LR4 Everywhere – a family adventure and build thread

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Meet Giles, our family watcher and guide. He’s a 2012 LR4 with the HD and Lux packages purchased at just under 63K miles. The plans are to build an every-day driver that can go just about anywhere, and most importantly, to actually take it everywhere in the western states.

As purchased

Now

 

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Our 2008 LR3 which met an untimely demise at an intersection mere hours after a bumper installation. Fortunately, many of the aftermarket parts are swappable.

First up on the installation list is transferring the Tactical Rovers sliders that were on the LR3 to the new truck. These sliders took a direct hit from another vehicle with only 1/8 of an inch in deformation. Strong stuff. They’re heavy, but worth it. Special thanks to Zelatore and NCLR for helping with the installation.

The next day I picked up a set of used Compomotives with Cooper Discoverer tires. The new size is 30.5” and have about half tread life on them. Also, they’re not the LT rated tires. I’m hoping I can get a year out of them before switching to something a little bigger.

First time off road. We had a muddy day out at Hollister Hills SVRA with a couple of other trucks from the NorCal Land Rovers group. This was more aggressive terrain than we had done in our last truck, especially once the slippery mud was factored in. It was also my first time airing down. Happy to be back on 18s instead of 19s. Here’s a pic on our way to Top of the World.

 

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My sons have been helping me with the storage solution.
We have pretty much copied the lightweight storage system from this thread: https://www.expeditionportal.com/fo...dimensions-on-pg-4.127843/page-6#post-2383020

We ordered the tubing and connector from EZ Tube and the parts came ready to fit. The first design removed the center cross brace that runs perpendicular to the tailgate. This proved to be problematic because the two-piece top wouldn’t remain lined up over the center bar and wasn’t supported. I ended up adding the cross bracing under the top and the flex was eliminated. We also cut out the corners in the towards to front of the car in order to install a dog guard. The dog is happy back there and I think it will come in handy when the family is all packed up and we don't want thigs flying forward into the cabin.

The plan is to use Front Runner Wolf Packs, four of which will fit perfectly underneath the platform.

 

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We’re prepping for a trip to Death Valley during spring break. The prep list includes
IID Tool
Tire repair kit
Compressor
Portable jump starter
Shovel
Maxtrax
Spare fuel
A place to mount all of this stuff

I was able to transfer the GAP IID Tool to the new truck by calling GAP. No fee was required since the LR3 was totaled and I will only need the GAP for the LR4. Special thanks to Patrick and Gap Diagnostics for the fast response times. I found a Noco GB70 new off ebay for $152 and picked up the Viair 450P off Amazon; it's probably overkill for this truck, but I like the idea of a 100% duty cycle.

For now, the maxtrax will go on top of the storage platform until I can get them on the roof. I also mounted the fire extinguisher on the back of the dog guard, although I'm not sure if this is a good location.

We also picked up what seems like a metric pantload of camping gear:
Coleman lantern, camping table, and instant pop up tent, poo palace and throne, trail saw, DeLorme InReach, and various other camping related miscellaneous debris.

 

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Since this is a daily driver I needed a low profile rack in order to fit in most parking garages around here, especially the one I use on a daily basis at work. My LR3 had the OEM rack, and I had to cut it down in order to fit. Based on these needs and Ray’s experience, I ordered the Prospeed rack and plan to install FarmTek flooring.
The roof rack arrived from ProSpeed via Lucky8. I didn’t realize I needed the OEM short rails in order to mount it until it was already here. Sigh, and not my wallet is a little thinner.

Overall, I love the design, but I do have some quibbles with the execution of the fairing. The Velcro was already peeling when I pulled it out of the shipping box, but I was able to sort that out with some 3M adhesive. The passenger side fairing was so that the screws will not line up if the lip of the front portion is under the fairing. Also, I cross thread one of the screws as I was figuring this out, and the nut insert that was set into the plastic fairing popped out. Also, there were no matching nuts or washers for the screws on the side of the fairing. Since I was running low on time and tools, I opted to mount it with the lip on top and sort it out after the trip.

Other than the fairing issues, the installation was super easy and took less than an hour. As promised, the rack has very little wind noise.

The FarmTek flooring arrived, but that will have to wait until after the trip for installation.

 

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The poo palace necessitated transporting trash that I didn’t want in the car and I realized this would be the perfect excuse to use the Trasharoo I got for Father’s Day a couple of years ago. Hmm…where to mount it? I’ll get the swing outs eventually, but for now…Front Runner Ladder time.

Note: During the installation process, one of the insert screws for the rear license plate light cover also popped out. This time, it was not due to my cross-threading, but just came out when I attempted to loosen a nut. Can I just call it at this point and say that metal insert screws in plastic is a crappy design?

I mounted the shovel with quickfists and the jerry can with ratchet straps. I was going to go with Rotopax, but I know I’ll want a swing out later, and the local 4WheelParts only had one of the 2 gallon packs in stock and one of the correctly sized mounts. Based on a quick chat, he steered me towards the jerry can and ratchet straps. I stopped by Home Depot and picked up a rubber doormat for $9 to keep the can from scraping on the roof rack.

 

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Trip time!

We moved west from Pennsylvania when my oldest son, now 12, was 7. Occasionally, I need to remind him of how awesome California is, especially when the East Coast is getting lots of snow as it has this past winter. I planned an epic CA tour for the boys’ spring break. A friend of mine from Norcal Rovers and his son were able to join us for the first portion of the trip, which made made remote camping a bit less nerve-wracking for me as a relative newbie and more Rovers means more Rover pics!

All loaded up and ready to leave the Bay Area as soon as the kids get out of school

We opted to take a scenic drive through CA farmland instead of slogging all the way up I-80 to Tahoe in Friday rush hour traffic.

A quick pit-stop in Walnut Grove. We tried to avoid food stops that were chains as much as possible, figuring why drive hundreds of miles to have the same experience we could have at home...

We met up with the other family in Tahoe and found a spot the next morning for the kids to get in some time in the snow.

 

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After a quick lunch stop with some mountain scenery, it was on towards Alabama Hills. In my eagerness to show off my self-retracting ratchet straps, I pinched my thumb in one of the ratchet mechanisms. I thought little of it until a few moments later when blood was running all over my hand. Mild hilarity ensued and, well let’s just say I shouldn’t be the one acting in infomercials for ratchet straps.

Alabama Hills, just outside Lone Pine, CA is where Hollywood directors go to film scenes that look like they should be on a foreign desert planet. We were able to snag a great spot on a trail off of a trail with views of Mt. Whitney in the background.

 

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After an Easter egg hunt and quick breakfast at camp, we explored the area and headed towards Titus Canyon on the other side of Death Valley. We stopped at Stovepipe Wells for lunch and gas. Quick note for those of you with modern Land Rovers – the gas station in Stovepipe Wells only carries regular unleaded. Thankfully we only needed about a quarter tank to reach full. Titus Canyon road is amazing. There is nothing too technically challenging about it, but the scenery is just unreal. I should have stopped to take more pictures, but we were trying to make sure we also had time to find a campsite later in the afternoon.

 

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We camped at the end of Cottonwood Canyon just before nightfall. Cottonwood Canyon Rd can be described as progressive more interesting or less annoying, depending on your point of view. It starts out with about 7 miles of washboards and soft sand before getting to some rocky tracks between the canyon walls. At just under 15 miles we came to a cave camping spot recommended by some other club members. We opted to sleep in front of the cave rather than in it due to fear of falling rocks, but we did make great use of the cave as a natural amplifier for our cooking music.

In the morning, without the added stress of trying to make camp before dark, the drive out was much more pleasant. We stopped to air down and refill water bottles about 5 miles from town to see if we could make the washboards easier. This was the moment my 8 year old son decided to ignore my warnings and test out the cigarette lighter. Sometimes you just have to learn lessons for yourself. At least I had company in the injured finger club.

 

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After Cottonwood Canyon we parted ways with our friends and headed towards LA to visit my brother, who just moved out to California few weeks earlier.

The contrast between the desert and Los Angeles could not have been starker. We went from a road where we could not see another car or person for miles to being jam packed in LA rush hour traffic. Still, we were happy to spend the night in a nice hotel and have a solid meal.

The next day we visited Santa Monica beach and had dinner at Medieval Times. If you have kids, I can’t recommend this enough. If you don’t have kids, it would still be a super fun date night.

 

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Finally, it was time to head back north. We took a quick pass through Seqouia National Forest, more as recon for a future trip than to really see the park. The boys were happy to find a stream where they could reenact the Black Night scene from Monty Python’s Quest for the Holy Grail. “It’s just a flesh wound.”

And this!

We hit Bear Mountain Pizza in Squaw Valley. Mad Max pulled up in his truck. This is what happens when a welder has free time. Super nice guy. If he was local, I’d be tempted to have him make some swing-outs for me.

A few more hours’ drive and just like that, we were home.

 

[TexasTJ]

Nice Pictures... This one makes me wish I had bought a Range Rover
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[ar4me]

Sounds like good times thanks for sharing.

 

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Nice Pictures... This one makes me wish I had bought a Range Rover
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The owner questions whether he should have gotten an LR4 instead, but I think that is mostly because of availability of aftermarket parts/armor. His Rover is sweet to be sure.