Overland Journal: Discovery I, 5-speed

[teotwaki]

Right now, "Hank's" posts are set to "global ignore", which is automatically turned on and off based on the percentage of members who have Hank set to their individual ignore lists. It is simple math.

Ignore is a great feature of VBulletin and allows anyone to ignore any members posts (even mine if you don't like me). Use the tool.

I vaguely remember the ignore feature. I just don't dislike anybody so much to even place them on ignore. :ylsmoke: Maybe I am on their ignore lists? Hee-hee.

 

[muskyman]

Thom you scare me sometimes!

It's not the hitch I worry about so much as the behaviour of the load with a short wheelbase.

As far as recovery goes I've not seen one fail and have used them but all my cars have better options so I use those.

I didnt have the camera to take a pic but on a trip this last week I saw another D1 hitch tear off the rear crossmember just like mine did. The guy was pulling a adventure trailer on really mild trails and when we stopped for a break the hitch was angled really bad. On inspection the triangulated factory brace that wraps the reciever had torn completly off at the crossmember and was only retained by two very small weak amounts of weld. Anything longer and that trailer would have broken free as those parts were also where the safety chains were secured.

I know I sound paranoid but hey I have seen enough of this now to say unless you are willing to go in and reweld the factory welds as I did I would not trust the factory D1 hitch, the life of someone may depend on your decision.

 

[Scott Brady]

I know I sound paranoid but hey I have seen enough of this now to say unless you are willing to go in and reweld the factory welds as I did I would not trust the factory D1 hitch, the life of someone may depend on your decision.

This is good information. Has anyone documented a process for reinforcing the hitch? Did there appear to be a big rust issue?

I will look at mine and see how it could best be reinforced.

 

[rugbier]

I don't think that BANNING someone purely on the merit of an ignore list is appropriate for a Forum, where even if someone jumps at your Throat.

I agree with the ignore feature for those who might dislike the approach of an individual to have the opportunity to avoid the person they do not like, but banning on percentages is not okay.

What if a click of people decides to ignore all moderators here, would they be BAN? it doesn't make sense.

I am not sticking up for anyone make sure of that, certainly Hank doesn't need me to do that, but I wanted to bring up something obvious.

Thanks

 

[muskyman]

This is good information. Has anyone documented a process for reinforcing the hitch? Did there appear to be a big rust issue?

I will look at mine and see how it could best be reinforced.

What I did with mine was just to reweld the factory welds, the total amount of weld on some of these frames is pretty small.

look up from under the hitch where it attaches to the frame crossmember and along the sides where it is attached to the reciever. This truck that had the failure was a 98 as I recall and really didnt show any signs of rust being the culprit from what I could see.

 

[blakesrover]

Great build!

 

[Scott Brady]

Thanks

More is planned, including axle shafts, ARBs and 3.90s

Then, I will just maintain it, address some storage ideas and drive it.

A diesel may come in the future.

 

[blakesrover]

I was wondering if those steelies (PN# ANR4636) would fit a 235/85R 16 BFG AT nicely? those are the 1-ton 16" x 5.5" right?

Or..

would the same type steelie but in a 16" x 6.5" (PN# ANR1534) fit that tire better?

I have the 235/85r 16 already on the stock alloys but am looking for some steelies.

 

[JSQ]

I was wondering if those steelies (PN# ANR4636) would fit a 235/85R 16 BFG AT nicely? those are the 1-ton 16" x 5.5" right?

Or..

would the same type steelie but in a 16" x 6.5" (PN# ANR1534) fit that tire better?

I have the 235/85r 16 already on the stock alloys but am looking for some steelies.

I think that on an ANR4636 a 235/85 would be clinging to the rim for dear life. It's not that the tire is so wide, but it's not especially tall. That means the sidewall is going to want to bulge a lot.

I think this tire size is much happier on the ANR1534 and still looks good.

 

[Antichrist]

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/daveslandyandngstuff/wheels.htm

 

[Scott Brady]

Winch Solenoid Project

We have been spending some time on the Discovery, mostly on the winch and front recovery points.

I did install one of Expedition Exchange's nice radiator plugs. There is a top plug on the radiator, which is plastic from the factory and prone to failure. Kind of the equivalent to the PHH on the FZJ80. Easy, 20 second install, including pictures.

The winch work mostly surrounded to solenoid, which for the M8000 and most Warn winches is a series of starter solenoids inside a plastic case. No doubt these solenoid packs are cheap to produce, but they are highly failure prone. I have had two fail on me at various times. This led to some research on a more durable and reliable alternative. Fortunately, right from Warn's parts bin (Endurance 12) is a fully-sealed solenoid, similar to the excellent Superwinch s3. The solenoid also allows for easy connection of an in-cab controller. Sinuhe suggested an interesting idea of using the volume up/down switches to control the winch from the gauge stack. We might try that.

The second reason for the solenoid project was to move the solenoid from on top of the winch, which obscured the view of the drum and made it difficult to access the drum and line.

So we relocated the solenoid to the bumper's frame mount. We also removed the metal tab on the bumper designed for mounting the solenoid. This completely opened up the top of the winch and improves airflow to the radiator. It also cleans up the bumper quite a bit.

The first step was to remove a small tab that is welded to the frame mounts of the bumper.

a little paint

small spacers allow room for the wiring. The solenoid fits perfect, and the wiring is really cleaned up.

you can see the holes on the top, where the various wires route to the winch and the battery. The bottom half of the solenoid case mounts first.

Here is the solenoid mounted. It is easy to access the controller plug from the top. The solenoid is above the line of the bumper and out of harms way.

Some time ago, we also installed 80' of Viking winch line and a safety thimble. The simple aluminum, hawse fairlead from Viking keeps the weight down. Overall, using synthetic line and the aluminum hawse removes about 30 lbs. from the front of the truck.

 

[Scott Brady]

The next step was to cut off the ARB bumper solenoid mounting tab. It blocks access to the winch, and as you can see, if the solenoid is mounted there, it blocks access to the drum/line and blocks airflow to the radiator.

Cut-off wheel - gone

Flapper grinder, then lots of sanding.

All opened up.

We also installed a Dixon Bate 3.5T tow jaw. These have a 4x WLL. The ARB bumper recovery points are low, and the material is thin. I have deformed and bent them in the past. Installing the tow jaw puts the recovery point a little higher and in-line with the frame. We mounted it to the strongest part of the bumper and used Expedition Exchanges backing plate to add mass/material to the bumper face.

 

[garrett]

Nice images and install Scott.

I'm in the hunt for yet another '99 white DI myself though I am sticking to an auto. Call me lazy! But I will most certainly be using this thread to refer back to.

I like the "mild" approach with this truck.

 

[sinuhexavier]

Sinuhe suggested an interesting idea of using the volume up/down switches to control the winch from the gauge stack.

Giving credit where credit is due, I saw that in Marc Olivares's truck.

 

[Antichrist]

Sinuhe suggested an interesting idea of using the volume up/down switches to control the winch from the gauge stack. We might try that.

Assuming you haven't already, be sure you install a high amperage disconnect on the winch power cable before you do that. Cole Hersee 2000amp is a good choice. It's not 2000 continuous, but good for 500amps for an extended time.