Land Rover Body on Frame Question

Dalko43

Explorer
Hello all. I recently joined this forum and have thoroughly enjoyed the articles and discussions I have found here. I bought a slightly used 2011 4Runner Trail back in March of this year, and with the warm weather finally here, I'll be looking to do some preventative maintenance and potential mods during the summer; I'm sure this forum (specifically the Toyota section) will prove to be a useful resource.

My question though is unrelated to my own vehicle. I've always had a fascination with the Land Rover brand. I've read the stories of old Camel Trophy competitions and of rugged expeditions using Land Rovers, old and new. My experience with the brand is limited to well, reading. So my question may seem overly simple and stupid, but here it is:

Which of Land Rovers' current vehicles are made with Body on Frame construction? I know there has been a big push by many different manufacturers (including Land Rover) to change over to unibody designs.

I believe certain models like the Range Rover have transitioned to unibody...does the offroading community still consider them viable options for overlanding despite this transition?
 

Dalko43

Explorer
LR3, LR4 and the older RRS

That's what I thought, but I had read that both the LR3 and LR4 were integrated-body-on-frame (IBF) and I wasn't sure if that was the same thing as a traditional BOF in terms of offroad capability and reliability.
 

A.J.M

Explorer
The body on frame design of the LR3, gives it a great core strength.

It is also makes it easy to work on for a maintanance point of view, all the wishbones, arb bushes etc are easy to get to.

The unibody frame is lighter, which brings benefits to, fuel economy, performance, better kerb weight etc.
So far, i don't think there would be any trade off for overlanding use.

The L405 Range Rover, has already done the Silk Trail across Europe and Asia, a trip of 16,800km, bar a journalist treating the wading depth as a challenge to beat.
There seems to be no issues with the platform.
 

Jwestpro

Explorer
That's what I thought, but I had read that both the LR3 and LR4 were integrated-body-on-frame (IBF) and I wasn't sure if that was the same thing as a traditional BOF in terms of offroad capability and reliability.

Yes, the lr3 is a an "integrated" body on frame. It's not a simple body on frame like the Land Cruiser with it's solid rear axle still in place. There are pros and cons.
 

Jwestpro

Explorer
... I've read the stories of old Camel Trophy competitions and of rugged expeditions using Land Rovers, old and new.

What you think of as the "rugged" vehicles were all true body on frame with solid axles front and rear and most of them had ball swivels up front like the Discovery 1, the same era Range Rovers, Defenders, etc. The 90's were awesome ;)

I love my LR3 and the LR4 but they are simply not as rugged as they use to be in terms of simple metal meant to just work even if beat up. The major parts may be up to the task but so many secondary support items are not rugged at all.
 

Ray_G

Explorer
What you think of as the "rugged" vehicles were all true body on frame with solid axles front and rear and most of them had ball swivels up front like the Discovery 1, the same era Range Rovers, Defenders, etc. The 90's were awesome ;)

I love my LR3 and the LR4 but they are simply not as rugged as they use to be in terms of simple metal meant to just work even if beat up. The major parts may be up to the task but so many secondary support items are not rugged at all.

Valid point, I love my LR3 and it is vastly superior for many applications but my D1 has a resiliance that I don't know that my D3 will have when she is ~20yrs old.
 

mpinco

Expedition Leader
A good example of how terminology can muddle the water. The LR3/4 is a traditional ladder frame, to which a monocoque passenger compartment/engine bay "body" is lowered onto it. The body can be removed. Book time is 8.x hours? Body on frame is the original method of vehicle design in which various components are bolted/glued together and lowered onto the frame, with additional components such as engine bay assembled to complete the vehicle. For the LR3/4 the body is virtually one piece.

The LR3/4 is stronger than your traditional body on frame. The downside is weight. (Well unless you tow then it is an upside)

Land Rover LR3 2005: Full Vehicle Cutaway
 

nwoods

Expedition Leader
That's what I thought, but I had read that both the LR3 and LR4 were integrated-body-on-frame (IBF) and I wasn't sure if that was the same thing as a traditional BOF in terms of offroad capability and reliability.

The body of the LR3/4/RRS1 is an independent unibody on top of a separate frame, then bolted (integrated) together. This provides exceptional stiffness, evidenced at how easy it is to open the doors, even with the truck perched with 3 wheels in the air over a ridge crest.
 

Jwestpro

Explorer
A good example of how terminology can muddle the water. The LR3/4 is a traditional ladder frame, to which a monocoque passenger compartment/engine bay "body" is lowered onto it. The body can be removed. Book time is 8.x hours? Body on frame is the original method of vehicle design in which various components are bolted/glued together and lowered onto the frame, with additional components such as engine bay assembled to complete the vehicle. For the LR3/4 the body is virtually one piece.

The LR3/4 is stronger than your traditional body on frame. The downside is weight. (Well unless you tow then it is an upside)

Land Rover LR3 2005: Full Vehicle Cutaway

Did anyone really check out this link ? It's pretty cool and useful for "what"s under here" when poking around on your lr3 ;)
 

A.J.M

Explorer
Book time of 8 hours?

Better tell my Indy to slow down a bit! His personal record to remove a D3 body is just under 2 hours from start to lifting the body clear of the chassis.

Few years back, lifting the body was the considered method for changing the rear timing belt or the turbo on a tdv6 D3 or RRS. As they cars fell away from main dealer work and onto Indy LR garages, they found you could change the rear belt insitu and also the turbo.

My indy has even made a how to guide for removing the body.. :)
 

sunrisehiker

Adventurer
AHH...famous DiscoMikey write up...Thanks AJM.
I bet there are some differences regarding Petrol engine and AUTO tranny.Does not tell , if I should drain coolant and brake fluid , I don't know..
 

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