My Defender 110 build up for South American travels

[ExploringNH]

My wife's sewing machine is broken right now, so I went over to someone else's house today to sew up the finishing touches of the headliner.

For anyone with a Defender that doesn't have a headliner and wants to reduce noise...Do it! The headliner has hands down been the best sound reducing modification I have made to the truck. Probably better than everything else combined.

After sitting inside for a while, I thought to myself, "I have to use an extension cord to sit at this table, why not just run the cord out the door instead. It is much nicer outside." So that is what I did.

A beautiful view of the creek. Maybe my fabric didn't stay as clean as it would have if I was inside, but who cares. The view was worth it.

Nothing too fancy, but it gets the job done and looks alright. The bumps you see in the headliner are from bolts that come through from the roof for various items, some are in use, some I should have removed and sealed up. I don't intend to take home any car show trophies with this rig, so I am fine with it the way it is. It just needs to be functional.

Then the side panels. Not a lot of thought went into these. I just wanted to cover up the gaps and make everything look half decent. I should have gone with a different pattern, but I used what I had. The panel is just clamped into place for now. I need to run to the hardware store tomorrow to get the right length bolts. The holes are already drilled, I just need to puncture the fabric and screw it in place.

 

[junkyddog11]

That's pretty sweet dude.

 

[Justin & Nadine]

Looks like your about to set off on your adventure!!!

I am currently in Costa Rica and drove from Canada,

I am driving a Land Rover too mine 44 years old.

Make sure you pack in your spares kit -
-fuel filters at least 3,
-oil filters at least 5 (they are harder then you think to find)
-gear oil (GL-4 and GL-5 is impossible to find anywhere)
-Diesel fuel additive with Cetane Booster (for the nasty fuel down south, can't find it anywhere as well)
If you have any question don't hesitate to PM me.

Good luck,
safe travels,
watch out for farm animals as they are all on the roads
watch out for unmarked speed bumps and topes

Justin

 

[Ronct110]

Up front I do have stock 10 spline axles in the rover housing. Out back is the much stronger Salisbury with 24 spline.

I see no need to upgrade.

Great read; enjoying watching it come together.

Helped a couple on their 110 coming from Russia.... passing thru California and on their way to Mexico, then rest of S. America.

Broke one of the stock axle shaft on the Sal while in Russia; helped find replacement while the couple was in CA; figured to get it here as would be harder to find replacement in Mexico.

Anyways IMO, if you have room, carry spares or have someone @ home store the spares and ready to ship.

Have a safe and enjoyable travel!

 

[achampagne]

Great read; enjoying watching it come together.

Helped a couple on their 110 coming from Russia.... passing thru California and on their way to Mexico, then rest of S. America.

Broke one of the stock axle shaft on the Sal while in Russia; helped find replacement while the couple was in CA; figured to get it here as would be harder to find replacement in Mexico.

Anyways IMO, if you have room, carry spares or have someone @ home store the spares and ready to ship.

Have a safe and enjoyable travel!

Great idea, I'll volunteer for that for you Ryan, I already have a corner of the basement dedicated to your stuff anyway.

 

[ExploringNH]

I was able to get out with the wife and kid for a little test run of the truck and tent. I will make some changes to the interior of the truck before I depart, but overall it was pretty good. I still have more work to do anyway. Tent setup takes a little bit of time, but I get faster each time I do it. The longest part, by far, is setting up all the spring rods for the rain fly and side window awning things. If I don't set them up, it would be very quick, but also very hot inside the tent.

My list of projects is getting smaller, but is still larger than I would like.

Install Lift kit
Install Locker
Swap rear door - paint
Battery hold-down
Propane - Mount
Roof lights
Jerry can mounting
Water can mounting

Great read; enjoying watching it come together.

Helped a couple on their 110 coming from Russia.... passing thru California and on their way to Mexico, then rest of S. America.

Broke one of the stock axle shaft on the Sal while in Russia; helped find replacement while the couple was in CA; figured to get it here as would be harder to find replacement in Mexico.

Anyways IMO, if you have room, carry spares or have someone @ home store the spares and ready to ship.

Have a safe and enjoyable travel!

Thanks! That sounds like a cool trip from Russia. I hope to get there someday. Maybe if I hit the lottery I will ship from S.A. to Africa and drive up. I need to start playing the lotto first though.

Looks like your about to set off on your adventure!!!

I am currently in Costa Rica and drove from Canada,

I am driving a Land Rover too mine 44 years old.

Make sure you pack in your spares kit -
-fuel filters at least 3,
-oil filters at least 5 (they are harder then you think to find)
-gear oil (GL-4 and GL-5 is impossible to find anywhere)
-Diesel fuel additive with Cetane Booster (for the nasty fuel down south, can't find it anywhere as well)
If you have any question don't hesitate to PM me.

Good luck,
safe travels,
watch out for farm animals as they are all on the roads
watch out for unmarked speed bumps and topes

Justin

Good list of consumables. I would have thought oil filters would be easy to find. I have a few here, but not enough for the entire trip. I will have to get more. I have plenty of fuel filters and additive. How far are you planning on going and how much longer will you be in Central America? Im heading over to your website now.

 

[TreeTopFlyer]

If you do decide to change out the headliner down the road, I highly suggest this. It's what I use on my doors in conjunction with sound deadener. It's a light closed cell foam that won't absorb water. It's not as cheap as the carpet pad stuff, but buy once cry once ya know? Take care and great looking rig

http://www.raamaudio.com/products/Ensolite-IUO-Peel-and-Stick.html

 

[overlander]

You mentioned propane mount. I built a propane tank mount in S.A. style for a 10 gal US style tank while stationed in Iraq as a pass time welding project, that mounts externally over the rear quarter panel window that has worked out really well. It also provides security for that window as well. I can provide any advise or details needed.

http://www.d-90.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25498&highlight=propane

 

[ExploringNH]

You mentioned propane mount. I built a propane tank mount in S.A. style for a 10 gal US style tank while stationed in Iraq as a pass time welding project, that mounts externally over the rear quarter panel window that has worked out really well. It also provides security for that window as well. I can provide any advise or details needed.

http://www.d-90.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25498&highlight=propane

That is a good place to mount it. That window on my rig is already blocked by the cabinets, so I wouldn't be losing any visibility by putting it there. It should be up high enough to clear my spare tire too. I was hoping to mount the tank under the tub in the wheelwell area, but I think my water and fuel is going there. I want to keep the weight down low. I am already heavier up top than I want to be.

 

[Justin & Nadine]

Hi Ryan

We will be in Costa Rica, Guanacaste area until the end of August. After that we are not sure.

Shipping parts internationally is a major pain in Central America. What normally only takes three days can take two weeks. I had a rear diff grenade and it took five weeks just to get it into Mexico. One thing to watch for, is if any of your pre purchased parts have preservative on them, they will be turned around at the border and be deemed dangerous goods. The customs officials only like to have parts entering their country from an actual company with a international shipping department ex. Britpart, Paddock Spares, Atlantic British.

Personal shipping of parts by a friend can really slow the process. This has been our experience and major downer of our trip. We have resorted to having family fly down to us with the parts and receipts in their luggage and strangely enough, this was not a problem - note just be at the airport waiting in case they want to talk to you.

That being said, I realize that your land rover is a 1985 edition and there are dealerships in Mexico City, Guadalajara, Guatemala City and San Jose (Costa Rica) that you may be able to access parts from.

Just wanted to let you know about some of our experiences as shipping and part sourcing has really played a big role in our trip. We thought we packed for every unlucky scenario but we didn't and land rover parts are really hard to come by.

Hopefully your luck will be better than ours! - Justin

 

[Timo K]

My list of projects is getting smaller, but is still larger than I would like.

Install Lift kit
Install Locker
Swap rear door - paint
Battery hold-down
Propane - Mount
Roof lights
Jerry can mounting
Water can mounting

May I ask, why the lift?

Are you going to fit larger diameter tyres? 'Cause you know, you can fit 255/85R16 with stock suspension already, and that's quite tall, 33" or so. That size already almost warrants a reduction in gearing.

You'll gain no ground clearance either, since the lowest point will still be the diff housing. Articulation is a path you might want to reconsider too, if that's what you're after, since you have a rooftop tent and a high CoG already. Lifting it by even 2" will not help at all. If you're also going for a locker, there's no point in going for a lift and extreme articulation either.

I've a 300 Tdi of my own that I'm prepping for overlanding. I've taken it offroad quite a bit and talked to a few experts, one of them Foley Specialist Vehicles in the UK, who've all agreed going stock with as much as possible, mechanically, is the wisest choice. Save for the odd diff locker or two.

Many people have lifted their 110's for overlanding, and almost as many have regretted it badly. You'll run into trouble with an unnecessary lift of CoG, steering geometry getting messed up, bushings not being able to take the stress, UJ's beginning to bind, etc. All that, with no real benefit. Unless of course you do it properly with new radius arms, etc.

Just my two cents. Otherwise looking great so far.

 

[ExploringNH]

May I ask, why the lift?

Are you going to fit larger diameter tyres? 'Cause you know, you can fit 255/85R16 with stock suspension already, and that's quite tall, 33" or so. That size already almost warrants a reduction in gearing.

You'll gain no ground clearance either, since the lowest point will still be the diff housing. Articulation is a path you might want to reconsider too, if that's what you're after, since you have a rooftop tent and a high CoG already. Lifting it by even 2" will not help at all. If you're also going for a locker, there's no point in going for a lift and extreme articulation either.

I've a 300 Tdi of my own that I'm prepping for overlanding. I've taken it offroad quite a bit and talked to a few experts, one of them Foley Specialist Vehicles in the UK, who've all agreed going stock with as much as possible, mechanically, is the wisest choice. Save for the odd diff locker or two.

Many people have lifted their 110's for overlanding, and almost as many have regretted it badly. You'll run into trouble with an unnecessary lift of CoG, steering geometry getting messed up, bushings not being able to take the stress, UJ's beginning to bind, etc. All that, with no real benefit. Unless of course you do it properly with new radius arms, etc.

Just my two cents. Otherwise looking great so far.

The lift is an OME lift that should net me about 1.5" over stock. The main reason for doing it is added load capacity, not height. The stock springs are pretty well overloaded at this point and you can really feel it driving down the road. A simple/quick fix would be to add a set of air shocks, but I don't feel like that is a good long term solution. Proper spring rates and matched shocks are the right way to do things. If the springs were not as taxed, I would not consider a lift. Ground clearance at your rockers at gas tank do help, regardless of diff height. The diff can be placed where you want on a trail and the tire usually goes over the tall part of the obstacle anyway. Getting the long rockers of the 110 over obstacles is sometimes a challenge. The OME lift should be well within factory design limits for alignment and driveline angles, especially with the longer 110 wheelbase. I think for a D90 anything over 2" could cause issues. I plan to do some moderate off-roading in some areas and I think the lift will prove very helpful.

At any rate, the main reason for the lift is spring rate.

Stock and simple are great "overlanding" philosophies and I try to follow that route as much as I can. A spring is something that typically doesn't break. If it does, OME/ARB has distributors and shops all over Central and South America. Getting ARB parts might prove to be easier than getting replacement factory springs. :sombrero: A shock is a shock and if necessary, there are probably hundreds of models that would work for a temporary 10,000 mile repair.

The tires that I have on now are 285/75/16 and I prefer that size 100x over the narrow 255/85 that the ExPo forum loves. I don't want to get into a tire debate, but the potential benefits of a narrow tire don't work out for me in real life and the areas that I drive. The tires I have now rub slightly on the fender flares which can be cured with a 1/2" worth of trimming at stock height. With the lift, I wont need to trim the flares unless I plan on jumping the vehicle (which I dont plan on). The tires only rub on compression of both sides at once. (large bump, etc). With the 200tdi and Lt77 gearbox, I actually want to run a taller tire to give me more top speed. The acceleration is certainly not affected by running the larger tires. With an R380 and/or 1.4 T-case, this may be a different story.

 

[LtFuzz]

the narrow 255/85 that the ExPo forum loves.

You mean 235/85 :victory:

 

[ExploringNH]

You mean 235/85 :victory:

I wasn't aware that we went narrower. Someone needs to let me know when 215 becomes the new standard. I have some I want to get rid of, and if I can get the ExPo premium for them, that would be great. :elkgrin:

 

[bigreen505]

With the lift, I wont need to trim the flares unless I plan on jumping the vehicle (which I dont plan on).

A 285 MT/R rubs on a 110 with a 2" lift at full steering lock. Whether you choose to do anything about it or just remember not to turn the wheel that far is another matter, but they do rub.