Lightweights are Military????

[Serg]

Ok guys help me out here.. I am totally clueless as to the whole lightweight issue..

I am being told that lightweight land rovers were all built for military use. Is that correct? If so I will combine the Military and Lightweight sections. I just thought that Lightweight owners might not be into Military Land Rovers and that there might have been some Military Land Rovers that are not Lightweights.

Living in the US I am at a disadvantage to this knowledge as our Military does not use Land Rovers at all.


Serg

[Pugsly]

Okay, first off- the US Military does use Land Rovers. A number of units that have more say in what equipment they use have chosen the Wolf Defenders. More agile and narrower than the Humvees.

All lightweights are military, but not all military are lightweights. You can get an ex-MOD just about anything these days.

[Alan H]

This could be a long learning curve.
Please look here first http://www.meddle.karoo.net/lwlrc/ where the Lightweight Club lives. It may save a lot of heartache.
By the way, don't forget the 101 gun tractors. http://staffi.lboro.ac.uk/~copal/pal.../prototype.htm
That was a military too. We'd better not mention the pink panthers at this stage perhaps.........................

[doc1911]

US Army Rangers used to use D110's with 200Tdi's. They still have a few left but for the most part thet have gone back to the Hummer. The LR's did not provide enough protection.

[bhodisatva]

Anybody who has an interest in these vehicles would do as well to go out and buy this book

The Half-Ton Military Land Rover by Mark J. Cook
ISBN 1-903706-96-3

www.velocebooks.com

The most informative book on the market soley dealing with the Lightweight aka airportable aka Truck, Utility, Half-ton, 4x4, Rover Series III. A must for any lightweight owner or collector of military vehicle history.

[Series 3 guy]

Lightweights are specificaly designed for the Military.The MOD uses all types of Landy's. The LW'S are great offroaders...great room for articulation.

[xpower racer]

The lightweight was designed for Airborne use for the british forces. They found that when they air dropped normal landys out of aircraft the suspention was getting damaged on landing. They sorted this by makeing a light weight version called the "Lightweight" funnily enough so that they were still in tact after an air drop.

Hope this helps you understand WHY they are only ex-forces and not just that they ARE ex-forces.

[sunking101]

I have to correct you there, the lightweight was designed to be airportable because at the time army helicopters could not cope with the weight of a standard series 3 Land Rover. The lightweight has quickly & easily removable body panels and thus it was able to bring it into line with the weight carrying capability of the helicopters (just)! When fully assembled a "lightweight" is actually HEAVIER than a typical Series 3 Land Rover. It has nothing to do with the suspension etc, which is very similar to any Land Rover. It was a bit of a futile exercise in the end because Land Rover were behind schedule with the lightweight and by the time it was delivered to the army, their helicopters had been upgraded and the payload was sufficient to carry a standard series rover.

[xpower racer]

May I ask you where you got your info from and what experience you have your self pelase?

I only ask because at my first unit we had SIIIs still and we were airmobile so much as I havnt seen any official documentation the general theme of Landrovers and airportability and the history of was drummed into me.

Of course I could be wrong or it could be a combination of both things. I do have vivid memmories of pictures of SIII landrovers all squint and listing from airdropping and right next to them pics of Lightweights driving off the airdrop pallets and going about their intended business.

How about we both go look for some official documentation and whoever is wrong gets the pints in . if we are both right then its your round first

[sunking101]

Hi there mate,

I'm a Land Rover enthusiast, not an army man but I have owned several lightweights and my dad was in the army (he got me into them) - plus I'm a member of the ex-military Land Rover association. Before the lightweight was produced the army attempted to parachute drop Series 2 & 2A land rovers but they were mostly damaged upon landing, hence the requirement for a vehicle that could be airported by the Wessex helicopter. When the lightweight was stripped of all body panels, spare wheel and windscreen it was JUST on the limit of the Wessex payload (2500lbs.)

If you've seen knackered Landys in pallets then the ones that drove away were purely the lucky ones, not due to being built for such destruction. All military vehicles had stronger chassis than their civilian counterparts but as there was no civilian lightweight it is wrongly assumed it was built for being dropped - my 109 Series 3 FFR has a strengthened military chassis but it wasn't designed for being dropped out of helicopters.

Drinks are on you!

[xpower racer]

Well, from what you have said their I can see where my idea came from.

Where do you want that pint buying? I'm in Glasgow

[sunking101]

I'm in Bristol mate, the end of the earth! Mail me a crate of your finest

[antichrist]

"The Half-Ton Military Land Rover" documents, among other things, in great detail the devlopement of the Lightweight and the reasons behind it. It was indeed so it could be airlifted by the Wessex. And also so two could be loaded side-by-side in a cargo plane (I forget which one, hence why they are narrower than normal 88's.


There are other Land Rover books that do as well, like "Land Rover, the Unbeatable 4x4.

There were other "airportable" Land Rovers as well, namely stripped down 109's that could be stacked inside a cargo plane.

[g7jtk]

If you look here http://www.lightweightlandroverclub.org/ You will find out all about them.