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Land Rovers have and still do lend themselves greatly to conversions and modifications
in all areas because they have a very basic structure, with very basic
components. The majority of Land Rovers on the road end up receiving
some sort of conversion throughout their lifetime, especially if that
have made to work hard. It is only the rare finds and idle vehicles that
escape the need for modification.
Before considering altering or replacing
something, it is important to establish exactly what you want to achieve
and why you want it. You must consider all available options and
remember to calculate in unforeseen costs, you'd be amazed to see how the
cost of a conversion will add up with the little things.
Land Rover engines can and often do last very long time but more often than not the vehicles are
required to perform better than originally intended. Land Rover's original design
is very good and robust if kept as a unit, but, as soon as any upgrade takes place, the
rest of the unit must be assessed for compatibility. For example a significantly
larger engine conversion will be detrimental to the gearbox and braking
system.
It must also be kept in mind that the existing engine can ALWAYS be
upgraded to increase performance and fuel mileage, It is often a much
better option to keep the existing engine and tweak it.
Land
Rover Gearbox Conversions usually happen with
Land Rover engine conversions and are rarely done on their own. The exceptions
going from manual to auto or visa versa.
Series Land Rovers usually keep their gearboxes as they work well and are
relatively cheap and easy to repair compared to the newer boxes.
Some of the coil sprung vehicles, Defender, Discovery and Range Rover gearboxes die and are replaced
with newer models for better gearing and reliability.
Diff Conversions exist and are used
either for gearing upgrades after engine conversions or for performance upgrades like diff lockers
etc.
Land rover Suspension upgrades are becoming popular
in light of camping holidays and long distance travel where a more
stable vehicle is desired when fully loaded.
Brakes are sometimes upgraded like drum
to disk conversions on leaf sprung vehicles, There are other bits one can fiddle with
too like cooling, interior, body etc.
Unless researched properly, what started out as a very innocent upgrade
can turn into a very costly
and dangerous mess.
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