Wanted: Group Diversity

[Kris Guilbeaux]

Also if any one is not aware that the 4.0 in the discovery is the same 4.0 that's in the explorer sohc.

[KF5ZXT]

So... that means you can stick a 5.0 in there pretty easily, eh?

Also, I would guess that this is only true of the few years when Ford owned Land Rover (not sure that they still do). Do you know which years?

[TxPlates]

Land Rover was sold to Ford in 2000 and then Ford sold both Land Rover and Jaguar Cars to Tata Motors in 2008.

[KF5ZXT]

Let me clarify: do you know which years used the 4.0 SOHC?

Thanks for the update on the ownership change.

[TxPlates]

Not a lot of info out there about it. I did find this..

"The Land Rover LR3 introduced a minimalistic style, retaining the main Discovery features, such as steeply-raked windscreen and the stepped roof-line. It was offered with the integrated body frame and ladder-frame chassis that ensured balance between performance and agility. The vehicle came with a full independent suspension. On the United States market the Land Rover LR3 was available with the following engine options: 4.4L V8 petrol engine of 300 hp or 4.0L SOHC Ford V6 petrol engine of 216 hp. A 6-speed automatic transmission came standard. The new electronic systems included dynamic stability control, four wheel electronic traction control, and Terrain Response system that allowed to choose the ride height, throttle response, traction control, and transmission settings. The Terrain Response system won the Popular Science Award in 2005."

Courtesy of

[Kris Guilbeaux]

Not Sure what years for sure but its already a motor we are familiar with, It would be a good choice as a cheap purchase if we can find one with timing rattle, Russell and I are aware of the process to re-time these motors.

[TexasArmadillo]

[TxPlates]

Hop to it!

[brianjf]

Seems like an xj ( jeep Cherokee ) would be a good fit. Seems like that would be the small SUV that is closest to an explorer. Plenty of those are still around have lots of aftermarket support.

[KF5ZXT]

I've wheeled with some Cherokee's before, and we used to have a member with one (Zarthros). Decent platform for sure. Only issue that I see with them really is the unibody construction. This can be mitigated somewhat through frame stiffeners, which, being a Jeep, are available in the aftermarket. It would be nice to have rigs of all sizes of course, for when we start writing up trail reports, we can make observations on how different wheelbases, break over angles, track widths affect navagability.