My Range Rover so far...

[WasabiPimpNinja]

Hey Guys,
I've been on here for a little bit and thought it was about time I showed off some pics of my Rover.

Basically I bought a bog stock 2000 HSE with the idea of making a nice touring car, but still something the Mrs could drive around town in. This is how she looked at the start...

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/06/101.jpg (http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii109/wasabipimpninja/Range%20Rover/?action=view&current=IMG_0097.jpg)

She was tidy as, only one minor dent, 160,000kms on the clock and no dramas. Drove like a dream compared to my 4" lifted Zook. I had planned on keeping it pretty standard and just enjoying the world of modern/standard vehicles. Unfortunately, three months after I bought her we had a bit of a nasty hail storm over here in Perth. The damage wasn't major but enough to write the car off. I was pretty devastated until the insurance company offered to sell it back to me and give me a cheque for my troubles. Considering the damage and the spare bonnet I had already picked up, I bought her back. This is how she stood minutes after the storm. The pics dont do the dents justice ;)

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/06/102.jpg (http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii109/wasabipimpninja/Range%20Rover/?action=view&current=IMG_0137.jpg)

With the new found funds to modify, it wasn't long before the bug hit and things started changing. First, I was due for some new tyres, so I bought a set of 265/65/18 Bridgestone Dueler HP's for the Hurricane rims. The only photo I have of these is towing my mates Navara off the track to safety after a snapped tie rod.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/06/103.jpg (http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii109/wasabipimpninja/Range%20Rover/?action=view&current=IMG_0156.jpg)

These kept me having fun on the tracks with my mates, but I craved more. I fitted a 2.5" straight through muffler and system from the YPipe back to make it sound more like a V8, but noise wasn't going to cut it. I got hold of Paul at HardRange and started talking business. Not long after a set of Gen III's were on the way and I was down to my local machinist to get some 2" spacers made up.

More lift required bigger tyres, so I got hold of a set of 275/65/18 Maxxis BigHorns cheap from a mate in Australind. I was going to fit these tyres to the Hurricane rims and run two sets, one mud one street, but after finding out how expensive they were, went looking for a cheaper option. I chatted to my mates at Kewdale Secondhand Tyres and discovered that late model Commodore rims have the same PCD of 5x120mm. The offset is really close at 40-45 compared to the Rovers 45-50. It all seemed to good to be true until we found the centre bore is 69.5mm instead of the Rovers 70.1mm. We had a look at a few rims and found a set that would have more than enough meat to take some machining and got to work. The end result is probably the only set of VE SS Commodore 18" rims with mud tyres. Most certainly the only set fitted to a Range Rover.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/06/104.jpg (http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii109/wasabipimpninja/Range%20Rover/?action=view&current=IMG_0158.jpg)

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/06/105.jpg (http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii109/wasabipimpninja/Range%20Rover/?action=view&current=IMG_0159.jpg)

Happy with the new setup I started playing with the EAS to try and get a touch more lift out of her so the tyres wouldn't rub. A quick play netted these results in offroad mode.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/06/106.jpg (http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii109/wasabipimpninja/Range%20Rover/?action=view&current=IMG_0160.jpg)

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/06/107.jpg (http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii109/wasabipimpninja/Range%20Rover/?action=view&current=IMG_0161.jpg)

Many discussions with Paul later and I had found the shocks I wanted to run. These are the ones that he is currently testing. I ordered a set for myself and was close to fitting them when I had an airbag failure. Basically, the drivers rear airbag let go and crushed the spacer and twisted the perch on the diff. A phonecall to Paul on a Sunday of a long weekend and he had a replacement in the mail the next working day. You cant ask for better customer service. That was last week. I'm currently in the process of welding new perches onto another diff casing and adjusting the angles etc there. That all needs to be done till I can fit the new shocks and replace the bag/spacer and really take her out for a play.

More photos will follow as the build progresses. I hope you guys like the car as much as I do.

Cheers,
Keels.

[wayneg]

Thanks for sharing your updates, I think the commodore wheels look great. What was the cause of the airspring failure, was it due to your mods or just a bad unit

[DT-P38]

Looking real cool dude! Can't wait to see some articulation-flex shots. Try climbing it onto cars like Paul (Andy's HRA partner) does! By the way, how much did having spacers machined up cost you? And do you think that the breakage "let go" acually had anything to do with your mod's? I think I remember Paul mentioning they were having a good look at the design of their spacers including some sort of slant to help match the changed angles with a higher sitting ride.

Can't wait for a hail storm over here in Melbourne... 'the pig' (my '95 P38A) is gonna get parked outside from now on! :wasntme:

Hoo-Roo, Dave

[WasabiPimpNinja]

It's hard to say why the bag let go. It could have been because of the mods, or it could have been a faulty unit, I'm not 100% sure. The damage sustained to it after it let go makes it hard to determine. Basically the bellow pulled out of the ring at the top of the unit. There are a couple of reasons this migh have happened, but I wouldn't place bets. If it did let go because of the mods, then things have been further modified to prevent the same. If it was because of a faulty bag, well everything much stronger and safer now anyway.

The spacers I had machined by a mate. Low cost for me (basically materials + a bit extra, came out around the $400 mark). If you were to get them machined without doing a mass production or knowing someone in the game, I could see them being very expensive, probably triple or more what mine cost. Paul tells me his own spacers are coming along nicely and they would be the way to go. I'm totally impatient and couldn't wait to start modding, so designed my own ;) Trust me, I tried to weasel a prototype set out of him, but he was having none of it :P Mine are typical of my style of modifying, brute force and ignorance. Massive chunks of billet 2011 ally wedged in there.

Had to edit my previous post as well, kept typing Andy instead of Paul. Too many Emu Bitters for me I thinks...

And thanks for the compliments :)

[Fish78]

Nice looking Rangie mate, top work done so far.

[WasabiPimpNinja]

Ok guys, well the plates are back from the laser cutters and we've welded them onto a spare diff housing. We've moved the mount hole 1/2" further forward and put ~6* of angle forward to counter the horrible angle they get on at full flex. Here are some photos...

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/07/571.jpg (http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii109/wasabipimpninja/Range%20Rover/?action=view&current=IMG_0168.jpg)

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/07/572.jpg (http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii109/wasabipimpninja/Range%20Rover/?action=view&current=IMG_0167.jpg)

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/07/573.jpg (http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii109/wasabipimpninja/Range%20Rover/?action=view&current=IMG_0169.jpg)

The diff is now back under the car and all bolted up. The new shocks are in the back and everything is ready to go. Still have to put the new shocks in the front and play with the bump stops. I also have to get the suspension level and set up the ride heights as it seems to have spazzed out.

Hope you enjoy my dodgy engineering :)

Cheers,
Keels.

[PaulP38a]

Nice work Keels... still waiting for my set to arrive mate... won't take much to turn these in to a removable set that we can include in the HRA lift kit (as discussed previoulsy), after I've tried to break them in my p38 of course ;)

Cheers, Paul.

[WasabiPimpNinja]

Nice work Keels... still waiting for my set to arrive mate... won't take much to turn these in to a removable set that we can include in the HRA lift kit (as discussed previoulsy), after I've tried to break them in my p38 of course ;)

Cheers, Paul.

Thanks Paul,

I'm just waiting on the other brackets from the laser cutters to make up the bolt on version. Because I didn't mind weld on, we just cut out bits of 5mm plate with the grinder and welded them in there. The bolt on ones will be much more professional hopefully :) It turns out my "I can do anything I put my mind to" attitude doesn't really work with AutoCAD, a bit more skill is required than "I can draw boobies on coasters at the pub" it turns out :P

I managed to get the rear shocks in as well. There may be a problem with the concertina rubber sock rubbing against the inner bolt from the rear height sensors. Shouldn't be a major problem, but they may wear through in time. To get the bushes right in the eye, I removed the old bushes from the original shock and cut/tore them apart. There is a little metal bushing in there that is exactly the right size to go inside the new rubber bush provided with the shocks. It's a bit of dicking around but there were no places open to get new bushes. All you need is a 19mm OD and 11mm ID bushing. I'm sure a few suspension places will carry these, or you might even be able to buy it in tube form from a metal distributor. The rubber bushing itself is a little wide for the standard shock mounts, took a few squirts of Lanotec to get it in there, now the car smells like a Kiwi :P I'll let you know how I get on with the front ones when I get the car level and the ride heights set.

I'm still looking into limiting straps to make sure I dont overflex the rear. I cant believe there are people out there looking for MORE flex, I need to settle mine down :P There are quite a few good things on the market, most of them are weld on though. I'm probably going the weld on approach, but I'll keep my eye out for anything else that might work.

Anywho, better get back to work, I'll keep you all updated.

Cheers,
Keels.

[PaulP38a]

To get the bushes right in the eye, I removed the old bushes from the original shock and cut/tore them apart. There is a little metal bushing in there that is exactly the right size to go inside the new rubber bush provided with the shocks. It's a bit of dicking around but there were no places open to get new bushes. All you need is a 19mm OD and 11mm ID bushing. I'm sure a few suspension places will carry these, or you might even be able to buy it in tube form from a metal distributor. The rubber bushing itself is a little wide for the standard shock mounts, took a few squirts of Lanotec to get it in there, now the car smells like a Kiwi :P I'll let you know how I get on with the front ones when I get the car level and the ride heights set.


yep, I did exactly that with the first set on mine. Just drilled them out of an old knackered set of Boges I had here. The "new" version ships with a poly insert to correct the diameter issue. Re the width of the bush, I gave mine a light rub with sandpaper before squirting WD-40 to ease them in to the brackets.

I look forward to comparing notes with you.

Cheers, Paul.

[DT-P38]

I can feel a lift kit coming on! YIPPEE!

No luck with that last referred plastics manufacturer Paul... awaiting call backs from another couple I 'cold called' last week. Fingers crossed someone wants to have a crack!

So how are the snorkel and other bits (sliders, bash plates, etc) coming along anyway? Hopefully not as slow as my 'discreet' winch mount, LOL!!!

[WasabiPimpNinja]

Well I got the suspension level and the ride heights set up now. Basically the heights are set to factory height +90mm to account for the 2" of lift and 1.5" of extra tyre. On off road height the gaurd is roughly 1m off the ground. I was a bit worried I'd stuffed something up on the test drive as the back end was VERY wafty, walking all over the road and generally being a pig. Then I remembered I had the shocks set to their softest setting from the install :D I tightened them up to not quite to their hardest setting and what a ride. They felt great. The front end wanders a bit but it still has the stock shocks in so I'm blaming that for now. The new shocks should pull that into line quick smart.

So the basic plan from here is to put the new shocks in the front, extend the bump stops, put in limit straps on the back, and then she's ready to party.

Haha, and yes Dave, I'm converting the rear lift I have to a bolt on version that Paul is going to test for me. If he's happy with them, they may make it onto the HRA Catalouge :p And if I can find a spare front diff at the wreckers, I may look at doing the same for the front if it looks like a good thing. And I think we are all hanging out for that snorkel ;)

Oh, and Paul, I'll try and get some pics of the perch failure for you to have a look at. We all like to see a bit of carnage :twisted:

Cheers,
Keels

[LavisLane]

Nice work Keels, impressive stuff here mate!

I got my Gen III's and Bilsteins about a year ago and still haven't found the time/balls to upgrade with more lift - thanks for the inspiration :cool:

[PaulP38a]

I can feel a lift kit coming on! YIPPEE!

No luck with that last referred plastics manufacturer Paul... awaiting call backs from another couple I 'cold called' last week. Fingers crossed someone wants to have a crack!

So how are the snorkel and other bits (sliders, bash plates, etc) coming along anyway? Hopefully not as slow as my 'discreet' winch mount, LOL!!!

Yep, just sold a lift kit to a workshop in Melbourne. I wonder if it is going on anyone on this forum's Rangie?

Have sourced a couple of suppliers for the bump stops and given them both the go-ahead for a small production run for testing.

Just found out why my last order of Gen III's didn't arrive. Has been rectified...:twisted:... and they are on their way.

Andy's away on business so I didn't get the snorkel on my car :(... which is also why the air-fittings on the web site are on hold as he holds most of that stock.

Cheers, Paul.

[WasabiPimpNinja]

Just thought I'd chuck these up for you guys, a couple of photos at the local car wash. We were flexing it up to get the measurements for the limit straps which I'll hopefully have finished tomorrow. Not long now till I can take her out for a real play :)

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/07/12.jpg (http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii109/wasabipimpninja/Range%20Rover/?action=view&current=IMG_0180.jpg)

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/07/13.jpg (http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii109/wasabipimpninja/Range%20Rover/?action=view&current=IMG_0179.jpg)

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/07/14.jpg (http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii109/wasabipimpninja/Range%20Rover/?action=view&current=IMG_0178.jpg)

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/07/15.jpg (http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii109/wasabipimpninja/Range%20Rover/?action=view&current=IMG_0177.jpg)

Hope you enjoy, and I'll put up some more when we actually get her out on the tracks...

Cheers,
Keels.

[LandyAndy]

Hope to see you tommorow Keels!!!
Paul,I stirred the boy up about those bump stops the other day.
It seems we may have a supplier,Dotmar. Just got to get him off the puter to deal with it!!!
It seems he just hit another "I need cash" moment so he may be on track again!!!
Andrew

[PaulP38a]

Looking good there Keels, we must compare notes sometime. I'm running the slighter shorter Boss shocks in mine but haven't measured the flex yet. If I can get out tomorrow I'll find something to climb up/over to measure it.

Propose we use two measurements...
centre of wheel cap to bottom of wheel arch for consistency,
ground to bottom of wheel arch for bragging rights ;)

Andy - no worries mate. Last time I spoke with L a couple of weeks back I asked him to work up some numbers and pass them by you before sending to me. Let me know how much he wants for the test samples and I'll send it though.

I fitted a set of PU bump stops today, trimmed to suit my lift. Red like... something or other...
http://paulp38a.com/gallery/d/4296-1/IMG_2530.JPG
and
http://paulp38a.com/gallery/d/4314-1/IMG_2539.JPG

Cheers, Paul.

[WasabiPimpNinja]

Ok, So I got the limit straps made up. Bear in mind, these are not a final product, more like a test run. In other words, these are very very Ghetto Fab...

The limit straps made up...
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/08/1379.jpg (http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii109/wasabipimpninja/Range%20Rover/?action=view&current=IMG_0181.jpg)

How they mount to the bottom of the shock...
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/08/1380.jpg (http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii109/wasabipimpninja/Range%20Rover/?action=view&current=IMG_0182.jpg)

How they mount to the top of the shock...
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/08/1381.jpg (http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii109/wasabipimpninja/Range%20Rover/?action=view&current=IMG_0183.jpg)

Basically, they are made out of 5mm galv steel cable with a breaking strength of close to 2t. Just used some eyelets and cable crimps as I didn't have a swage tool. All up this cost me ~$60 from Bunnings. Didn't take too long, but I found enthusiasm was lacking which made it take a bit longer. They mount to the top sock bolt, run around the front of the cross member between the air/brake/ABS lines and loops around to the bottom shock bolt. I'm 99% sure these will not interfere with any of those lines as there seems to be a handy little gap under the top brake line mount on the chassis that it can tuck under. These are made to a length so that they stop the rear flexing any more than the limit of the airbag, hopefully saving it during extreme driving.

I also finally got around to installing the front shocks. The car rides so much better now. The front end feels much more stable under brakes and doesn't "duck" into corners. May have to send one of the front shocks back though as the adjustment knob wont turn past setting 3-4 depending on the day. This means I've had to set the front up quite soft compared to the rear. Even given this, the ride is infinitely better.

Anyhow, I'll try and get some photos/videos when we go test it in a real world environment.

Cheers,
Keels.

[Keithy P38]

Done well Keels! I'm liking this ride! I've considered doing similar to what you've done here but my rangie won't fit into the garage if I take it up anymore!

The Commodore rims and muddies look great on the old girl!

Cheers
Keith

[WasabiPimpNinja]

Thanks Keithy, I'm liking it to. I don't have to worry about it fitting in my garage as it's full of Mini's and associated spares for them, so into the clouds she goes. I think personally, just the Gen III's and some decent shocks and mud tyres is all you really need to do to these. I just have a habbit of taking things a little bit too far ;)

Flexed it up again the other day to test the limit straps. Looks like I made them a bit long. Will have to shorten them up when I get some time. Still haven't had a chance to actually take it off road it. Keep finding little things popping up all the time. Just got the clunky drivers window with the "Window Not Set" fault and just noticed the check book symbol on the climate control, even though it seems to be working fine. Also in my travels playing the front suspension I found the trailing arm bushes were shot and will have to be replaced at some stage. Ah well, thems the breaks.

Cheers,
Keels.

[Keithy P38]

I think that's the way I'll head indeed. I've heard you can chuck a set of 31's under the P38 with only very minimal scrubbing if any, and that's another 2" over the standard tyres. Essentially a 2" lift without any mods - plus the added diff clearance. When I start looking for extreme tracks i'll probably get the Gen III's and the spacer, but until then, i've managed to hit the tracks with 4" lifted poo-trol's and crooza's without rubbing or scraping. Its my tyres that have let me down so far and i'm just itching to get a set of KM2's!

I'll keep my eye out for some nice off-road flex shots on here eh!

Cheers
Keithy