Two General Questions

[maxminshull]

Hey everyone. New to the club, and I have 2 questions.

 

1. What are your top 5 (or so) Land Rover and 4x4 forums other than this one?

 

2. Have you or do you know of anyone who has imported circa 89-93 Discovery TDi? Have you seen one for sale from a specific dealer?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Proud owner of a '98 50th Anniversary D1 Stock

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[DHappel]

I can't say I read a lot of forums anymore.  I used to be fairly active on several but I've drifted away over the last couple years.

 

Each forum sort of has it's own vibe.   Some of the ones I've read-

 

Expedition Portal (ExPo)  They are not vehicle specific but do have vehicle specific sub-forums and are quite active.  Obviously more 'expo' than 'wheeling' oriented so not the place to look for tips on your crawler build but if you have a question about traveling the world or just the best camp chair these guys are up to it.

 

Defender Source.  While d-source is mostly Defender related they also cover a lot of tech on the other Rovers, specifically the solid axle stuff.  Not so big on the late model stuff.

 

Land Rover Forums.  General Rover talk with model specific sub forums.  Pretty good tech.

 

Pirate4x4 - I hesitate to list this one; many years ago it was the go-to place for hard core tech and off-road info but it degenerated into a ... let's call it 'special' ... sort of place.  You need a thick skin to hang out here as it's pretty rough, and there's not much Rover specific info here although there is a Rover sub-forum, but there is still a lot of good fab and tech info for hard core builds.  This is not the place to ask about the best camp stove or look for easy trails, but if you're wondering about setting up a custom 4-link or looking for a fab shop to build you a chassis this might be worth a look.

[DHappel]

I'm afraid I'm not a lot of help on the TDi front.  Getting a legal one in CA would be a challenge.  To do it 100% legal would be just about impossible from what little I know as it was never sold in this market.  I think the only way to 100% do it is to spend far more than the cost of the vehicle having it go through the smog labs (I forget the name of the place that does this but I want to say expect something like a $15K cost).

 

There are a number of *sorta* legal ways to have one in CA.  For starters, you can't import one directly to CA, but if it's over 25 years old it can be imported into the US in and titled in another state.  Montana is popular as an example.  Once it's got a US diesel title you then can work on getting it into CA since older diesels don't have to go through smog testing.  I suspect there are other hoops through which one must jump, though I haven't looked into it myself.  Some people also just leave their vehicle titled/registered in another state, though again this isn't technically legal since CA requires you to licence any vehicle here if it stays more than 30(?) days.  People get away with it quite often when it's not a daily driver and it isn't something that gets seen on the street constantly.  If they are pulled over they claim they just brought it in for a short visit and hope nobody follows up.  High chance it will work, but not without it's risks.  It also exposes you to potential insurance issues.

 

I'm not trying to sound like a rules nazi here; I personally wouldn't care if you have a Montana licenced Rover in your driveway.  But you do want to spend some time doing your homework.

 

If you have the time, you may try chatting with our peninsula whatsap group as they are much more into the topic than I am.  

[Jethro]

I'm afraid I'm not a lot of help on the TDi front. Getting a legal one in CA would be a challenge. To do it 100% legal would be just about impossible from what little I know as it was never sold in this market. I think the only way to 100% do it is to spend far more than the cost of the vehicle having it go through the smog labs (I forget the name of the place that does this but I want to say expect something like a $15K cost).

 

There are a number of *sorta* legal ways to have one in CA. For starters, you can't import one directly to CA, but if it's over 25 years old it can be imported into the US in and titled in another state. Montana is popular as an example. Once it's got a US diesel title you then can work on getting it into CA since older diesels don't have to go through smog testing. I suspect there are other hoops through which one must jump, though I haven't looked into it myself. Some people also just leave their vehicle titled/registered in another state, though again this isn't technically legal since CA requires you to licence any vehicle here if it stays more than 30(?) days. People get away with it quite often when it's not a daily driver and it isn't something that gets seen on the street constantly. If they are pulled over they claim they just brought it in for a short visit and hope nobody follows up. High chance it will work, but not without it's risks. It also exposes you to potential insurance issues.

 

I'm not trying to sound like a rules nazi here; I personally wouldn't care if you have a Montana licenced Rover in your driveway. But you do want to spend some time doing your homework.

 

If you have the time, you may try chatting with our peninsula whatsap group as they are much more into the topic than I am.

I'd add one more to this list than pivot into a separate direction.

 

Disco Web is another Rover specific that's a cross from defender source and pirate.

 

Thick skin is required aka search the threads well before proposing questions.

 

So there are a lot of theme specific groups on Facebook that seem to have absorbed the forum traffic. Great place to subscribe to for the desired topics.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[DHappel]

ah yes, I was trying to remember D-web - it's british so a lot more diesel talk there but lots of good tech though as Greg says, it can be a bit harsh.

 

Land Rover Forum is another one that looks pretty active at least on the newer vehicles, but I haven't been there in quite a while.

[DiscoDavis]

Defendersource (for defender specific stuff)

NasRow (an offshoot of dsource)

ExpeditionPortal - mostly for build threads and watching jeep/toyota drama

LandRoverForums.com (lots of LR3, Discovery 1, Discovery 2 technical stuff)