I am doing some research on the next car I buy. I was wondering if any one could tell me about the defender? What terrain is it best with? Does it like snow? I am not car savy but want to learn. Also what are rock sliders?If you're thinking that I'm a some kind of idiot guy, beaware that I'm a woman.

 

1. It does fine everywhere except against a big headwind on the highway

2. Excellent in snow

3. Rocksliders replace the rocker panels (under the doors)

 

ok, I got busy at work.

3. they keep the rocks from getting into the body and are usually made of square or rectangular tubing.

You will find that if you get a soft top, it will get dusty in the summer when it is on and the heater will not keep up on the real cold days in the winter. The plastic trim is of poor quality and you will slowly replace things with aftermarket or home made parts to inprove it. All the nuts and bolts will rust and you will painfully replace them with stainless one at a time. Some of the things you want like "quick disconnect rear sway bar" don't exist and you will have to make your own. The key is on the wrong side and turns the wrong way. The motor has half the power it should considering the fuel it drinks. The factory paint is of poor quality. The radio sounds like complete **** and the rear speaker boxes are laughable as well as the front door panels being completely ludricrous.

If you can get past that, you will love its querkiness and the whole feel and demeanor of the ride. You will find that it relaxes you to change those rusted bolts with the new ones after they broke off when you were trying to extract them. Fixing a leak will give you the opportunity to service completely one more piece.

If you are not this kind of person, don't buy one.

I love mine.

 

I'm glad to hear you like yours despite the pain in the *** it is. One more question what is a sway bar. And I was looking at rebuilding a 1973 Series rover and putting new parts on it. This is a crazy project I want to do. Also I can put a 300 diesel engine in and not have to worry about emissions. If this is nuts let me know. Thanks again.

 

a sway bar is a metal tube that keeps your truck from becoming unstable at road speeds. It is needed and is on almost all trucks. It can inhibit the amount of travel you get off road.

There are several diesel swaps available. The most popular would be the factory TDI swaps. Built out of the same plant, the 2.8 International is more powerful but has had some issues.
Either would cost you in the ten grand range if you are doing the work yourself. I assume that you are not. It would probably cost you as much as the truck is worth or more.

Not cheap to own, work on, drive. Good luck to you.

Make sure that you find someone that is in your area that can work on it.