Rover's First Adventure

Kinja'd!!! "jasmits" (jasmits)
09/04/2018 at 17:41 • Filed to: None

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This past weekend I had some plans to meet some friends in Central Washington to do some camping and exploring . Despite the temptation of taking my newest toy(a 1990 Range Rover), I was pretty much set to take the Tacoma, as the Rover’s still pretty much unproven and as I was going to have the only capable rig anyway it’s not like I’d be doing any of the harder wheeling I bought the Rover for. Also, wasn’t going with my usual crew of more mechanically endowed individuals, meaning I’d have to fend for myself on any failures. Well, at the last minute I realized that I must be crazy to be taking my nice, new truck when there was a perfectly good 30-year-old radio-less, A/C-less, headliner-less and questionably reliable British luxury SUV sitting right next to it in the garage. Next thing I knew, it was Saturday morning and I was noisily cruising down the highway in the Rover , music blaring from a B luetooth speaker on the dash in a futile attempt to quell the din in the interior thanks to the quad driving lights mounted on a substantial roof rack with no headliner to dampen the noise .

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I took my friends out to one of my favorite semi off-the-grid campsites. The Rover performed very well on some mild trails with a few moderately difficult bits. It’s a much more raw experience than my Tacoma, which is exactly what I was after. Plus, the visibility was amazing, I don’t need to worry about the paint, the solid front axle was really nice(first time off road in a non-IFS rig actually) and you just can’t beat the soundtrack of a minimally-muffled V8 .

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Downsides? The highway trips there and back were pretty painful, I really need to do something about the headliner. Oh yeah, and about 2/3 of the way home I stopped at a rest stop and noticed some grease on my rear wheel. Looks like I get to replace some axle seals! Have not had the chance to start diagnosing yet, that’ll be a project for tonight or tomorrow. 

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DISCUSSION (13)


Kinja'd!!! SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > jasmits
09/04/2018 at 18:18

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I applaud your willingness to suffer with a smile...cause those things are hell fun out there in the nowhere.

Some mates and I spent a weekend with one and my Defender blasting around the Corner Country of NSW , South Australia and Queensland. The Range broke down three times but only once was it a random failure (fuel pump lost earth). The other occasions were self inflicted - we removed the AC belt to try and improve fuel economy but found we’d actually disconnected the PAS and the Range hit the upright of a stock grid which killed a tyre and tweaked the rear axle.

The lesson for me is that breaking down in a vehicle like this is not always the fault of the car...it's the owner not always satisfying its needs!!


Kinja'd!!! jasmits > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
09/04/2018 at 18:32

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That was really my biggest worry, I just haven’t had enough time with it yet or been able to give it a thorough enough going over to make sure that its needs are satisfied. My plan is to do a lot of major maintenance items over the winter but I really wanted to get it out on a trip or two before I do that.

It’s great under 50mph! I just need to do something about the noise, I’m not usually picky about that sort of thing but it’s like really bad. The box wasn’t even on the roof till I picked my friends up near the trail. 


Kinja'd!!! DutchieDC2R > jasmits
09/04/2018 at 18:35

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Man, ever since I’ve been reading Tim’s (and other contributors’) posts over @ Overland, Ive concluded that had I been born across the pond, I’d be a trail enthousiast. Man, I freaking love these expeditions you guys do. The views, the trails, the jeeps, the equipment......every time I read a report like this one, I just want to grab some sort of jeep (not a Rover preferably...:p) and go down some trail (an easy one preferably, seeing as Im from the flattest country in Europe).

Great write-up, even better pictures. Also, quite a ballsy choice of four wheeler. 


Kinja'd!!! jasmits > DutchieDC2R
09/04/2018 at 18:45

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Thanks!! The western US just has so much to explore, it would almost be a crime to not.

And yeah, I wouldn’t have picked a Rover if I didn’t already have a Tacoma. But I’ve always lusted after Land Rovers, I decided I didn’t want to be off road in my daily driver almost every weekend(as had been the case all summer) and I’ve missed wrenching since only having a modern vehicle. This way I get to spend time in the garage and most of the trail miles are going somewhere besides my daily, but if there’s a trip I really don’t want to miss and the Rover’s not ready to go the Taco will always be ready .


Kinja'd!!! Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > jasmits
09/04/2018 at 19:03

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Nice! Stockholm syndrome is kicking in and I’m wondering what owning a Range Rover would be like vs the Disco. We also did some wheeling this weekend.

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Kinja'd!!! SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > jasmits
09/04/2018 at 19:46

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The Rangie is actually noisy full stop. However, some Dynamat and headlining will help. Bear in mind that the headlining structure for a RR of that vintage was moulded fibre...and is NLA. Some 3/4" polyurethane foam sheet and plastic stripping for support might be your best alternative.

Otherwise, it's just suspension bushes, oil seals and vacuum hoses...and electrical systems. It's the last that killed my enthusiasm for mine.


Kinja'd!!! jasmits > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
09/04/2018 at 21:43

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A Range Rover Classic is very similar to a D1 mechanically, so very similar to your D2 except older so more stuff is going to be tired but also less electronics and such to deal with and potentially less engine issues because the Rover V8 tooling wasn’t wearing out yet . Range Rover specific parts are harder to find(especially in the states), I can live with it because there’s very little Rangie specific that can stop me from going that can’t at least be swapped for something from the D1, D2 or Defender. However, I’d really like a headliner and a driver door panel. If I needed those things for a D1 or D2 I could have it tomorrow from several local junkyards or part-outs on Craigslist. For the Range Rover it looks like I’ll need to be a little more patient.


Kinja'd!!! jasmits > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
09/04/2018 at 21:58

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Oh I have noticed that it is NLA haha . My plan was to find one being parted out. I just know if I try to DIY one it’ll end up looking like shit.

Suspension bushes and oil seals are on my short list(oil seals on my very short list, as there is oil on one of my rims) .

Someone who knows what they’re doing seems to have gone through the wiring at some point. When I first noticed this(I didn’t do as good of a PPI as I should’ve really, but also I didn’t pay much more for the whole thing than I can flip the roof rack and wheels/tires for so I figured if I decide I’m in over my head I can get back out what I spent pretty easily with a low-effort part out ) I got really worried but after taking a look, there is definitely some homebrew wiring, but whoever did it seems to have done a better job than I could and even addressed a lot of the problem spots so I guess it could be a good thing? We will see on that one.


Kinja'd!!! Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > jasmits
09/04/2018 at 22:22

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Interesting! I’ll keep an eye out... I assume parts are about as expensive as they are for the D2?

Related: I just had an upholsterer do the headliner for my D2 and it came out great. $33 0 and he cleaned my sunroof drains .


Kinja'd!!! Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > jasmits
09/04/2018 at 23:02

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Also I found a good summary in my photo roll and given your icon I figured I'd share.

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Kinja'd!!! wafflesnfalafel > jasmits
09/04/2018 at 23:28

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is that Rainier off in the distance?


Kinja'd!!! jasmits > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
09/05/2018 at 00:24

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Seems like it! Many of them are the exact same part even, or similar. 

I’m planning on doing something fun with the headliner, green flannel is my current imagining. That may be a good idea though, making fabric go where I want it to and stay wrinkle-free is not one of my strong suits. Appreciate you keeping an eye out!

Also, like the shirt. It’s been a bit since I’ve had a Volvo. An S40 was my first car and I made my Kinja account at the tail end of owning that. I’ve considered updating it but I guess I’m pretty attached to it at this point.


Kinja'd!!! jasmits > wafflesnfalafel
09/05/2018 at 00:25

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It is!