I get asked a lot about the general reliability of the Land Rover Perentie and what sort of things go wrong with them. I tell everyone the same thing: Living the dream isn’t for everyone! They are 30 year old trucks that have been used on battlefields, sat in the baking sun & snow and driven by grunts.
I bought my Perentie at the second AFM Auction and thought it was just a phase, something I’d get out of my system. Five years later, lust has turned to love and in that time it has been the only vehicle I’ve owned. I have continued the abuse it was doled out in the ADF by taking it on some epic remote trips and attacking it with my socket set. One of the coolest things about owning one of these weapons is you don’t worry about driving it hard. Pinstripes, bent panels, cracked lights, dented underbody… It all just adds to the glorious patina and makes the truck your own.
I can honestly say she has never left me stranded anywhere critical. The 4BD1 has never even thought of missing a beat, it is truly bulletproof. With a few basic tools and the help of the community of legends that own these things, I’ve always gotten home. BUT, Given the nature of the vehicle and its history, stuff breaks. Here’s a list of things that have f***ed up. Maybe you’ll consider future proofing your Perentie against similar failures.
Inner tubes
I’d like to know who was responsible for this anomaly in the Q store: The stock Michelins are a tubeless radial, but run tubes anyway. When you air down off road grit gets in behind the bead and chafes through the tube, which in my case were the cheapest Chinese junk tubes I’ve seen. On the old telegraph track I had three tubes blow in two days. I stole the steel rims off a rusty Disco in the Bamaga junkyard and re fitted my Michelins to them. Voila! No more tyre issues for the 3000km trip home. This is the first thing I’d recommend addressing if you buy a stock Perentie.
Loaded up on the OTT. Lucky we had 2 spares!
2. Wiring
I was closing in on Cairns after a 3000km drive from Sydney when I heard a calamitous pounding under the back of the tub. I was sure I’d blown something in the drivetrain and my OTT dream was over. In fact the wiring had come loose, wrapped around the rear propshaft and ripped itself completely out from the bulkhead rearward. The tangled mess was whipping itself into the underbody. Rewiring was a bit of a nightmare, as these things have a complicated setup for blackout LED lights, but we got it done.
Getting at the CDL actuator. Maybe I should clean under there more often.
3. CDL Actuator
The Centre diff lock is engaged pneumatically. Bizarre, but pretty damn cool. A push pull switch on the dash directs air to either side of a rubber diaphragm that inserts or retracts an actuation pin into the CDL. After a day of hard wheeling with the CDL engaged, and ready for the highway drive home, I found I could not get the thing to unlock. I tried doing doughnuts, jacking her up, reversing, verbal abuse… even pulled the pneumatic lines off and manually sucked/blew into the housing under the car. The diaphragm was split and I had to limp home (Caution: Don’t drive with a locked CDL on sealed roads for long, you will break something!). I secured new actuator from KLR and the fix was simple enough, you can access it by removing the driver side floor pan.
Local surf check ends on a tow truck
4. Prop shaft
Given the places I’ve taken my Perentie, she chose a good spot for her one and only tow truck moment. Pulling second gear on the way to check the surf, BANG. Something slammed into the floor pan with enough force to fill the cab with dust. The CV joint on the front prop shaft had sheared off. If I had tools I could have simply removed it, engaged CDL and driven home rear wheel drive. Spewing, but I ended up with a nice upgraded heavy duty unit.
5. Clutch fluid leak
My clutch kept losing fluid, but I couldn’t see where. I just kept topping it up and pumping the clutch until I had a firm peddle. This turned out to be a mistake as it was leaking into the clutch housing, which eventually totalled the clutch. Upgrade time, now I’ve got a nice heavy duty unit which also handles the added torque from the turbo.
6. The wheel fell off
Driving home after a day of pounding the Dunes of Stockton beach, southbound on the F3 going down the hill just before Mooney Mooney bridge. I felt a slight vibration in the steering and went to pull into the breakdown lane when my front left wheel liberated itself. The truck dropped onto the disc and with a shower of sparks began carving a thick slice of bitumen toward the guard rail. I waited until it was completely necessary to brake and we came to a gentle stop. The wheel meanwhile, changed lanes and went between a Ford territory and the trailer it was towing, launching the trailer and its contents into the air, spilling them all over the freeway.
I’m pretty sure the wheel nuts were loosened by some junkie kids in Stockton. I reattached the wheel with a nut borrowed from each of the three remaining and drove home. I notice the scar carved into the freeway each time I pass that spot and its a good story!
OK, I realise that this may not paint the most compelling picture of perentie ownership, but the point is that on the odd occasion you have issues, they are easy and fun to fix. Get involved!
Worth it!