kultur

Super crowded today so good thing you guys avoided it. I did more recovery than wheeling today.
 
#1 - Lead Chevy Tahoe gets caught up on a twisty decline with a steep drop off and a perpendicular trail with another drop off at the end.
#2 - Tacoma burns up his clutch then traction control and CEL protests in response
#3 - On my way out, since I didn't get much wheeling in, I decided to swing by the new obstacle course then the ravine at the bottom of Truck Hill when two kids in a Dodge Ram have their axle stuck in a rut about 1/4 way headed downward.
 
Third times a charm so I didn't tempt fate and headed home right away LOL

He look - I'm not dead!
 
I know I've been largely absent this year other than Whatsapp; things have been pretty wacky with my schedule for various reasons and I've been working a lot of weekends.
 
I was actually scheduled to work this weekend as well but just cancelled.  That means by some magic confluence of events we have:
 
1- a weekend off
2- on the first sat of the month
 
I see we currently have Hollister set for the Aug MORG.  But given the general disarray of the entire schedule is anybody interested in going Saturday? Or interested in going anywhere else?
 
I really should get the Disco out and make sure I remember how to put it in low before heading out for Rubicon in a couple weeks!
 
I'll post this on Whatsapp as well and try to check in here daily.  
 

Welp. I finally modded the Rover and have joined the dark side. Some of you may remember me from the event we help at the shop. After 15 years of ownership i am once again in love with my Discovery. To make it better, i did the work with my 13yo daughter as i intend this to be her first vehicle. She put her time in and we got the D1 on a 2†lift with 33’s and cut fenders. Anyway, heres some pics, hope to hit the trail soon!





 
 
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Hi, 
 
I have made a tough decision and will be putting my LR4 for sale. :-(.   Life goals have changed and need to downsize a little.  
 
I just posted it on CL if you know of anyone looking for an LR4.  Here is the ad: https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/d/union-city-2011-land-rover-lr4-lux/7132215794.html
 
I am willing to sell the Alubcab awning and roof rack and ladder separately if anyone is interested.  
 
 
Anyway, I thought I would post it here in case anyone here is looking to get into an LR4 or know someone that is.   
 
Thanks

I’m home all weekend. If anybody needs some welding, I feel like it’s been too long since I got to melt some metal, so bring your stuff by and I’ll help you out.
 
 
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Just saying hello - My 1995 RRC after giving it a wash!

My Genuine tow jaws came in from the UK. Got ‘em mounted up:

Trevor White, supporter, and sponsor of our last annual rally - is a one person show.  If you need a part - please think of him, and his company, if you need anything for your Land Rover...
 
Thx!
 
Serge   

Merlyn and I spent the weekend at Lake Almanor. First time going up there for us. They got a bunch of fresh snow up there and there’s tons of forest roads to go snow wheeling on. Since they literally had zero snow up there until Friday, it was pure powder all the way to the ground. So it was really easy to drive through and not get stuck in the slippery hard pack. If you have some time off work, consider a trip up there.
 
 
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I finally decided to do something to reduce under hood temperatures and ordered some louvers from RodLouvers.com. Price was very reasonable at around $119 including shipping and tax. Base, clear, reducer and catalyst was purchased from usa.specialistpaints.com and was 1/3 the price of my local source.
 
Overall I’m happy with the result and was surprised at the large volume of air coming out of louvers , even at engine idle speed. I would have done this years ago but couldn’t find louvers I liked or that were reasonably priced.
 

 




 
 
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A few pics from the weekend. Saturday went up to Uncle Tom's Cabin, then Luke led us to a great trail up by Wentworth springs with about 10 water crossings and some technical spots. Then on Saturday Andrew and I (and Ferguson!) went up to Bowman lake and had about 2 feet of fresh snow to go through! Overall it was a great weekend in the Sierras! I had my dash cam on and have a lot of video to go over but will post later.

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 had a great time in the snow and it was nice seeing everyone. Here are some photos of are Landy's

With no MORG for February, let's spend the day prep'ing for the Shaver Lake snow-run later in February!
 
Mr. Foster has need of a little TLC on the old P38 so he'll be out at the shop doing front hubs.  I'll likely do a bit of work on either my LR3 front control arms or some minor work on the D1.  If you have a project you need a little help with or just want to get your truck on the lift for a quick inspection feel free to stop by!
 
Start 9am-ish, end when people leave....
 
If anybody doesn't have my address in Walnut Grove, feel free to PM me directly.  Keep in mind ATT is pretty sketchy our here so pay attention if you're relying on google maps.
 
 

I'll file that away to the "Things only British car owners say" folder....

My D1 is on 35s and runs a modified steering system with a P38 pump driving a PSC hydro assist (still has the stock box, but a ram to help with the turning).
 
I've not been totally happy with this.  First, I cooked a pump last year.  Then last month I had the new (junk yard) pump start to flake out as well.  Additionally I've felt I had enough pressure but not enough volume out of the Rover pump because turning at a normal rate the hydro worked fine but trying to turn quickly and I wouldn't have enough boost to keep up with it and the steering would go momentarily hard.
 
Lastly I had a bit of a leak at the reservoir making a mess.
 
So today I swapped the pump out for a GM 'canned ham' pump as used on just about everything in the 70s and 80s.  Even some Mopar stuff used this pump.  It's super common and works well.  
 
Although you could certainly sort it out yourself, figure out the right pump (lots of variations), swap the pulley, make some brackets, find all the appropriate adapters for the plumbing, etc, I took the easy but more expensive way and ordered a kit from Nick Markiw on Defender Source.  He's just down in SoCal so it was easy enough.
 
I did have to make some small tweaks as my truck isn't stock; I had to gently bend the return pipe on the pump to clear my aftermarket shock towers and although the kit came with an adapter and hose to plump the return direct from the steering box I have a cooler so my run is different and I had to pick up a few feet of hose to complete the installation.  Over all it went in pretty easily and it seems to have plenty of power driving around the yard/driveway.  Nick actually didn't think I'd even need the PSC ram anymore as he's run this pump with 35s himself, but it's not like I'm going to get rid of it...you know 37s are going to happen eventually. 
 
Here are a couple pics, along with a link to a better write-up of the installation than I could do.
http://3rj.org/Auto/LandRover/PowerSteeringConversion/
 

 

 

 

 

Thanks all! Had a great time at the gathering this last weekend. Was a lot of fun to meet group members and get out in the hills/mountains.