H
hysterwv
Guest
From day one, I thought the routing of the exhuast under the rear axle was odd. Well, today I had my first bad experience with this setup. We (wife, myself, and 2 of my 3 sons) went to look at some rural property my wife in interested in purchasing. The subject property is located about 1 mile from the closest road. It's situtated along an abandoned county road (read over-grown trail).
We succussfully drove DOWN to the property with me driving and my wife moving downed trees and low hanging vines and branches. After checking the place out, we started our trek out. While climbing the first mild grade (with my wife in the car), we heard a CRACK. I thought it was just an old downed tree that we had crushed.
We continued up to the second steep grade. This is where I found that the stock tires SUCK. I got a run at it in 2nd gear low range (it's quite narrow and STEEP). We got about 3/4 of the way up and were spinning all fours. We BARELY crested the hill.
Upon arriving home (about 5 miles), I discovered that a LARGE branch, about 6" in diameter had wedged itself between the exhaust and axle. The resulting damage was minor and included a cracked heat shield, bent hanger, and bent tailpipe. I was able to "over" bend the hanger enough to compensate for the bent pipe, but it still hangs down about 3/4" lower than the other side.
Overall, the LR3 is excellent both on and off-road, I just wish there was a better setup for the tailpipe and heat sheilds.
We succussfully drove DOWN to the property with me driving and my wife moving downed trees and low hanging vines and branches. After checking the place out, we started our trek out. While climbing the first mild grade (with my wife in the car), we heard a CRACK. I thought it was just an old downed tree that we had crushed.
We continued up to the second steep grade. This is where I found that the stock tires SUCK. I got a run at it in 2nd gear low range (it's quite narrow and STEEP). We got about 3/4 of the way up and were spinning all fours. We BARELY crested the hill.
Upon arriving home (about 5 miles), I discovered that a LARGE branch, about 6" in diameter had wedged itself between the exhaust and axle. The resulting damage was minor and included a cracked heat shield, bent hanger, and bent tailpipe. I was able to "over" bend the hanger enough to compensate for the bent pipe, but it still hangs down about 3/4" lower than the other side.
Overall, the LR3 is excellent both on and off-road, I just wish there was a better setup for the tailpipe and heat sheilds.
