HI All. I got my first landy this past summer. I won it on a silent bid from GCsurplus. Its a retired British army training unit suffield (BATUS) 1991 defender 90. Currently its going through a complete overhaul. Can't wait to drive it. Anyhow the one main topic that has me going nuts is that of the drive train. It seems no one has a real clear understanding of it or they do but just don't want to admit it. Seems british terminology is a little different than north american but Im gonna speak NA. This vehicle is not a true 4x4 like many of yu think. Diff lock not engaged it is a one wheel drive. Diff lock engaged its a two wheel drive. Thays it, thats all. Its no different than my 2008 GMC when in 2whl mode pwr goes to rear axle then to wheel with least traction. Thats when your stuck. Select 4 whl mode and now power goes to rear axle and front axle BUT each axle will only spin one wheel the one with least amount of traction. This sucks. This is not true 4 wheel drive period. And in the case of mt defender the term DIFF lock implies that you are locking the axle diffs in order to send equal power to ALL wheels. NO not the case. Its actually a Center diff lock which is just another term for putting your truck in 4wheel mode (which is not true either) I mean its just another term for engaging the transfer case so that it sends power to both the front and rear axle which in turn sends power to only one wheel with the least amount of traction. Essentially when the diff lock is engaged your defender is a LIMITED SLIP FRONT AXLE AND A LIMITED SLIP REAR AXLE PERIOD. EXACTLY THE SAME AS MY GMC.

 

welcome and buy some lockers