RobertDingli

Hi. I also have an L322 and participated in Rovicon 2019 as a passenger in Colin’s RRC. I would suggest that 33†tyres, a winch and a lot of underbody protection would be required. I would also carry some spare suspension bushes and rear tow links which I have been know to destroy on trails. Lastly, you would need to have a healthy dose of don’t care when it comes to cosmetic damage. I have sliders but not the underbody protection. I fitted 31.4†tyres (285/50R20) and get rubbing on all four corners at various times. I would really like to go to 33s and perhaps downsize the wheels to the smallest size I can fit at 19â€. A project for the future. This year I will be taking a D2 with Nick as my passenger. I look forward to meeting you and sharing L322 ideas. Perhaps a limited late model vehicle run to the bowl can be attempted in the future.

Sounds like he’s more experienced than me. How good is he at spotting? Seriously, he might be the youngest kid there but he is very welcome.

I agree with Eric here. The trail is quite rough and will throw around your passengers for several hours per day. Many passengers get out and walk for a large part of the trail which is not really an option for a two year old. I am not sure if you are planning to have another adult passenger that could look after the child out of the vehicle. I went as a passenger last year and enjoyed walking alongside the vehicles taking photos and videos. The trail is difficult to walk for an adult at times but a lot of fun.

Nick, I am 95% certain that I’ll be there with my D2. You are welcome to ride along.

I’m in. I’ve got nearly everything except the practice. I’ll work in that between now and then.

How noticeable is the engine vibration now?

Schools are now closed in Santa Clara county and my three kids will be home for at least three weeks. I’ll need this DitD to prepare. Nida and will be coming and possibly a rugrat or two.

Looks great. Sorry we couldn’t make it. We got as far as Livermore before my L322 transmission threw a fault code and went into limp mode. I drove home stuck in third gear and proceeded to tackle the technical issue with my new found spare time once I got home. Apart from getting oil everywhere, getting the ZF transmission diagnosed and apart was not too challenging for someone who has never done it before. The transmission is common to many car brands and there’s some good advice online. I learned that removal and disassembly of the mechatronic unit is quite straight forward. Let’s hope that my root cause analysis is correct and she’s back on the road soon. I’ll write up my findings in a later Tech Talk post.

I’m delighted that mine is not the only L322 in our club to hit the trails as of last weekend. I’ll need to stop referring to it as ‘the L322’ in future. I was the last or second last through some of the interesting challenges and the track was getting rather mashed up by then. I didn’t get to take too many photos myself but a friend caught some L322 action which I have added to the google photo set. Thanks for everyone’s support in getting every vehicle through to the end. Our friends in the D5 were super excited to join the run and are now contemplating what tires to buy to replace the OE ATs. I hope to get them into the club and encourage them to learn the amazing capabilities of their vehicle.

We will be leaving later in the morning and expect to get there mid to late afternoon. Unfortunately, we will miss the Saturday run. Take care

There’s always some rock crawling to be found

I did a pre-trip trip up to Shaver last weekend. There is currently much less snow than last year which makes the experience quite different. While I enjoyed the several feet of snow last year, there was not much wheeling for my L322. There was plenty of fun to be had last weekend with the run up to Bald Mountain providing just the right amount of challenges for a relatively stock and heavy truck. I got stuck a couple of times and held my head in shame as my friend’s 4Runner tugged me out of a few spots. Since the roads are currently clear, I have decided to take my trailer up again and booked a site at Edison Campground (site 228). If the weather deteriorates making the trailer tow treacherous like last year, I will camp in the RTT but have to leave my dear wife at home. I’ll be driving early Saturday like last year to get to the mountain in daylight.

Thanks for organizing Miles. It was great to catch up today.

For those like me who struggle with the website, could you please share the date?

I’ve changed my hotel booking to the new dates and will also come up on Friday. We will head over to the campsite to say hi probably on Saturday morning. For reference, we will be staying at Shaver Lake Village Hotel. 42135 Tollhouse Road, Shaver Lake, CA 93664, USA

Fortunately, I will be in Australia at this time. Otherwise I could have shown you how to flip a disco onto its side.

Thanks Cris. I did see this vehicle on Facebook Marketplace and appreciate the pointer. I think I have found a good candidate on Craigslist and will go take a look on the weekend. Hopefully, I will have another D2 by Christmas.

Good question. When you look closely, the roof is crumpled and the structure bent over slightly. It would require some significant realignment and new roof, fender and doors. All of the expensive bits I added are fine.

Looks good Andrew. I’ve gone a different route and found the most powerful and highest energy battery that I could fit into the standard D2 battery tray. I fitted an Odyssey Group 31 into the tray with only minor mods. Standard tray, clamp and battery cover. I have a DCDC charger with solar input in the back for an auxiliary power supply for the fridge and camping gear. I’m not sure what type of battery I will use there (sealed and deep cycle, obviously).

By ‘scur-fuffl’, I guess Miles was referring to the tragic demise of Disco Stu. While heading back from the trails for a lunch break we were passing some other road users on a non technical trail when I misjudged an embankment and toppled over sideways. Stu took a trail nap. Disco Stu is a write off but I promise to build another. Look out for Stu2 as soon as I can find a good donor vehicle.

We will see you on the 17th.

See you at Milpitas.

Thanks for making alternate arrangements. I look forward to returning to Frank Raines to put Stu to the test. I would be interested in joining you for the drive up from South Bay. Just let me know where and when to meet up.

Is there a contingency to the contingency for this trip? There’s still an active fire between SF and South Cow OHV. I also noted that when I ventured north of SF yesterday, there were large power outages and people were driving into SF to refuel. I certainly will need to refuel for this journey and am hesitant about driving into the unknown.

We should be able to make it and debut Disco Stu