the rear recovery points make a cracking good leash attachment point for your bloodhounds that tend to wander in the forest.

#8 - I could not figure out while in any special mode (grass/gravel/snow, or otherwise) HOW to turn off DSC. It's almost like my DSC off button does not work. It does nothing when pressing it.

#9 - Something I noticed is that the locker (center and rear on my truck) icons are greyed out, not green like they usually are. What the heck? They still work and I see them locking up... but it's another software issue.

Anyway, it was awesome. Some pics with notes.



Here's me wondering what the hell I am going to do. I tried to pull the rear end of the tan P38 in front of me back onto the trail, which then dragged me off the side. Was more precarious than it looks in this pic.



Pissy bloodhound


Nick who is a D2 guy in full command of the rope here - Again can't emphasize how awesome the group was !


Post-recovery but the P38 still needs a tug


Bond. James Bond (villain)


At a stop tied to the truck


Lunchtime.



Diff lock icons greyed out all day, still like this today. I know they used to be green... you can see them faintly to the right of the driveshafts. Why?


Group photo one of the PCRC folks took and shared. This Defender is ON POINT


This is the L663 with the body lift and 35's. Freaking amazing capabilities. He walked up things that I struggled with


Front recovery point in use multiple times


Approved

 

Great story and looked like a ton of fun! Anyone using chains or was it just too fluffy? Probably snow tires ruled the day without them.

 

No chains came out although a few guys in the old Defenders/rigs did I believe have them in their kit. Yep fluffy new snow.

Got really icy in the wheel tracks towards the back of the pack.

 

Great pictures Nash Looks like an absolute blast. Snow is so much fun and difficult to drive in. Those OEM tires don't cut the mustard in that sort of snow. Slick hockey-pucks in no time flat.

Frustrating to lose the locker control like that. Together with the DSC, sure sounds like some software gremlins at play. I've no clue how that could happen.

I should get myself some soft shackles. In my ignorance, I bought metal ones last year. They work but soft is the way to go for sure.

 

Anyone still under warranty might be careful posting pictures - JLR see's your vehicle off roading - buh bye factory warranty

 

Whoops! Think it just depends on your service director. Mine is stoked that I actually use the car and I send him pics from every trip. Usually when I need an appointment he gets me in quickly and has done work under warranty without hesitation. I think it will eventually come down to mods ive had done and not the fact that I've used the car for what it's built for. Have seen the same thing with Porsche GT cars and tracking.

OP your trip looked awesome!! Need to get in on one of those sometime.

 

I agree, our local dealership loves when we send them pictures of our defender out in the wild:

 

Seriously? Is that really in the warranty? Why else would you buy a Defender if you only stay on pavement?

Great photos in this post. And thanks for motivating me to swap the Goodyear tires with the Nokian winter tires before I head up skiing next weekend.

 

A great post! Thanks for sharing.

Two answers to your questions:

1) I was off-road yesterday and had the exact same "greying out" situation with the off-road screen. I put up with it for a while and it would not fix itself.

Then, I shut down the vehicle, tried again and it worked. First time for this issue ... I recently received an over the air update and suspect that was the cause.

2) I had the same issue yesterday in turning on / off DSC. It seems the "hold the button" time has increased. Had to hold it down for six seconds or so before it registered. Again, I suspect the visit by the computer fairies caused it.

Enjoy !

 

Same same here with the greying out of the lockers. I was in GGS mode. Also recently updated software. I put up with it and next day after turning off the car, checked again and they came back in color. Note however that while they were gray, I could still see they locking and unlocking (so hopefully working) and if I was out of the "big" off-road screen and on the tiles where it basically shows that same drawing but smaller, they were just normal - full color.

The warranty post above is just bizarre in my opinion. Unless you are referring to hardcore mods (like the body lift), I can't imagine LR denying a warranty claim because you went off-roading in the one car they say is to "go anywhere do what you want attitude" or whatever it is that they say in those LR's promo videos.