Increased Performance

[f1racer328]

I had sliders on my 2004 D2 but never so much as touched them on rocks. I haven't put them on the LR4 for the same reason but maybe I should. The air compressor is tucked up along the frame rail and it's pretty well protected but I have hit it. My plastic cover is cracked apart and it vibrates on the compressor when it runs and the mounting plate for the compressor is bent. I have a spare compressor and a spare plastic cover in the garage (I also have a spare air tank). I have tried to get a specific skid plate or guard for the compressor from one of the overseas companies but they won't ship to the US. You're correct that an alternative is to get sliders that also protect the compressor. I've seen an example of this at my local independent Rover mechanic's shop and they are nice. But the mechanic hates it because you have to remove the slider to service the compressor (which is why this particular LR4 was in his shop). My mechanic hates my skid plates too because he has to drop them for service and all the rocks, sand, and dried mud make a mess of his shop floor. Oh well.

If the company is ProSpeed Lucky8 can source them for you. Just give them a call/email.

 

[Blueaz]

I've found options from Prospeed, APT, and Wildbear but none will ship to US. My lower control arm skids are Prospeed and I got them through Lucky 8 but the compressor skid is unobtanium, just like the Prospeed roof racks.

 

[ftillier]

The sliders I have my eye on are the tactical 4x4 ones, heavy and expensive though. Some of the prospeed stuff is super fancy, like their under belly and rear diff armor, but I suspect the market for the lr4 is drying up.

 

[greiswig]

The sliders I have my eye on are the tactical 4x4 ones, heavy and expensive though. Some of the prospeed stuff is super fancy, like their under belly and rear diff armor, but I suspect the market for the lr4 is drying up.

I'm a fan of the Tactical sliders. They hold up very well on the trail.

 

[Land Rover Joe]

I'm a fan of the Tactical sliders. They hold up very well on the trail.

The Tactical sliders are great. I have been using them for years and they hold up well, also act as bash guards / sill protectors, look great, and you can even jack from them.

Only problem down there (and with all these steel accessories) is the rust....

 

[Land Rover Joe]

Dear @BigBriDogGuy

Great thread and excellent topic - so I am resurrecting / stealing this thread.

I am doing a rebuild (almost a complete overhaul) on my 2010 LR4 HSE (HD) with 90,000 miles (some hard).

We have reassembled the entire engine...and she lives!

We are nowhere near done but the fact that the engine has turned over means we haven't completely destroyed the truck and are likely to get through this build. Very exciting (and a relief).

That said, in approaching this build, I basically took @itsaguything approach: we didn't radically modify anything and I am mostly using stock / OEM. In fact, I have had to be obsessive in sourcing parts due to the superabundance of crap parts (everywhere).

There are things I would totally like to do, like completely change the exhaust manifolds and straight pipe the exhaust with bigger / larger pipes. But that is illegal and there is not enough room down there to really do much with the manifolds (and as pointed out - there is no aftermarket for these trucks so new exhaust manifolds would have to be custom made...yikes!)

Or put 35 inch by 12.5 inch Mikey Thompson tires. They would be very cool and look really tough. But that would require huge modifications to the frame and wheel wells as well as SIGNIFICANTLY decrease off and on road performance (i.e. power). So super cool...and super stupid (at the same time).

Basically, without making radical redesign decisions (which will seriously compromise something else)...I don't know what one can really do. I suppose there is a way to re-tune the engine and one could always redo the exhaust or something...but without tearing out all kinds of stuff (which will screw everything else up) like ECU's, I don't feel that the gain is worth the pain.

However, like folks said, consistent maintenance, attention to details on parts and looking for OEM (or better) parts will likely give you longer running times and therefore overall better lifespan. For example, I installed an "improved" vacuum pump from the original as well as the new chains and tensioners / guides (which have the metal parts which are supposed to wear longer). These aren't really modifications, however, as they are really just upgrades to the OEM components which were factory installed.

So I don't have great advice as to upgrades themselves but can testify that these trucks can continue to perform (probably for a really long time) if one keeps up with ALL maintenance items and uses the best quality fluids/lubricants and parts.

Perhaps others have similar experiences or new insights -