Thread: My 2007 Discovery 3 build journey

Originally Posted by jh972

One thing missing from your wish list which weighs near nothing is a Llams ride height controller!

Yes, that's probably right. I've got the IIDTool, which let me adjust the suspension height for a recent trip to the Flinders, but the convenience of a dial on the dash would be pretty exceptional!

Also, wondering what you have in the provided place for a second battery in the right rear of the engine bay?

I've got an Optima D34 battery, so I've got a total of 110Ah of auxiliary battery storage.

Cheers,

- Andrew

Originally Posted by ndrew

Things I really like about the Front Runner drawers:

• The passenger-side drawer can hold three Cub Packs, which are great to organise camping gear

[/QUOTE]

I had to say it, didn't I?

See, when I bought my first Cub Pack, I thought, "Geeze, this'll fit three of them PERFECTLY in this space!". That appeals rather a lot to the OCD bits in my brain. Perfect for trips away – organise your camping gear into different boxes that fit neatly into the drawer.

Sadly, this was not to be: for some inexplicable reason, Front Runner made either the drawers or the Cub Packs fractionally too small (or large, depending on what you're talking about), meaning the third Cub Pack doesn't fit by about 20mm. I only found this out the day before we left for a trip to the Flinders and my extra two Cub Packs arrived. My fault for not checking the measurements more carefully – the dangers of assuming!

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There was much tearing of hair and gnashing of teeth. To me, this is a massive design failure – what's the point of selling an integrated storage system if they don't properly fit together? I'm going to send Front Runner some feedback.

Cheers,

- Andrew

Hi Andrew,

I have a similar drawer setup as you. They have been in my vehicle for 7.5 years and still great. If you can't fit the boxes in the drawers you can get Front Runner draw partitions that bolt straight in.

I use the larger ammo front runner boxes as well but simply put 2 of them on top of the draw unit behind the second row seats and lash them down using the eyebolts/rails. For extended trips, 4 x boxes will sit on top of the draw unit.

As an aside, I remove remove the centre second row seat and slip the Engel in there on the floor using 10mm eyebolts as replacements for the seating bolts.

An amazing elegant combined solution to in-vehicle storage in my opinion.

All the best

Agro

That would annoy the hell out of me! Maybe hunt around for a slightly smaller box to get one that fits.

Originally Posted by AGRO

I have a similar drawer setup as you. They have been in my vehicle for 7.5 years and still great. If you can't fit the boxes in the drawers you can get Front Runner draw partitions that bolt straight in.

I got myself some of those! They’re great. The drawers come pre-drilled for dividers at specific locations which didn’t suit me, so I drilled a few of my own.

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That let me organise all my recovery and utility bits (air hose and inflation tools, jumper leads, puncture repair kit, multimeter, ratchet spanners etc). In the future, I might make some timber sub-dividers, but the Front Runner stuff will do for now.

I use the larger ammo front runner boxes as well but simply put 2 of them on top of the draw unit behind the second row seats and lash them down using the eyebolts/rails. For extended trips, 4 x boxes will sit on top of the draw unit.

As an aside, I remove remove the centre second row seat and slip the Engel in there on the floor using 10mm eyebolts as replacements for the seating bolts.

An amazing elegant combined solution to in-vehicle storage in my opinion.

I do like how everything integrates so nicely. If I can just find a nice solution for the third box in the passenger-side drawer, I’ll be set!

Cheers,

— Andrew

Air compressor

I did a bit of research and decided I'd grab an ARB CKMTA12 – the main criteria were high output (not interested in waiting for ages to air up tires), 100% duty cycle and decent quality, and the ARB seemed to tick all the boxes. I had a brief squizz at the Air Onboard systems, but I've got a couple of mates with ARBs and they're really happy with them – it seemed like a safe option.

With the under bonnet space filled to the brim with batteries, the only option for mounting the CKMTA12 was inside the cabin. My intention was to use the space between the side of the drawers and the interior of the car to mount the compressor. It was... a pain in the arse. The Front Runner drawers don't actually come off their runners, so the only way to get access to that space was to unscrew the timber deck.

In the end, it was a pretty dirty install process, as it's fairly tight for space in there. That said, now it's all put back together, it's pretty neat. This is mounted on the driver's side of the car, bolted to the side of the drawers. I'd previously run a feed from the main battery to that space and chucked an Anderson connector on it, so it was simply a matter of terminating the power cables that come from the compressor and plugging it in.

I wasn't interested in using the supplied ARB rocker switch as I wanted it integrated into the main 12v control panel I'd put in. The compressor has it's own relay onboard, so you're only ever switching the minuscule current to trigger the relay. They supply a four-pin connector (forget the correct name for those things is) which also provides for switching for air lockers. I was only interested in on and off, not having air lockers, so I simply cut the cable and connected the red and black wires appropriately into my switch panel.

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External lighting and switch panel

The external lighting is (for now) relatively straight-forward: two Lightforce ROK-10s either side of the roof rack for front scan lighting, a ROK-40 ultra flood on the back and LED strip lighting under the awning.

The Lightforce lights are great. They come with Deutsch connectors, so it's just a matter of bolting them to the spot you want and soldering the supplied male connector into your wiring loom. The ROK-10s are great even when you're not camping – it's nice if you're pulling up at night somewhere and you want to see the curb better or the number on a letterbox The ROK-40 is bright as hell, but where I've got it mounted, the light gets caught by the side of the car; we're not really getting the full benefit of it in its current position.

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I got this Switch-Pros rip-off from eBay. It's a bloody good rip off, in that the thing is identical – down to the instruction manual – bar the fact that it's neither programmable or controllable by Bluetooth. That's a shame. I'll probably replace it with the genuine article down the track. Still, it's pretty good and turns stuff on and off as it should. The backlight has been flickering though, which is annoying. Had to pull half the dash apart to get the wires through, but it was worth it in the end.

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That's it for today!

Hi,

Great install location for that air compressor.

How is the noise level during operation.

I have the ARB unit with the air tank but may dismantle it an install in a similar location.

Agro

Who would be stupid enough to pay $550 for genuine Switch-Pros gear.