Learn Me Range Rover Classic

crazybob

New member
You know those evenings when you're sipping on bourbon, browsing ebay, and you find that bucket list truck. You look over the ad, you review the buyer feedback, and you think, wow that's a solid truck. There aren't any other bidders, and the price is reasonable. But there's a long time to go on the auction, so you figure you wouldn't win anyway. So you bid.

And when you wake up in the morning, you have a notice the seller ended the auction early and you now have to explain to your wife you just bought a one owner, 1990 Range Rover Classic that has 150k miles but is a dry California car.

So dear friends, lend me your expertise. My goal is to make it a do anything, reasonably reliable truck with basic self recovery options. Something I can grab grocery or explore a moderate trail with.

What maintenance should I do first? What are the easy no brainer upgrades?

I'm very fond of the NATO/Wolfe style steel rims. And the truck has an OME HD 2" lift so what tire size should I be considering? I don't need monster tires, just a little bit extra that gives some clearance without robbing the already low HP.

Having a winch to get myself out of trouble is a must. ARB or is there a more bang for my buck bumper to mount a winch?

What armor should be first on my list. I don't see this as a rock crawler, but I don't want to break anything expensive the first time out on the trail?

Thanks in advance for your expertise.
 

getlost4x4

Expedition Leader
http://www.rangerovers.net/

Go there, read a lot. Change out all the hoses, flush all the fluids. Keep an eye on the temp gauge. Make sure the coolant doesn't leak.

You'll probably have a leaking steering box. The engine oil pan will be leaking. Be prepared to fix that stuff.

Otherwise, drive it, get used to it. then modify as necessary. They are pretty capable in stock form.
 

davis31052

Adventurer
My comments echo those of getlost 4X4, join forums and read, read, read. It's a lot of work to maintain one of these vehicles and can get expensive if you can't do the wrenching yourself.
 

Ray_G

Explorer
Getlost nailed it; I'd suggest you change all the fluids and such yourself to baseline the vehicle-and to lay your hands on her.
RRC's are rather simple, and extremely capable machines right out of the box. To address your question of being able to get groceries and explore moderate trails what do you need to do? Get in it and drive. It will do that nearly stock, quite well in fact.

As far as the specifics you noted:
235/85's are the 'usual' tire size for a 2" lift on a RRC (or a D1). The stance of a RRC can let you get away with 265's but I'd suggest if you want to maintain power and such, strongly consider 245's. Personally I'd go with BFG KM2s, and thus you'd have a little mountain goat that would still handle well on the road and not be too loud.

ARB is a decent bumper and tends to mesh well with the lines of the truck compared to other aftermarket options. If you have patience consider looking for a Great Divide edition bumper-or alternatively get a factory winch tray and just call it a day.

Which leads me to my next point: in terms of armor; as little as possible. Perhaps bolt on dif guards (unless you have the need/desire to sewer cap them). Otherwise I wouldn't add the weight until you discover the need to.

Holler if you need help; I've only got 1x RRC...but that's b/c my best friend has ~20.
r-
Ray
 

onemanarmy

Explorer
You need a winch and bumper to go to the grocery store or hit a fire road?

Might as well toss in a snorkel, $100 tire deflators, full skids, roof top tent, and dual ARB air compressors.

But for real, keep it as stock as possible, that looks the best, is the most valuable, and will do everything you need and more.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk
 

David Harris

Expedition Leader
You need a winch and bumper to go to the grocery store or hit a fire road?

Might as well toss in a snorkel, $100 tire deflators, full skids, roof top tent, and dual ARB air compressors.

But for real, keep it as stock as possible, that looks the best, is the most valuable, and will do everything you need and more.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

Wisdom. . . Check your ego at the door and don't **** up a legend as so many countless lost souls do. . . . ;)
 

crazybob

New member
With my JKU and my LR3 I didn’t do much since they were both so capable out of the box. The one thing that saved my bacon on both was being able to winch myself out after getting myself into a tight spot exploring on my own.
Too, I found myself using the winch all the time for random things like moving downed trees, helping people out of ditches, and sometimes loading a broken race car on a trailer. Not to mention sometimes at the grocery store when you need to winch a grocery cart across the parking lot.
I appreciate the advice on tires. My experience has been they tend to represent the biggest upgrade. I don’t want to bog it down with giant rubber, just a little extra.
 

getlost4x4

Expedition Leader
I'm running 235/85/16's on my RRC and so is my buddy on his. Mine is diesel powered his is 3.9L powered. We both have enough power for obstacles and and plenty of clearance. Yes bigger tires look cool, but I love the skinny tires on my RRC.

Here's a quick video of my buddy and I in Moab. I ended up using a my winch to get me out of a sticky situation. I wasn't paying attention while driving and talking to my son. We were on Fins and Things and Hells Revenge.

 

luckyjoe

Adventurer
Get lost,

Your RRC looks great (i.e. totally stock) in that video. Great finished result!

I also like when your buddy tried to ‘bust a move' on that ledge!
 
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getlost4x4

Expedition Leader
Thanks, that was the goal, to keep it looking as stock as possible. Unfortunately, the stock shifters would not work. Or I couldn't get the design and math to work together to get the right amount travel from the shifters, so I changed those.

My buddy has the stock BW case still. We have an LT230 we are going to put in it next. Then he won't have as many issues.
 

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