Disco Dilemma

A word of caution to Disco owners of vehicles circa 2000 - 2002. Those without the facility to lock the centre diff.

Just returned from a weekend driver training event. As an aside it was excellent, well run by accredited trainers and afforded a wealth of tips and know-how on most facets of off road driving. I have been driving an assortment of the mongrels for more years than I care to remember, but am the first to admit I came away knowing more than when I went, however I digress ....

During key start recovery techniques, a Disco went into what can only be described as a totally out of control backwards descent with the brakes fully locked on, with absolutely NO pedal application by the driver. bleep s were almost trumps when it can within an ace of rolling over.

The cause remains, at this stage unknown, however there is a strong suspicion the traction control/hill descent/ABS braking mechanism went beserk by incorrectly interpreting the wheel slip in reverse, possibly due to the lack of a centre diff lock which in turn allowed the rear axle wheels to rotate at a different speed to those on the front axle.

To cut the story short, the net result may well have been very different, especially in different circumstances .... at best a very bent vehicle, at worst very bent bods.

Interestingly no other vehicles, out of the assortment suffered anywhere near the same fate, including the Fender with a centre lock. Perhaps more interesting is my understanding that LR has reintroduced the centre diff lock on the more recent models.

As I said above ... a word of caution

CheersFidei defensor

Rosco