Land Rover Defender 130 Overland build, 50,000kms later... Lessons learned. GrizzlyNbear Overland
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- čas přidán 10. 07. 2024
- In this video we talk about all the modifications we made to our Land Rover Defender 130 overland build that we are driving around the world.
50,000kms and 3 years after leaving Paris we confess our mistakes, regrets, what we would and wouldn't do again.
We've driven through over 30 countries from France to Japan and learned so much that we are happy to share our experience with you.
We welcome criticism, advice and questions. Please feel free to comment below and if you could help us out by subscribing to our channel we'd really appreciate it.
Stephy and Leigh
Join us as we travel the world overland, exploring the cultures and traditions of all the countries we visit.
In our Land Rover Defender camper which is our full time home we will take you rock climbing, hiking and exploring across all the continents on this planet.
Great video! As a Canadian I can say putting rain-x or something similar on your head lights can really help prevent the snow from sticking.
Thanks for all the advice. We started on an Australian adventure in 1996 with a 1985 LR County V8 - when fuel was still cheap. Best mod we did was a Maxi-drive diff lock on only the rear axle. During the trip of 4 years we used it a few times but on our subtropical remote property ... well maybe not every week but very often it saved our days. Second best was installing the best seats money could buy. We choose Recaros with fabulous comfort. As if driving a new modern ... ehhh ... Range Rover ?! I had some spotties on the roofrack - often handy but really needed ... No ! The standard headlights with modern LED globes .. I think that would have been enough. No need to dress a car like a christmas tree. A very basic accessory: those rubber 'floor buckets' over the what ever floor covering. Dirty muddy boots ? : no problem every now and then take those buckets out - tip upside down and contine - no endless cleaning out the floor .
Oh and almost forgot - an electric winch ... I agree : not needed , just a good (Tirfor) handwinch will be so much more efficient, I used it very often - good workout as a bonus . Cheers !
This is great common sense analysis of the gear that is needed for an overland journey. It largely tracks with other good advice from folks like "The Road Chose Me".
A good report as usual, about your car. Clear and distinct, easy to understand. Thanks!
Love all the modifications. Now I have a full Christmas list for Fiona my wife.
Oh no I hope I don't get the blame for this list... 😜😂
I am following your channel since the beginning and watched each single video. As a result of this, we now bought our own overlander vehical. It is a Bremach T-Rex and we can‘t wait until the borders open again. Keep going and stay healthy. Thank’s a lot and greetings from Switzerland 😃
super nice, thank you for all the experience sharing !
Great information for equipping your vehicle, practical items! Thx
Thank you for this release! I'm building my own defender and got some very useful tips.
As someone who travelled Europe to Central Asia in a Defender I 100% agree with you. Things to point out, if there is one special equipment I would recommend is air compressor, don't go without it!
Agree 100% Leigh with petty much most of what you said, things like a 2inch lift are great as you get the extra clearance but aren’t sacrificing handling that would happen if you went for 4in for example !
Impressive and informative monologue! Thank you!
Ah... I miss my Landy...!
From someone who has rolled a Defender, the cage is a must! But better avoiding those situations where you risk rolling in the first place... ;-)
Thanks a lot. Great “wrap up” video. I have a def 110 and getting ready for a long trip - so it is great to hear :-)
Definitely our talented frenchie needs a rest. Imagine creating Bear again with all this day to day knowledge, could be like a little Unimog. Greetings from the other side of the world. ¡PURA VIDA!
One of the most interesting reviews, enjoyed it immensely. Nothing beats experience.
Awesome video!, very informative thanks very much!!!
Amazing, great review video. I love your 130. I’ve got 110 and true about the winch, you only need to use it once, and it’s paid for itself...
I dont know if anyone gives a shit but yesterday I hacked my girl friends Instagram account using Instaplekt. Just google for it if you care
Quel plaisir d écouter quelqu’un qui sait de quoi il parle! Âpres 80 000 km en Amérique du Sud en Defender je n ai rien à ajouter.Bonne suite
great video Leigh - always enjoy the Defender updates. Some very nice upgrades which seem to upgrade the standard performance, that don‘t go overboard, and seem easy to live with.
Excellent Leigh, really enjoyed it
Nice report & useful info, packed in a good-paced video. Thanks!
Great video! To the point, short, honest, well told. Thanks!
Thank you love all of the comments I am just starting on getting a rig and waiting for it to get done here in the USA. This gives me various ideas.
I'm glad to hear that Stephie is getting a break. ❤
I have an ARB locking rear differential on my D90 and it is probably my favorite modification. It allows me to drive extremely slow in tricky situations and not need momentum to get through.
If you ever make it to Oregon I would love to meet up and show you my Defender and see yours.
agree more control off roading and that river might of been less of a hassle
Absolutely I think lockers definitely have their place for serious offroad but not so much on an international overland trip.
Can't wait to hit North America ❤️
Ashcroft ATB's front and rear coupled with the traction control give you a pretty good setup. Plus they're doing their job 100% of the time. Thats what I've got in mine
Thanks for this, a lot of invaluable insight and experience here. Doing a gearbox swap(and a few other things) to mine and this gave me a few more ideas now that it's already being taken apart.
..good one, great info. stay safe and enjoy...
very informative...thanks!
Spacers only together with HD bearings. I'll never go without spacers. Great video and tips. Thanks.
I don't use spacers. It is extra unsprung weight. A set of rims with -25 offset does the job and are lighter.
Dicas muito valiosas, obrigado. Very valuable tips, thank you
I love your country so freedom 👏👏 and adventure. My country Singapore got noting adventure and expensive car too.
Informative thanks alot dear family 💞 love from Kerala India 👍👍❤️❤️
Excellent video, Leigh, thanks for the very honest tips. Beware that upgrading to performance braking leads you to replace your pads and stuff more often, but it's sure worth a go with a heavy overlanding vehicle like yours
Merci Françoise
Nice to hear from you and thank you for the advice.
I didn't know that and will definitely think about it when it's time to replace the discs 😉
Really good video and very clear & informative, thanks
Top vídeo!!👏👏👏
Brilliant video, very helpful for budding overlanders. Good to know where money should be spent, and where you can economise.
Great video, I will build my own Overlander-VAN this winter for some adventures in the future...... keep up the good work and enjoy your never ending travels over the world!!
Super excited to see these mods
Super report. 👌🏻
Very nice, Sir.
In the UK we can now get heated led headlights for defenders for the snow ice problem
Someone else mentioned that. Good news and thank you 🙏
One secret advantage of a good heavy-duty bull bar is to use as a mounting point for full jerry-cans and other heavy kit if you are too tail-heavy on soft sand, "chott" salt-lake crust or snow - if you're desperate to even out the weight distribution per wheel every kilo placed out well up front helps and as an advantage it's lower down than the roof or bonnet lid.
This is sometimes seen on Unimogs and similar larger vehicles (it also works disproportionately well for overloaded short-wheelbase work vehicles like 90s especially if a heavy rear load is hanging out the back) It works similarly to a tractor weight front and so is very helpful when towing or other slow-moving high-torque situations like steep hillclimbing on gravel, dirt or stones. The difference is you definitely don't want to block your winch or rad so avoid the centre position.
Whatever you fit to the bars it must be VERY well secured or you'll simply lose it in a place you *really* don't want to go back to.This is where some planning and prep at home is needed - one of the best ways is to use a clamp-on basket with something like scaffolding clamps to secure it - you need very heavy duty attachments!
I would always use a safety rope too just in case something comes loose. Finally, if you mount stuff like this try to arrange it so you can see it is still there from the the driving position over the bonnet! This is usually easy because you don't want to affect your approach angle by mounting stuff too low.
There's not a lot of items you can mount out front like this so give careful thought to what you attempt to mount - it should be smaller heavy items only. It's more of an expedition thing than live-aboard overlanding and you can easily look like Mad Max if you overdo it. It can also be a perfect place to catch bushes and is a pain in the jungle.
Note that carrying gear like this is often illegal for on-road use in many countries and not just because it can block the lights.
Watch out you don't block the air through the rad though and this is where a larger, more protruding bar really helps. Keep the kit more to the sides if you can - it's surprising how easy it is to block free airflow and you don't want to have to stop every 5 minutes and park into the wind with the bonnet up to cool down. Been there, done that. Intercooled vehicles are especially prone to airflow problems because they get hotter under the hood than plain old clunkers or blowers.
This is a very rare advantage so don't go overboard - I'm only really mentioning it for completeness in case anyone is regularly losing flotation or traction on the back end. Better to have good weight balance in the first place and not have to resort to this.
Wow thank you so much for the in depth comment and wealth of information.
I really appreciate your taking the time to share 🙏😊
Very good advice!
Hi Leigh, great video, as I am slowly turning my 110 into an overlander I have taken some great points from your very valid expierience - love your videos and your time in Japan has been an incredible journey - keep safe
Great stuff Leigh 👍
It might be a good idea to carry a couple of tyre inner tubes case your tyres get wrecked😁👍
Cheers, well thought out, great explanation, and insightful assessment of modifications.
Intelligent set up on the suspension, remote reservoirs for the shocks will iron out corrugated roads.
As you found out, a lot of running gear parts are interchangeable between the defender, disco 1 and rr classic. The axles on Land Rovers are basically Dana axles so you can interchange parts with Dana 60’s for the rear, and upgrade to a Dana 60 for the front.
thank you for detail video
which told did to landrover for your travel around world
Good to know exactly what you did to the Discovery and good to know what can be done for over landing vechicle.
Gud Day! All great info. I definitely need an aux fuel tank! Good tip on the LED lights in cold weather. I just changed the factory bulbs out recently to LED and they work awesome. Yellow to white! I lived in Alaska before but the heat of a normal bulb didn't occur to me. Have to remember that in cold weather. When I changed wheels and tires- from factory steel with 27" tires to aluminum with 30" tires the weight was only 1lb/.5kg more. No doubt that the aluminum wheels are much stronger than the steels.
Perfect car !
Very important video
Cool video as always.
Also that's great to have real feedbacks from real users 👍👍
Greetings from France.
Cheers Mate great vid thanks leith
Looks like 24 people miss having Miss Stephy in the video.
Thanks!!
Love watching your videos. Love from India ❤️
Well done Leigh, Time and overland travel, has given you and Stephy experiences 99% of us will never experience, Thanks for taking me on your wonderful joining of discovery, PS tell Sheph we have missed her greatly. Big fan from down under
Thank you so much mate 🙏
Stephy will be back in action this coming Friday with her rice documentary she's been working on 😉
We are not off roaders! Ha! That Laura Maytown track? Overlanding it is not! That is the craziest track we have seen, and has greatly deteriorated since we last traversed it some 6 or 7 years ago. It was not a drive in the park then, it must be said. It was great to have met you and your channel is excellent!
Having just bought a 130 with 2.4 Ford engine in, I hope it gives me the service your's has. You two obviously put a lot into your 130 to get a lot out of it. Fair play.
APB Expedition in Kidderminster UK carried out a lot of work my 130. They fitted amongst many other things, an Bush tech conopy with a bespoke drawer system in the load bay. I would steer anyone looking to upgrade a truck towards them.
NICE
Saludos desde Republica dominicana 🇩🇴🇩🇴🇩🇴🇩🇴👍👍👍👌👌👌🤝🤝🤝
Great video buddy and awesome setup 🤙
A lot of nice information here- I hope that fair Steph enjoyed her little holiday. I think that I would have gone for the 5 cylinder 2.5 l engine. I totally love the V8 engine but I wouldn't use it in an overlander. I think that a winch is quite important, even as an overlander. It's pretty easy to end up somewhere where it'll be nice to be able to pull yourself out.
great life man!
I've only discovered your channel a few months ago and decided to go back and watch all the episodes from the beginning. Only about 12 episodes in so far (funnily enough I just watched the episode with the hand winch in The Sahara) but so awesome to see how far you've come, and a huge inspiration. Love the content, just wanted to say thanks mate. When you make it back to Australia let me know if you're keen to explore the Stockton Sand Dunes, we live just behind them and happy to host you guys!
Thank you so much for the message and kind words.
That's an awesome offer thank you very much 🙏😉
I'm Ito who was Ogawayama Thank you for having a good time
Thank you so much. We love Ogawayama ❤️😊
I'm definitely still stoked to install a front salisbury on my defender 110 after watching this, happy with the stock diff provided it's a 4 pin, I think this also just persuaded me on upgrading the front bull bar at some point, f350 superdutys on a defender still on my to do list.
That was a good one. People are usually swarmed when they talk of mods to their off roaders. Why didn't you do this or that, and folks comment on things they really don't need. I really like your L.E.D headlights comment ... alot of folks find that out the hard way. And me being from Canada ... I know this ice and snow thing first hand.
Very nice video. It would be hard to disagree with you as you are living the life and I kind of did decades back. I was offroad in a farm most of the time for a few years and lived in vehicles and tents but not in other countries. When I did LED lights for tail lights etc I left an old bulb hooked up with the new LED it had room and it provides heat in winter, my headlights get hot enough by unplugging the fan they have in winter. I wondered why you had rhubarb instead of a bull bar? LOL I know kangaroo stew bar. Glad you are doing well and got extended, Since much of the world is going through the respike except Sweden it seems. You should check out Svalbard sometime but now it is dark there for 4 months. Stay safe and healthy and boxers give the boys room to breath.
Great vid! Steph, he did OK.. you are safe to take time off a little more often. ;)
😃😃😃 yeah !!! 🎉🎉
There's the saying "prepare for the worst, hope for the best". Given winch is cheap and you are adding bumper anyway, you may aswell stick one on. Synthetic line will reduce weight somewhat.
By the way, those drone shots are just spectacular! I wish you made a video consisting of only the drone shots, especially those from the middle east/asia. Best of luck to you both! Cheers!
We did make a few drone only videos.
One is Kyrgyzstan another Australia 😉
You can find them on our channel.
You're right though we need to do more drone only videos.
We have so much awesome unused drone footage from our 4 years on the road.
I will try to make more drone only over the next few months 😉
I love your Defender, very similar to mine in concept, cheers mate! Check the front grill ;D
Hello encore une chouette vidéo, le poids est l'ennemi des véhicules de voyage !:)
What a beast. I reckon Bear would climb rocks better than you Leigh-san!! It's always great to watch vids on builds. Good on ya!
Dan-san I reckon that you're probably right there, Bear definitely has crawled his way up some serious rocky roads over the years 😉
Very Good Leigh ! Your comment „offroader vs overlander „ si very pertinent And on my vehicle I made the same reflections when we ordered it (Sprinter 4x4) Greetings to U2 And bonnes vacances à Stéphanie !
Merci beaucoup ❤️🙏
Me dio mucha pena al ver el tremendo choque de la hermosa defender me dolio como si hayga sido mia, y q bueno q ya la hayan areglado y esta hermosa
Great video. It is a pity one cannot buy cars like this just off the shelve...:-)
this is great video for your defender!!! but I have one for my traxxas trx-4 defender 1:10
Awesome and very informative video . All ways wondered how your defender was set up . Thanks for sharing this great video . Cheers from Steve Stott in Sutherlin Oregon U.S.A.
Thank you so much Steve 🙏
Always appreciate your positive feedback 😊
Love the acknowledgements from the USA, Oregon looks amazing.
I would keep it simple , the same as you guys , I don't even have 4 wheel drive and have been from the artic to Mex , and only used my winch once .
A rear locker might be more useful than 4WD
Huh... Who clicked the unlike button? Was that an angry Toyota fan?
they're too busy driving their cars that don't break down ; )
it's the guys that have a crush on Stef
@@Joricano Everyone has a crush on Stef! That’s the main reason I’m watching them (joke)
@@bogdanhh haha I keep telling Stephy that it's not only the Defender that the guys are watching our channel for 😜😉
@@leighdearle5965 What defender? Is there a defender in the show? I did not notice that :)))
Thanks for the report and great work. When you back in Aus and need tyres let me know we can make a plan to sort you out. I am in the tyre industry.
Thank you so much we really appreciate it 🙏😊
@@leighdearle5965 i do not know how to have a private conversation as i am bbc😊
Why do people perpetuate the myth about Land Rovers being unreliable! Toyota’s, Mitsubishi’s, Nissan’s, Jeep’s, you name it are all unreliable at some point in time.
Thanks for your heads up Leigh and take care both of you. 👍🏻🙏🏽🙏🏽🦘🦘🦘🦘
@@wynandloubser7646great camaraderie! SA Oz common wealth 😀
GREAT stuff dude.....I trust the insights because you and Frenchie are LIVING it! I LOVE your rig Leigh. One question: Solar panel; would you add more?; regrets?
All the upgrades make a lot of sense. How much heavier is the vehicle now? With the camper on how close are you to the max gross vehicle weight?
We are right at the limit of 3500kg fully loaded.
We could possibly drop 100kg and may do so in the future by removing a few unnecessary items.
I think I would like to have a Tank for going over land places .
1st love you
Like 👍👍👍👍💯💯💯
I disagree with the Haircut lol great video
Maybe a modification we don't need on the next build...? 😜😂
9:55 Ice forming on your LED's. Yes, same problem here. I love my LED lights but taking high roads in the winter at night when a blizzard hits.. all of a sudden you notice it getting darker and darker. I still haven't found a good solution for this.. Maybe a brainstorming session with Gak is in order..
Gak would definitely come up with something 😉
They make LED headlights with heaters in them just for this problem.
12V or 24V industrial heating tape used for warming pipework to prevent freezing only works at walking speed and in zero wind. Tried that, not so good. Spraying WD40 or GT85 over the lights helps a little but maybe can attack the plastic over time ? - no problems yet though. Watch out for yellowing of lenses if you try this.
Rounded-front lenses seem to catch less ice than flat-fronted bars.
Not found a good solution other than stopping regularly and brushing off with a stuff brush before it builds up.
I wonder is aircraft de-icing fluid would work - it's quite thick/not so runny.
@@scrapdaddyron I didn't know that thank you so much 🙏
Although we do try to avoid the snow as much as possible we always seem to find ourselves in harsh winters.
Could well be the case again this year in Japan 😜🇯🇵
You can also source heated windscreen reservoir, nozzles and wipers from any older Range Rover, or discovery.
Love the vids! Are you ever planing coming to Canada?
We would love to come to Canada, will Canada let us in or are the borders closed?
We don't know what to do after Japan...
👍
Interesting to know about the consequences from the lack of heat from LED lights.
Diffs; rear- Detroit locker. Fit (then forget), point, shoot. They. Just. Work. Front-Detroit True-trac. Same reasons as the rear.
I have heard about Detroit lockers, maybe one day 😉
Come to India 😎😎
Great!
Hope you guys the best.
How much you have spent on all heavy duty stuff?
Love you guys! Keep them coming👍. What brand name and size tires are running? Are the tire noisy on the road? Thanks
Thank you so much 🙏
I think I put the tyre info up on the screen in the video...
Toyo open country MT 265/75R16
They are not too noisy but then again we drive a Defender so we deal with plenty of noise 😜
@@leighdearle5965 ...screen shot this for future tyre reference, this video post of yours is really getting comments, fantastic!
Good Video as usual, how good are the MT tyres on wet tarmac?
Not the best and also not great on ice but other than that I rate them highly 😉
Great report!
Have you had any issues with the tdci engine, for instance with injectors or the quite usual knocking sounds on part throttle/ medium rpm?
Touch wood not as yet although we have heard of the known issues...
We only had an injector seal fail on us but that was an easy fix 🤞🙏