Easy way to spot HD package on '14 - '16 LR4, but how about other years/models

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Westporter

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I have a recently purchased '15 LR4 that I won't do any heavy duty off-roading with but someday I might want to get a second vehicle for exactly that purpose. To that end, I am combing through the forums on how one could spot an HD package on the earlier V8 LR4's but have yet to find a method as easy as figuring out a later model SCV6 14' - 16'. On the terrain selection buttons for the SCV6 HD Packaged LR4's your standard non-HD truck has only 4 modes: Normal, Snow, Fire Road/Trail, Sand. The HD models will have a fifth mode to include Rock Crawl. These two photos show the difference and on most ads on Autotrader, it's easy to spot. The question I have for you all is whether there is a likewise easy sway to spot the HD Package on the V8 earlier models of the LR4.

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ktm525

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Full size spare and a rear differential with wires leading to it.
 

Westporter

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Full size spare and a rear differential with wires leading to it.
Thanks for your reply. As you can see from the photos above, figuring out whether an LR4 has the HD package in the years '14 - '16 is as easy as looking at photos in an online ad. With so few of these cars spec'd HD, one's search would probably have to be Nationwide or at a minimum many miles from their location. Traveling to inspect a car's underside may not always be practical. Arranging to ask a salesperson to do it while reasonable, can get intractable when you are searching through literally hundreds of cars. What I wanted to know was whether there was a tell tall button or switch like above that gives away the HD package simply by clicking through photos.
 

Ratatat

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My ‘13 LR4 has the rock crawl option on the dial in roughly the same location as your switch in the above picture. Easy to tell too.
 

ryanjl

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What I wanted to know was whether there was a tell tall button or switch like above that gives away the HD package simply by clicking through photos.

No. Prior to '13, the HD package only meant it had a locker in the rear axle. Everything else was the same, including all the traction modes.

In '14 and after, the low range transfer case became part of the HD package. That's the switch in the right side of that switch cluster in the photos you posted, where there is a switch on one and a blank on the other.

Other than looking for a full-size spare (which can be added to a non-HD model) or wires leading to the rear axle, the only other way to tell is to pull up the 4x4 screen on the dash while the vehicle is running and look for the lock icon in the rear axle.

You could also, presumably, figure out a way to tell by VIN. That may take some work and a friend at a Land Rover dealer.
 
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ryanjl

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My ‘13 LR4 has the rock crawl option on the dial in roughly the same location as your switch in the above picture. Easy to tell too.

All '10 to '13 LR4 models have this, regardless if whether they have the HD package. It wasn't until the '14 models that you had to get the HD package to get a low range transfer case.
 

backcountryLR4

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Took me months to find a clean, low mileage CPO LR4 with LUX or landmark and the HD package with blackpack.

Ended up finding one on a work trip, canceling my flight home and driving 1600 miles back home.
 

TrungH

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The only visual way I know of is the full size spare underneath. You can see it from some rear photos, as it drops quite a bit further than a donut. A better method is to look up the vin on https://www.vindecoderz.com/EN/Land Rover and search the page for "spare" or "diff". The spare will say reduced section for most of them, indicating it's a donut.

This can also be used to identify vision assist and lux packages
 

cperez

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The only visual way I know of is the full size spare underneath.

The problem with this method is that it is not guaranteed, especially since all available LR4s are now pre-owned. Lots of us w/o HD have added a full-size spare to replace the ridiculous donut...
 

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