NAS LR3 build with an overseas twist

[Ray_G]

I spy a tire cover

And: Did you use the 3M material hood blackout or did you rattle-can it?

Tire cover is a work in progress! Hood blackout is vinyl, it's held up well and got it done cheap in Abu Dhabi.
R-
R


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[Ray_G]

Maxtrax on the roof rack

The weekend's great weather and some free time with my able assistant prompted the movement from proposed mounting location to actually affixing the maxtrax on the roof. Fortunately I'd had some aluminum flat stock already drilled with the holes for the pins the correct distance apart leftover from a previous concept. We pulled the flooring off the roof to make everything go on easier; you'll note that I'm only running pins up front (for the moment). That's a facet of having only one set of pins on hand. I could have stacked all four on one side of the roof rack but wanted symmetry and the lower profile so pins up front, straps in the back-for now.

After getting everything laid out and all the hardware with a good coat of black. With the floor off I also pulled the aluminum runners and painted those too.

Assembled and test fitted on the ground.

Floor back in place, able assistant getting off the rack giving me an earful for how she prefers Coyote's ladder...and her SD rack...and pretty much everything about Coyote (she is an unabashed fan of the D1 and is very skeptical of the D3 despite all the benefits)

The end result. I'll either grab another set of pins from when I'm up at Twin Mountain this weekend (helps that he is a distributor) or order a set. Overall they are growing on me even if the wife wants black ones to blend in better with the truck.

 

[zelatore]

I just ordered a set of 2 for the upcoming snow runs. I'm trying to decide where I want to carry them. I had my Traction Jacks (similar thing but they fold in half...not recommended unless you are tight on space) on the rack and have room for these up there as well, but the convenience factor of having them on the spare tire is very high. I wouldn't hesitate to put them on the spare except that I usually have my trasharoo there, so not sure if I want to go that route or not at this point.

 

[Ray_G]

I just ordered a set of 2 for the upcoming snow runs. I'm trying to decide where I want to carry them. I had my Traction Jacks (similar thing but they fold in half...not recommended unless you are tight on space) on the rack and have room for these up there as well, but the convenience factor of having them on the spare tire is very high. I wouldn't hesitate to put them on the spare except that I usually have my trasharoo there, so not sure if I want to go that route or not at this point.

I'd keep the trasharoo on the back and put them on the rack, with the traction jacks too if you just got a pair-I have found that four works a lot better than two the majority of the time but that could be a facet of the mud around here!


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[zelatore]

The Traction Jacks are out. I busted one last February playing in the snow/rocks and as it was an item that was donated to our club I didn't feel right going back and asking for a repair or replacement. I also found they didn't work as well as MaxTrax for what I was doing. I think they have their place; one of our guys carries them in the back of his wife's nearly stock LR4 and they tuck away nicely so she doesn't have to look all 'expo' going to work (not that there's anything wrong with that...). But if you have the space I'll take the Maxtracks ever time.

They may end up on the rack for now just because it's easy. But after using ladders on other people's rigs for 2 years both on top and on the back, it sure is faster/easier to grab them off the back.

 

[Ray_G]

The Traction Jacks are out. I busted one last February playing in the snow/rocks and as it was an item that was donated to our club I didn't feel right going back and asking for a repair or replacement. I also found they didn't work as well as MaxTrax for what I was doing. I think they have their place; one of our guys carries them in the back of his wife's nearly stock LR4 and they tuck away nicely so she doesn't have to look all 'expo' going to work (not that there's anything wrong with that...). But if you have the space I'll take the Maxtracks ever time.

They may end up on the rack for now just because it's easy. But after using ladders on other people's rigs for 2 years both on top and on the back, it sure is faster/easier to grab them off the back.

We tortured some traction jacks up at Twin Mountain. They lasted an afternoon. Mind you it wasn't fair, we did incorporate the unimog into the testing-I think for 'I'm stuck in a ditch after avoiding a snow plow' they could work well enough, but if you are going to actually use them amidst wheeling they are unsuitable. Maxtrax are def $$$ but from what I've seen they handle abuse really well, really really well to be honest (the worst we've done is burn off some of the nubbins through deliberate tire spin and abuse-despite it explicitly saying not to do that; we've also warped them but if you leave them in the sun they eventually go back to shape).

The back side mount is def convenient for rapid deployment-I honestly hate having my rear view blocked so I doubt that I'd ever put them there but for those with spare tire carriers it is a viable alternative to the roof or inside (would NOT do that given how much mud they can collect).
r-
R

 

[Ray_G]

Scangauge E

I'm a big fan of the scangauge line of products having put an SG II in my D1 a long time ago. With the IID tool a SG isn't really necessary for a D3 but my bias, and finding a decent deal on ebay, lead me to grabbing one of the Scangauge E models to try out and provide a little more on-the-move functionality at a cost of about $60.

I like the SG for two reasons:
-Getting an actual readout of the coolant temp vice just the instrument cluster gauge needle
-Being able to check, and clear CEL on the move. In my case I have an intermittent CEL that pops up either b/c I actually need a new purge valve or (more likely) b/c I need to clean my throttle body or get a new gas cap.

So here's the layout, this shot includes an OBD extension cord I had which allows the SG cordage to go into the panel under the steering wheel without any significant protrusion down at the OBD II port b/c of the flat extension cord.

A quick side by side with the D1's SG II for a size comparison. The SG E has less features than the II but in truth I use precious few of these features anyway so to me that is moot and the price difference coupled well with the desire to try the smaller version.

A shot of the SG E in position on top of the steering wheel column, velcroed in place. The differences in green aren't actually as noticeable as the picture makes it seem-the shading is nearly identical.

The view from the perspective of my driving position; i.e. the downside is I can't see the 'miles to empty' or other messages on the bottom-but can still clearly see the clock on dash and the temp in the instrument cluster. The shading here is even more bizarre compared to how it looks in nature. I would note the ghetto sunshade is necessary, not to see the screen but rather to mitigate the screen's ghost showing up on the windshield at night.


A quick little mod that allows me to note that my D3 runs warmer than my D1 (no idea what is 'normal' mind you), i.e. it is always about 200deg when at full operating temp but seems to happily live between 203-209 even with the A/C on and such. Will track that more over time obviously. Not as useful as an IID tool, but has application for a reasonable price.
r-
R

 

[DiscoDavis]

Ray,

Never realized these things worked in a D3. Where did you get that OBD extension? Does it connect at a right angle to avoid sticking out?

Day to day all I really want to see is coolant temp and voltage! Looks great Does it do oil temp too?

 

[Ray_G]

Ray,

Never realized these things worked in a D3. Where did you get that OBD extension? Does it connect at a right angle to avoid sticking out?

Day to day all I really want to see is coolant temp and voltage! Looks great Does it do oil temp too?

The E doesn't do oil; the II might (I haven't looked at its features in a LONG time)-since this truck, thus far, doesn't seem to release oil back to nature like my D1 does I figured coolant temp and volts were adequate. It is def nice to have a lot of electrical related input since I've got this monitoring voltage, the Snomaster remote that basically confirms/denies voltage at the fridge (via the aux battery) and the Traxide controller's little LED all at the same time.

OBD extension will cost you...a whole $7! (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GGLVXG2/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and it does go at a right angle to avoid sticking out, well worth the price IMHO.
r-
Ray

 

[zelatore]

Nice input on the scangauge. I never really looked into them on the 3, but as you noted constant monitoring of actual engine temp and voltage is a nice thing. Now to google where to buy...

 

[zelatore]

booo....ebay looks more like $95 today. For $60 I'd have picked one up just for giggles. Not as hot at 30% more.

 

[Ray_G]

booo....ebay looks more like $95 today. For $60 I'd have picked one up just for giggles. Not as hot at 30% more.

I will admit I watched for about 3-4 weeks before I snagged on at $60, & as you said I'd considered just Amazon Priming it at ~$90 but for some reason that seemed too steep for the return on investment.


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[Ray_G]

Another day on the mountain, this time with a D4 playmate. Only pic I took before the fire sadly.

Bonfire that is.



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[Ray_G]

Minor updates & teasers

A few minor updates to keep myself on task (I keep track of what I've posted with a folder of pics, the folder is getting full which means I need to do some updates!)

First thing; the current iteration of my tire cover is 'done.' I'm somewhat satisfied with it, the sig other likes it-particularly the aspects I'm lukewarm on, so for now it is good enough. The basic idea was to mimic a custom cover I got made...damn near a decade ago...for my D1 (technically the Coyote before this truck became Coyote). We wanted something that gave some tribute to where the D3 came into her own, i.e. Abu Dhabi. But first the originial which is now garage decoration since it was sized for 235/85 and is showing her age:

The tire cover for the D3, using a black/silver LR oval, a falcon decal, and inordinately large lettering for Abu Dhabi (I don't like the size, ironically that is what the wife likes so...despite having 1" lettering on the white board inside, we shall stick with 2" lettering for the moment). The tire cover + the personalized plate (Saqr is basically the English transliteration for the Arabic for Falcon, which is revered throughout the Arabian penninsula and our time out in a desert game reserve playing with some kestrels, hawks, owls, etc was a highlight for the entire time there) were finishing vanity touches for the truck now that she's home. The second shot also illustrates the CB antenna which is a good segue to a partial update there.

I swapped around my Cobra 75WSX-T that was in Coyote to utilize under the seat of the D3 and replaced it with a midland unit since I'm less worried about bulk in the D1 now that she's not a DD. The final mounting solution for the cobra is pending, but the antenna install on the rear tire carrier seems to be working. I initally went with a 4' firestick but that was too high for parking garages at work so I've come down to a 3' which isn't really high enough even as a top loaded antenna, especially for the suboptimal rear mounted location...but I reconcile that with the view that it is CB and I barely can stand having it in the truck anyway. Nevermind I have 2 handheld VHF/UHFs now in there which are better than most vehicle mount CBs anyway, and a vehicle mount VHF/UHF unit is coming once I finish sorting out the rack. Quasi-justifying rant, over.

Not much too this, I added a ground that isn't visible in this pic, and with the 3' there is no QD-just the spring.

A sneak peek of where the CB lives, or at least what is visible of it.

Maxtrax are now held on by pins fore and aft, the straps worked but really didn't look right. Eventually found someone that had them in stock (Southeast Overland, good people/good prices/really quick shipping; will buy from again)


Last pic for the moment is the teaser for the Blue Ridge Overland Gear attic that is being beta tested at the moment (the hardware I am using to keep it in the 3rd row area is unpainted at the moment). For those following the Mantec storage solution thread this is light fare but for the moment it shows one of the things in motion that will get its own dedicated post soon.

Thanksgiving looms and with that more time in WV, doing some radio testing and also should be a chance to do an oil change, dif & TC fluids, etc. More to follow!
r-
Ray

 

[Ray_G]

Post thanksgiving dirt road trip w/her playmate.

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