Defender Questions

[Russ]

So I finaly got a chance to really look at a Defender since we had one in the shop for a steering box replacement (man the box on those things is seriously beefy). I'm sure even for the few that lift and put larger rubber on that it's more than capable, so don't need to ask about that.

I did notice that even though it was coil sprung, there was only a rear swaybar. As someone that has removed both swaybars from my trail toy I would understand, but I didn't even see a mounting spot for the front swaybar on the axle or frame. Did they only come from factory with the rear?

Next question is about the rear control arms. They seem the width of my pinky and I was curious as to why they mount to the frame with those universal bushings. Is that one of "the things" people generally upgrade in a defender? I'm asking about the rear lowers, as the uppers are kind of cool and triangulated it seemed.

Last is about the steering. I like how LR tucks everything away nicely and has the trackbar mount on top of the axle. What I did notice is that the TRE's and draglink seem to be fairly flimsy. Between the stress of driving trails and the strength of that mammoth steering box, so you guys find the assembly needs replacing/upgrading?

Thanks in advance for your answers. Wanted to get the perspective of people who wheel their trucks.

[Doc Tari]

Russ,
I have a 110 and use it off road regularly and fairly hard. It had a rear sway bar, but not one up front. As far as I know, a front bar was never offered. I installed OME HD springs and shocks and removed the rear bar. I think it still handles well on the highway and flexes pretty well off road.

My truck still has the original radius arms and I've never had any issue with them. When I replaced the bushings, I installed original Land Rover rubber ones as I figured they might flex better than poly since the rubber is fairly soft. They've worked well but after about 100K km, they done. I'm going to try poly's next.

I installed new TRE's 100K km ago and they've held up well. The drag link and tire rod are a different story. I bent them off road several times and have since upgraded them. The new ones are really robust and I've had no issues since.

[red90]

Draglinks are very week and exposed. Adding larger ones or skid plates are a good idea. The TREs are strong though and I've never seen one break.

Trailing arms fail on occasion, but it is pretty rare. It is common to get bigger ones with a lift that are bent so that the chassis end bush is not at an angle.

Front sway bars come on later model trucks.

[Greg S]

...
Front sway bars come on later model trucks.

And older trucks don't have rear ones. Sorry folks, I don't even know why they have them on the newer ones. High speed maneuvering on the freeway cloverleaves I guess.