96 Discovery I - Let The Money Flow!

[Intentional Wanderer]

Excellent response!

... and Larry from Columbia Overland already personally emailed me... kudos to them as a reseller!!! I can personally say that they back their products!

... I really didn't want to come across like it is a bad product, on the contrary, it is a great rack... there are just some QC issues... which, it looks like, you will work out in the near term!

Good for you! Everyone makes mistakes.. it is those who don't learn from them that are doomed to fade into oblivion...

As a follow-up, I took two of the "short" pieces from the rear-middle brackets and moved them to the front two "over door" brackets and tightened the bejesus out of them... even making a slight bend in the gutter. I just drove 250 miles at highway speeds, into a stiff headwind, down bouncy roads... and the brackets didn't move a micron..... that seemed to fix the problem...

....now on to the rewording of the instructions!

Seriously, thank you all for your response on this... I can't say it enough... excellent... excellent...

 

[BajaRack]

Hello David,

Engineering has come up with a solution for the brackets and will make the CAD drawing tomorrow, this will take care on the slipping issue.
As soon as I have the CAD drawing I will e-mail you a PDF file, in regards to the other issue I have a few questions please e-mail me your phone number.

Kind regards

 

[SeaRubi]

that looks great. I like that there are bars down on the side like the SD so you can still clamp on a high-lift or some waffle boards. And kudos to the quick response from everyone :beer:

Looks to be plenty of room just under the front bar for some of the slimline lights? And the rear corner loop, it seems like a matador work lamp would bolt onto there and fold inward just perfectly.

cheers
-ike

 

[Intentional Wanderer]

I installed the ARB Bull Bar last night/this morning. To tell the truth, it was QUITE A BIT easier than I thought it would be! That is always good!

*** The beast is out of the box! ***

*** The parting shot for the stock bumper ***

*** Two of the four bolts that hold a Disco I bumper in place ***

*** Hey! Did you know that these "T"'s cost $19.95? I do now... ***

*** When the little "T" breaks, all of the water from the reservoir comes right on out! ***

*** This is what happens when you try to pry a 14 year old hose off of a plastic T ***

*** FREE 1996 Discovery I bumper - totally straight! Green Valley, AZ ***

*** Oh, when you try to take the little plastic washer units off.. they snap too... again, $19.95... I know that now ***

*** Ready for orthodontics! ***

*** I am liking the new look! ***

All-in-all, MUCH, MUCH easier than I thought. I held the bumper in place while my wife slid a screwdriver through the holes to align them... 4 x bolts later... I have a new bumper...

In fact, wiring the running/marker lights took longer than putting the actual bumper on...

 

[Intentional Wanderer]

*** Before ***

*** After ***

 

[blakesrover]

bumper cover (right)

Any chance you'd be interested in parting with just the right corner bumper cover? i'll take both if need be. contact if interested. I'll pay the way.
e-mail: bperry83@gmail.com

Thanks!

~blake

 

[overlander]

David,
I would also offer as a "highly recommended" replacing the plastic radiator fill plug with a brass one. The plastic ones break if you look at them wrong, and I had 2 break on me on my Disco I and one break on my Defender, before switching to brass. You can get them at Expedition Exchange. Otherwise, carry around a few spares. It's a $5 failure that can leave you stranded.

 

[Intentional Wanderer]

I already switched to brass... funny thing - don't know how many people know this.. but the brass plug is actually an MG origin part... now, if I could just chop the top off of my Disco... I could complete the MG transformation!

 

[evilfij]

As someone who owned two 1996 DIs (both SDs w/o sunroofs, one was a 5 speed):

No ABS MIL (probably just a missing bulb - as there IS a missing bulb and the system throws no other codes)

[if it stops, don't fix it]

SRS MIL (air bag restraint system fault code being thrown)

[airbags suck]

Intermittant fan switch

[replace, it will fail completely eventually anyway, never use setting four again for more than a couple minutes]

Needs LH front seat bladder (I am looking for two tan leather seats, if anyone knows someone who has them)

[try one of the used parts guys: roverguy or roverdude or paul grant etc.]

Needs bonnet cable

[fix, no biggy, if it is not broken, take it out of its sheeth and lube with good grease I use wurth HS2000 I think that is the type, it is liquid and then congeals and then put it back on. If you need a new one, take it out of the sheeth before installing and lube -- will never fail again -- also lube the crap out of the latch under the hood too]

Leaking engine fan clutch

[replace asap aftermarket is only $150 but ... I spend $350 for genuine or find a working used one -- your call]

Complete cooling system re-hose recommended

[replace with genuine and put old ones back in the truck -- upper hose and the little guys near the thermostat usually fail first]

No hub end float @ RH front, too much at LH front, no hub float at rear axles -> needs hub bearings

[do the wheels shake when jacked up and you grab them? If not, just throw two timken brand type 37 bearings in the truck with some grease. If so, repack the outer bearing and retighten. LR wheel bearings are insanely overbuilt. I drove from NC to philadelphia with one that exploded. It made it.]

Brake fluid on Discovery is "nasty", crumbling plastic reservoir -> recommend new master cylinder with complete brake fluid bleed and flush (difference between resevoir and master cylinder is about $100, so why not do both?)

[replace MC and bleed with lucas girling brand fluid or castrol GTLMA only]

Failing rear drive shaft coupler (My guess as to what is #1)

[get a non-rotoflex rear driveshaft (I think I have one here you can have--need to check if it is off a 110 or a DI/SWB RRC) and swap the pinion flange for the u-joint style -- total cost involved about $100-150]

needs rear radius arm mounts

[not really unless they are badly split. replace with genuine, RDS (roversdownsouth) has them for $20 a side or so. Not a tough repair if you have a big enough wrench. MIND THE TORQUE SPEC, do NOT overtighten.]

Exhaust system has a torn mount and broken hangers

[$3.50 each for hangers at roversdownsouth]

Needs an automatic transmission service - fluid appears old, smells, the seal is dated 2000

[just drain and fill. filter is unnecessary to change unless seal is leaking. Use the cheapest ATF you can find, not synthetic. Drain and fill every 15k and make sure not to overfill.]

Run a bottle of good injector cleaner through it every other tank until you burn through 3 or 4 bottles.


Ron :victory:

 

[jeff_wright]

Could you post a shot of how you wired the running lights on the arb?

 

[BajaRack]

David,

Your new mounts are ready to ship today just send me your address to smurillo@bajarack.com

Cheers

 

[TexasTJ]

David,
Rovers looking good! Don't know if you interested but I got these guys to plug the holes in my Roof when I took the rails off!

Steele Products, Part # 35-0517-45, 1-3/8" plugs with a 1-3/4" cap. You can Google them for a web site.

Pics From Dweb not mine.

 

[lwg]

Are you having any leaks with these plugs?

 

[RonL]

I had leaks with that plug, a little black sealant under the plug and life is good now. They never leaked when driving, just just when sitting in the rain.

 

[TexasTJ]

To be honest I have not put them in yet. Ill let you know when this in this weekend. Im sealing my sunroofs as well so I was thinking about puting a little sealent around the plugs to.