Now that I'm about half way through I decided to start a build thread for the Rover. I've owned it for a few years, but now that my wife is working from home I have the opportunity to really dig into it. Like any good build it starts with maintenance and fixing the minor issues I've been ignoring. That list is complete as follows:
Hood support struts
Tail gate support struts
Coolant reservoir replacement (said low coolant need though it was full.)
Diff oil replacement.
Low range toggle switch replacement (dog related)
Rear heating vent replacement (dog related)
Misc hoses and clips in the engine bay. Anything that made me nervous looking at it.
Now onto the good stuff. I've been taking it into the mountains in western NC every other weekend since we moved here in January. It's capability stock with street tires was impressive but mud and ruts were scary. I knew I had an air suspension problem as well and didn't want to have it fail At an inopportune time. So step one was fix the air suspension and program about 1.5" of lift.
Replaced the leaking air strut (with the wife's help, small hands are super helpful sometimes). I also rebuilt the air compressor, now works like a champ.
Next up we're the new tires. Stock is 255/55/18 which is right at 29". I decided to go with 265/70/18 which brought me up to 32.69. I went with E rated Cooper discovery RTX. That is pretty much the largest tire you can fit under it without major surgery. I still had to remove the rear wheels, fold over the body seem, re-route the rear heater lines, and reform the inner fender wells. All around about a 2 day adventure.
I had it on a light trail this weekend and had some slight rubbing on the front drives side. I'll take care of that this week, then it's on to protecting the soft bits underneath. The factor skid plates over the engine and transmission are pretty stout. If you've ever changed the oil in one of these you know what I'm talking about. My air tank on the drivers side and heater hoses on the passengers side make me a little nervous so we will start with those. Since their both right next to the rocker a good set of sliders should cover them.
I'm not building a rock crawler here, but I think with a few other mods the lr3 makes a great platform for a reliable go anywhere rig. I want it to look stock at first glance, don't need a ton of heavy stuff bolted to the sides, but have some improved capabilities. Future mods include hidden front winch, improved rear recovery points, internal storage, communications, and hopefully a full size spare mounted somewhere instead of rolling around the back.
Hood support struts
Tail gate support struts
Coolant reservoir replacement (said low coolant need though it was full.)
Diff oil replacement.
Low range toggle switch replacement (dog related)
Rear heating vent replacement (dog related)
Misc hoses and clips in the engine bay. Anything that made me nervous looking at it.
Now onto the good stuff. I've been taking it into the mountains in western NC every other weekend since we moved here in January. It's capability stock with street tires was impressive but mud and ruts were scary. I knew I had an air suspension problem as well and didn't want to have it fail At an inopportune time. So step one was fix the air suspension and program about 1.5" of lift.
Replaced the leaking air strut (with the wife's help, small hands are super helpful sometimes). I also rebuilt the air compressor, now works like a champ.
Next up we're the new tires. Stock is 255/55/18 which is right at 29". I decided to go with 265/70/18 which brought me up to 32.69. I went with E rated Cooper discovery RTX. That is pretty much the largest tire you can fit under it without major surgery. I still had to remove the rear wheels, fold over the body seem, re-route the rear heater lines, and reform the inner fender wells. All around about a 2 day adventure.
I had it on a light trail this weekend and had some slight rubbing on the front drives side. I'll take care of that this week, then it's on to protecting the soft bits underneath. The factor skid plates over the engine and transmission are pretty stout. If you've ever changed the oil in one of these you know what I'm talking about. My air tank on the drivers side and heater hoses on the passengers side make me a little nervous so we will start with those. Since their both right next to the rocker a good set of sliders should cover them.
I'm not building a rock crawler here, but I think with a few other mods the lr3 makes a great platform for a reliable go anywhere rig. I want it to look stock at first glance, don't need a ton of heavy stuff bolted to the sides, but have some improved capabilities. Future mods include hidden front winch, improved rear recovery points, internal storage, communications, and hopefully a full size spare mounted somewhere instead of rolling around the back.
