Coyote; aka my 96 D1 5 speed build thread

[Ray_G]

To WI, and back...(Part 1)

Glad to hear the tcase worked Ray, have to admit as you were leaving Ricks I had my doubts.
That picture of John under the truck smiling is classic, I can hear his accent.

Good to see you last week. Cheers

Glad it worked out Ray. At least now you can hear all the other noises you were missing! Travel safe brother. Beers on me next time around.

Good to see you both Doug & Rick, and I look forward to the next visit being a bit longer and some beers indeed-can't say thanks enough for facilitation of the TC on short notice.

So the prep work was done, what was to come next in my mind illustrates why I love these trucks so much. The 'plan' was to drive to/from my wife's hometown in upstate Wisconsin (the village of Lake Nebagamon to be precise, population of 1,069 as of the 2010 census). We'd considered flying but with the kiddos that was cost prohibitive & would leave us up there reliant upon others. Renting a vehicle was also considered and then rejected out of silly pride and the notion that I built a D1 for the purpose of driving & exploring, never mind that the long haul vehicle that would have been perfect-the LR3-was in the UAE. We can do this. Outbound was going to be 3 reasonable days going via Oshkosh due to the opportunity to spend some time in the Oshkosh Defense factory (and test track...but thats the subject of a different post). Coming home in time to make the flight back to the UAE...no big deal, two days. Basic route:

All told it amounts of ~2500miles. I'm kinda glad I didn't gin that number up before we left. 2500mi in 5 days, with 4 people, in a 19 year old Land Rover, what could go wrong? Ironically it started after getting back from the time in WV and when heading to the linkup hotel to meet the wife we shuddered to a stop at my kids house. Felt like the parking brake was still on but the handle was still down. Close inspection revealed the X-brake to be, in fact, still engaged b/c the cable was seized. Awesome-self inflicted wound from the TC change almost certainly. Not having time to deal with this I pulled the bolt holding the cable onto the caliper and decided that a parking brake was really just an added bonus anyway.

Loadout was a serious consideration and with me + 3 females I had to institute some packing discipline. Meaning I instituted it on myself with a medium North Face duffel and convinced the kiddos to the do the same by buying them the same bags in better colors then all black. The wife was having none of that but her REI suitcase at least allowed for stacking in the rear cargo area.

Of course the journey began in the rain.

Somewhere in WV on Day 1 it stopped raining, which was nice through stretches of Ohio and especially when the truck started surging-a look at the scan gauge while moving indicated that the VSS was sending erratic signals (i.e. anytime the Disco ECU 'hears' that the truck exceeds ~110mph it shuts down the odd cylinder's fuel or something to that effect). Thus I also decided the VSS was in excess of needs, we unplugged it and soldiered on.

The rain returned on the tail end of day 1, as we neared Toledo discretion became the better part of valor and we halted-unloading in the rain but at least under an awning.


The second day was bright and sunny and a Sunday was a nice day to skirt Chicago, no real dramas making it to Oshkosh and that facilitated the consumption of a special WI treasure:

Dinner that night also gave the youngest her first real experience with the hibachi (other than a solid reference from her about Barney and the related How I Met Your Mother episode)

Day 2 post Oshkosh saw the 'short' drive from Southern WI to Northern WI...and of course it rained. Since I'm now learning a Mac it also means that I post pictures of rain from the passenger seat, upside down. Apple, making easy things elegant but harder than necessary...

When we go up to LN it was time to actually clean the truck from her having sat for much of the past year except usage upon return and the more recent TC change which saw a lot of unfortunate grease/grime end up on the Kexby seat covers. Was nice to spend some time sorting the truck, along with working the mechanicals like confirming the parking brake cable was screwed and even post cleaning the VSS was done.

 

[NW40]

Never a dull moment in a Disco! Good to hear none of the minor inconveniences were trip stoppers.

 

[Ray_G]

WI and back (Part 2)

Spending time in N. WI was simply amazing. Given that the truck already was down a parking brake and the VSS I had little intention of doing any wheeling since our timeline for return was short, but the other activities we had planned ended to shots like this:

While I personally prefer kayaks the BIL's canoe did seem pretty much meant for riding atop the Disco. Exploring the area was a blast and I had way too many cheese curds, great beer, along with time on the water (the Brule River in this case) which lent to stopping at great destinations like the 'Kro Bar' after getting off the water.

Admittedly being a kid from suburban Richmond VA makes me biased to love a place where this is totally normal to have parked beside you in a parking lot:

After turning out a halfway decent time in the LN 'Dragon Tail' 5mi despite two weeks of leave indulgent, the kiddos participating in the parade riding atop a fire engine (helps when family is the volunteer fire chief and one of the captains), and a fireworks display that was way above what I expected for a small town, it was sadly time to go.

Driving without the VSS was a minor degradation at best, you have to learn to be careful decelerating rapidly with the 5 speed lest she stall out but having the GPS give accurate speed negated the most significant issue of it being out of commission. The lack of odometer and trip odo was irritating given the mileage accumulated but its a small matter. To me it also validated the building in of systems like the scan gauge and a stand alone GPS unit-even when the vehicle starts to degrade it is offset.

While I am a big fan of the WI area it cannot be said that the roads up there are great. The winters brutal toll clearly makes for a hard life and subsequently the potholes were rough. What we discovered on the first day of the drive back was that Coyote's aft tail pipe (post Borla) didn't fare well with the roads jarring what must have been some already rust-weakened exhaust. So somewhere out there is a section of tail pipe that fell off...in turn that found exhaust going straight at the rear bumper, melting the bumper indicator....good times.

Thankfully that was the last major issue encountered and two hard days of driving resulted in a lot of this.

Till we saw this

and there was much rejoicing.

Ultimately I have to say I'm very happy that the truck performed as well as she did given that I leave her sitting for months at a time other than the routine start up/move around. The parking brake was self inflicted, the VSS is almost certainly the original based off the p/n (the entire housing was shifted over to the LT230Q to retain the VSS functionality), and the exhaust pipe is just the nature of the beast. It bothers me that I had to put her back in the barn and get on a plane without fixing the issues but the parts are on order and with luck this fall will see a return to CONUS to sort those things out in short order.

Overall I come back to being pleased that we decided to embrace 2500mi of travel as a family in a vehicle we built, have used as intended, and saw it deliver us home safe and sound. It would have been more comfortable in the LR3 to be sure but all of the looks, smiles, and waves we got in Coyote were proof positive of the quirky charm of the old D1. It also facilitated falling in love with the truck all over (again) as happens pretty much every time I drive it. The list for what happens when I get back to the U.S. next summer keeps growing too, albeit somewhat modest given where she is already. One thing is for sure, she will get a lot of preventative maint and rust prevention to ensure these kind of trips keep happening.

 

[Ray_G]

Never a dull moment in a Disco! Good to hear none of the minor inconveniences were trip stoppers.

For sure they make life interesting. I truly think that one of the greatest things about these trucks is if you are willing to work on them they have a robustness and resiliency that rarely cripples you on the road. Without a doubt an older Rover is never truly fixed 100%, but she is also rarely dead in the water!

 

[NW40]

Agreed! I have yet to be truly stranded. Several brief interruptions to my travels, but no showstoppers!

 

[Ray_G]

If only I could fit a C7 into a Rover...

While not directly related to the Disco, it was a portion of the WI roadtrip and does have significant offroading content, and I can't resist posting the pics. Awhile back we went to the International Defence (Defense) Exhibition & Conference (IDEX) here in Abu Dhabi where basically most of the world's significant arms/equipment manufacturers come together to share their hardware. While I admittedly spent most of my time slumming down in the end with Russia, the PRC, and great exhibitions like Sudan we did wander through the U.S. end of things and ended up talking with the folks from Oshkosh for awhile since I'd spent a lot of time in their MTVRs and MATVs in Iraq and Afghanistan. One thing led to another and when it came up that we would be going through WI over the summer an offer to tour the factory emerged, it also included time on their R&D test track in the MATV, the MTVR, and their JLTV candidate.

To say everyone left with a smile on their face is a mild understatement, esp since all the mud on this MATV we applied.

This is actually their Baha 1000 completing hybrid competition truck, we didn't take it for a spin but it is more/less their JLTV candidate and ************ in its own right. I was impressed with the JLTV which was running a duramax diesel-it could move really well given its size. Made me want to do dumb things with $ when I get back to the US.

 

[Ray_G]

Fall Break Part 1

Took a long weekend of Eid to come back to spend some time with the kiddos, with them in school during the day on Thurs & Fri it allowed me some time to catch up on CONUS rover issues, to include addressing the things that I left in disrepair on Coyote as I went back to AD in July.

Like any good rover owner, I'm always buying parts-even while overseas. In this case I needed to retrieve some solid steel wheels that will eventually have MTs on them, I also recovered a cloth D1 seat from Kexby and couldn't see the two RRC seats get thrown out when I had room in the truck (no comment needed that it is a Tacoma, I love them too and the wife refuses to get rid of her pickup).

Spent a few minutes with a buddy fixing the exhaust pipe that WI claimed, as best as I can tell the old one had the rear AC dripping on it just behind the furthest aft hanger and thus water + heat + exhaust pipe created conditions that led to its demise. I'm sure this pipe clamped together excellence will fail one day too but it was cheap and quick. Thankfully my spare D1 had the correct rear bumper light to put into the melted one's place and that was done.

The VSS was a quick fix (no pics, a simple unbolting of the old and bolting in the new and it was done). The parking brake cable that was broken while swapping the LT230 may have failed because of this:

With a new cable in hand it too was a simple fix given the X-brake makes for quick attaching and adjustment.

After school on Friday we quickly departed NOVA enroute WVA where the normal unloading turned into the inevitable climbing on the truck for fun.

The next morning the younger daughter demanded a little time on the ridgeline near the house that heads up through and orchard and such, which prompted this pic that I uploaded in the Rover pics thread as we stopped to look down into the valley

 

[Ray_G]

Fall Break Part II

This pic, actually before O got on top of the truck, doesn't do the turning of the leaves in conjunction with the clouds rolling across the lush WVA terrain justice.
O wrapping her mind around Twin Mountain's trail rating system.

Quick camp setup, looming clouds did not bode well for a dry night.

Still enough time for a bonfire, some hotdogs cooked via stick, and the mandatory smores.

Somehow just driving out of the mountain side of the property one of the BFG 235/85 AT's managed to get a nasty sidewall tear and thus I was greeted to this the next morning

Which in turn prompted the need to reclaim my 255/85's from a friend's NAS D90 that previously had her ATs on it that I'd borrowed for WI. Tire swapping among friend's rovers, I will confess to it-just keeping track of whose truck is whose can be challenging enough never mind parts.

255/85's back on, I will admit I prefer the stance and I would discover on the drive back with the LT230Q in the noise wasn't bad at all. I'm still keen on a set of 235/85 KO2s for primary duty but I think the KM2s will work more than well enough till I'm stable in the U.S. again.

Before putting her in the barn and heading to the airport I threw a pair of Maxtrax on the roof where I was pretty sure I'd want to mount them. I think they'll work perfectly in the little slant of the SD rack so a couple of pairs of them in orange + the pins will likely be the next mod sometime this fall.

Looking deeper there is an HD rear bumper working its way to me in due time that will mimic the one from the OJ D1 5 speed, I love the near stock lines of that bumper. I also need to rebuild my super winch since the motor connections are now getting sketchy; I love the EP9 but it is showing its age so I can't tell if I'm going to swap in a new winch and then bench rebuild the older model or what-that's a problem for next summer in all likelihood. In the meantime the truck soldiers on and everytime I get in it after being away for a few months I fall in love with the feel of the 5 speed and the simple robustness of the D1 all over again.

 

[Ray_G]

Fortunate to get back to the U.S. for a work thing but still managed to sneak up to the mountains with kiddos for a day of amazing fall wheeling. Icing on the cake was scoring an HD D1 bumper that got slapped on in about ten min. It's the bolt on version that looks akin to the stock profile but no more end caps-been waiting for one forever.

The weather was amazing, as were the leaves.

This shot doesn't do justice to the nastiness of this section, though the right rear tire's droop starts to show it. Trying to turn right to continue the trail resulted in the front right wheel coming up what seemed like 4', nearly giving my daughter (who was taking pictures but stared in stunned awe unfortunately) a heart attack. Thankfully popping the clutch let her sink back down and discretion became the better part of valor.

A few min later on the little playground Twin Mtn has setup I unseated a rear spring, after using the terrain to get enough droop to put it back in the eldest got some mud for being a smartass observer. Will need to either go cones or more serious upper retention than hose clamps (though those have served well and are easy enough to replace).

A few shots of us putting up punches throughout the park for folks to use on drives.

I am guessing not too many Rovers rocking a sticker from their favorite rover salvage yard in Mussafah, Abu Dhabi in the U.S.

Wrap up shots from the day playing with the panoramic and such.

 

[Ray_G]

A few more shots from the weekend.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Nonimouse]

Love this thread - just love it.

 

[Ray_G]

Tail end of the trip back to the U.S. found me down in NOVA vice the mountains because of things like Halloween with the kids and such so when jet lag woke me earlier than most I wandered out to take care of a couple of small things I'd been meaning to address.

-oil change since I hadn't done one after the WI road trip this summer.

-LED backup lights; I'd picked up a set of u haul spec trailer hitch backup lights way back when to mount on the back of the SD rack and had come to the realization that cheap LED lights now surpassed those in quality and the price point was low. So Amazon sent these to my holding site https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GJKXW8M/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_cnrnwb71GPQA2

Old lights

LED on left, old on right

The kalwell unit itself

Light comparison, whiter and more cast from the LED

All mounted up and tucked under the SD low rack

 

[Ray_G]

Superwinch Tiger Shark 9500

The super winch EP9 that lived on the front bumper has been in the fight since 2007 on the previous Coyote and was starting to show its age. I've needed to service it/rebuild it (particularly the posts that hook the motor to the solenoid) for a bit but it had been a back burner item after going overseas. I hate leaving things lingering though so I went ahead and ordered a Superwinch Tiger Shark 9500# synthetic off Amazon-identical to the winch that I put on the front of my LR3. We left all the wiring from the remote solenoid in place so the in cab controls using the binnacle switch and such would work and turned to.

Out with the old (had assistance so an oil change was ongoing too):


In with the new. No major issues other than the posts for forward/reverse were opposite from the EP9, that was an easy fix as we troubleshot and confirmed that it worked:

Threw the old line back on since the hook wasn't easily swappable and the TS hook looks more like something for a ship's crane (as reflected in the LR3 build thread). The line isn't that old and is usually covered by a plastic line cover when not in use. Thinking I may cut the new line in half and splice eyes in and then use one of them in Coyote and the other in the LR3 as winch extensions.

Overall reflection on the TS from winding the rope under pressure by putting the truck at the bottom of a hill and winching her to a tree at the top is that it will be adequate but anecdotally I don't think it will withstand the abuse I've put the EP through. So I can see the EP being rebuilt shortly upon return (sooner if able) and likely getting put back on since I foresee Coyote doing a lot of post return to CONUS wheeling. Still for an entry level name brand winch, with a nice synthetic line, its tough to beat ~$500.

This is what happens when your 14 & 9 year old daughters dare you to go trick or treating with them dressed as a pink bunny. The funniest thing was that they didn't think I'd strap on a pink onesie and the ears-the best part was having the 14yr old post a pic of me in costume with 'dad of the year award' as the caption...that picture, however, has no bearing in this thread!

 

[Nonimouse]

Almost as good as this guy http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/britains-best-dad-bearded-man-539826

 

[TexasTJ]

Hey Ray do you think you could source any of the Desert Grills while your over seas?

Cheers!