They had bought one with the locker and the 18" tires and that was the one that was bought back. This version was essentially "given" to them in exchange (they cover it in other videos), and I'm guessing no nearby dealer had one with the locker to give them. They reviewed the one they were given, considering that's what Land Rover gave them to review. Their Defender review consisted of several videos in a series where they chronicle everything over around a year. The video that this thread concerns was one of the last videos in the series.
So wait. What's this thread about then? People are comparing them, understanding there will be fundamental differences.
Anything hanging down low on a Rubicon lifts up when a tire is on an obstacle. The other things that hang "low" are only low relative to the Wrangler and not relative to virtually any other trail vehicle.
Caliper Hangers + Rotors + 18" wheels + tires costs more than a 2" lift and 35" tires on the Jeep, and costs way more than just throwing 35" tires on a stock Jeep.
I've thrown 4 coils and 4 shocks on a solid axle vehicle in a few hours. If you have a vehicle lift, I bet it could be done in around an hour on a new vehicle with no seized hardware.
I mean, Ok. Sounds like you are one of the guys that thinks the defender is a mall crawler that doesn’t deserve the name and I disagree. It seems like you’re being a little disingenuous with your arguments.
I’m aware of at least some of the problems they had with their original defender. I’m also going off what they said in THIS video when they said they couldn’t get one with a locker. My point in saying that is it appears it’s harder to get a top spec defender than a top spec Bronco or Jeep. Maybe that’s incorrect, but that was my take away.
I thought I was comparing and contrasting, I’m not sure what you think I’ve been doing. I just feel like a comparison should be as apples to apples as possible and preferably not biased against anyone.
My point about the ground clearance is that if the jeep went over that first obstacle before the defender, they would have had to stack rocks just as they did for the defender. Stock vs stock the defender is no worse off than the rubicon (actually better in my view), yet they make the defender look helpless.
Are you REALLY trying to tell me a lift and bigger tires on a Jeep is easier/faster than swapping 18” wheels to a defender? Let’s just throw out the time and cost of the wheels because it would be the same in either scenario. If you can throw on a complete lift in an hour, I can remove and replace the caliper hangers and rotors (6 bolts) in 15 minutes.
Land Rover should have made 18” wheels available on all models, but come on. It’s easier to put on a lift than mod the brakes to fit 18’s?