Nashville Rover's 1989 Range Rover Classic Build

[Dendy Jarrett]

thats where my old rovertym bumper and winch went....funny I sold those to the previous owner in socal...nice build. I liked the rovertym better but I am partial...and the one responsible for cutting your fenders :costumed-smiley-007

Hey, and no offense! Love your bumpers and that slim line look. It is simply that this truck is being built specifically for overlanding and for me, ARB speaks overlanding.
RTE speaks more off-roading (and yes, this is strictly a matter of my warped opinion!).

Your old bumper has found it's way onto a serious off-road specific classic that has a safari guard 3 link set up and is hard core! (not mine).

Thanks for all the good words. Encourages me to keep up the good work.

D

 

[dino2000]

Looking to buy a Classic myself, yours seems setup PERFECTLY.

Do all the Classics come with air suspension or just the later models? Thanks in Advance for the help.

Dino

 

[KEENO]

Great Pics and a sweet rover! I have to add, I never get tired of see the Middle Tennessee countryside in pics..... Especially while in NE Ohio for work. Your pics made me a bit homesick today... 14" of snow on the ground & 10'+ on the way!

Thanks for sharing...

KEENO

 

[timmy!!!!!!!]

Dendy how do you like the 1.4 lt230?

 

[Dendy Jarrett]

Looking to buy a Classic myself, yours seems setup PERFECTLY.

Do all the Classics come with air suspension or just the later models? Thanks in Advance for the help.

Dino

Dino:
Only 1993 (and air was an option in 93) and up have air suspension. The great thing about my 89 is that it is pre-ABS and pre-air suspension!

Nice trucks are out there. You just have to be patient to find them.

D

 

[dino2000]

My knowledge of the RR Classic is very limited. I have seen them work off-road and have always wanted one.

So, 93' or older is the way to go? anything else to look for? Have a rover garage literally around the corner from my house, but the guy who runs it wasn't really willing to answer any of my ? (read: he is an A__hole!)

Any help w/ the correct selection would be awesome!

Thanks, Dino

 

[Snagger]

Electronic Air Supansion(EAS) was introduced on the LSE model in 1993 and was then used on 1994/95 Vogue SE models. It's an unreliable system once it gets past about 80,000 miles and is very expensive to rectify. Coils are better.

It was really fitted as a test for the P38, which was marginally more reliable as far as EAS went, but not much.

I saw a Discovery II blow an air spring from top to bottom on an off-road expedition around the Alps. The trip leaders had seen this happen six or seven times over the preceeding five years, but said they have never seen a coil or leaf spring fail...

Both of the RRCs in this thread are beautiful. I have a 1995 "soft dash" Vogue in Epsom green with 300Tdi, R380, grey cloth seats, TWR alloys and police spec rear springs (HD and very slightly taller, getting rid of that saggy rar end). Apart from adding heaters to the seats and planning to retro-fit the aircon from an SE model, it's all as it left the factory, but sadly the salt used on British roads has made its mark - it's tidy, but not as smart as yours.

I have always thought less is more with a Range Rover, but this is an excellent exception.

 

[thallca]

I have a 89 classic, but my dash looks horrible next to yours. Did you referb the dash or was it in good shape? I had the heater core replaced and the dash did not survive very well.

 

[Dendy Jarrett]

Well, ... so many comments and questions:

Dino: Actually, many prefer the 1995 and it often commands a higher price because it sported the updated (ala Disco Series I) dash, but most replace the air suspension with springs.
Then many like the 1993 (or 1994 or 1995 -albeit very few of them) Long Wheel Base (LWB) because of the extra 10 inches in the passenger floor simply due to the extra room it provides. My wife's truck is a 1993 LWB, but the stock air bags were replaced with ARCO bags and we have very few problems with it.

Here is a picture of her truck: (and it is bone stock ... and a great survivor)

As you can see, the LWB was much more elegant with the burled wood trim. For me, I like the plain interior of my 89.

Regarding the Dash, thallca - I happen to use a friend that is the trim specialist at Land Rover Nashville to do the heater core replacement. His specialty is the dash. You are right, ... the work for this has to be performed carefully, or you will ruin the dash. Mine is original, and the guy that did the work did an awesome job taking it apart and putting it back as before.

Timmy, I have a rebuilt 230 to go in this truck, but I am leaving it crated until the truck needs it. I have the true trac in the rear diff, and HD 10 spline axels with two replacements that I travel with.

Snagger, your truck sounds awesome. I always think less is more, so I thank you for your positive feedback. I had a specific look in mind when I started the truck and so far ... so good!

 

[Dendy Jarrett]

Another add on that I forgot to mention ... that I totally love on my truck and was a quick DYI project.

I purchased a set of Illuminated Window Switches from

http://www.roverville.us/

These are plug and play and at night they are illuminated. They look stock and actually a much better quality than the OEM switches. They were very reasonably priced. The guy that builds the switches and owns the company is from England and a complete Range Rover nut and is a pleasure to deal with!

One of my favorite upgrades ... so much so that I added them to my wife's truck as well.

Thanks
Dendy

 

[smarks]

INTI rack?

Where did you get that rack? Is it the same as most of the FJ80 guys get for their cruisers? I would LOVE to have one of those...

 

[SeaRubi]

great tip on the switches!! that's awesome.

Another add on that I forgot to mention ... that I totally love on my truck and was a quick DYI project.

I purchased a set of Illuminated Window Switches from

http://www.roverville.us/

These are plug and play and at night they are illuminated. They look stock and actually a much better quality than the OEM switches. They were very reasonably priced. The guy that builds the switches and owns the company is from England and a complete Range Rover nut and is a pleasure to deal with!

One of my favorite upgrades ... so much so that I added them to my wife's truck as well.

Thanks
Dendy

 

[R_Lefebvre]

Dendy, love the truck and trailer. What a nice setup!

Curious about 2 things. How did you hook up your limb risers to the bullbar, looks interesting. And how do the chains on your trailer run to the truck? I've been thinking I need to add a chain hookup to my rear bumper/hitch setup, but I'm wondering if I could just chain them to my recover points, sort of looks like what you've done?

 

[Dendy Jarrett]

Well, that was a toughy. There are not many in the States. (my guess is less than 10) The FJ racks will not fit with the INTI feet. I have seen some use Thule feet and bars to simply rest the rack on top of.
I keep my eyes open, so if I see one, I'll let you know.
Dendy

Where did you get that rack? Is it the same as most of the FJ80 guys get for their cruisers? I would LOVE to have one of those...

 

[Dendy Jarrett]

great tip on the switches!! that's awesome.

Yeah, and I forgot to mention ... the guy that builds these is named John. Great guy, but what he also does, ... is offer the radios rebuilt with codes ... as well as offers them with iPod integration on the front of the unit. (plug iPod in and play) ... as well as if you plug an iPhone into the deck (stock deck), it stops the music with an incoming call, and you hear the caller over the truck speakers ... a future upgrade on my truck.

Dendy