Canadian Disco 2 Build

R_Lefebvre

Expedition Leader
Well, after a long hiatus, I'm back!

Currently, my Disco is outstanding in it's field.

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Life took a few unexpected turns. Around 2010 I fell deep, deep deep down the rabbithole of UAV technology and started a company, which consumed my life almost entirely for the past few years. I actually took no vacation at all in 2016. But I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now, and hoping to get back into this stuff.

I have a few things that I build for the truck and trips I did after this thread ended. But the thread is such a mess now, now sure if I should bother continuing it or just start a new one. Not planning on spending days and days repairing broken picture links.
 

Jwestpro

Explorer
Based on the 6 year gap and the quality of the few drama posts just above yours...I'd say start anew as you are in life :)

Glad you're living though and trying new things !!
 

94Discovery

Adventurer
Well, after a long hiatus, I'm back!

Currently, my Disco is outstanding in it's field.

View attachment 401932

Life took a few unexpected turns. Around 2010 I fell deep, deep deep down the rabbithole of UAV technology and started a company, which consumed my life almost entirely for the past few years. I actually took no vacation at all in 2016. But I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now, and hoping to get back into this stuff.

I have a few things that I build for the truck and trips I did after this thread ended. But the thread is such a mess now, now sure if I should bother continuing it or just start a new one. Not planning on spending days and days repairing broken picture links.

Welcom back i thought you were dead �� last time we spoke at the OVLR Birthday party ,hope to see you this year :)
 

R_Lefebvre

Expedition Leader
Wow, reading back a few pages, I forgot how much good tech there is here. I'm glad I documented what I did here, because otherwise I can't remember what I did 7 years ago!



FYI, Ashcroft make a "new" and improved underdrive with a 2.69:1 reduction. As far as I know, it fits to any ratio LT230. I had one fitted to our 6x6 Defender, and it was invaluable. Mainly, as you point out, for extreme low speed/control. My T-case was the 1.6, so high range was low to start with. This meant that high-crawler was usefully lower than low-stock. I would guess with your 1.2 T-case, you will find them about the same. Low-crawler is a bit insane, but really nice for manoeuvring. Also, my truck was heavy enough to need the low gearing for extra torque.

Price per his website is £1500. Then you need the linkages. (I had OBA for a whole lot of reasons, so I just used a 12V air actuator, which I think is much better in just about every respect).

This here is particularly interesting. This is the #1 thing I don't like about the manual trans. Off-road, the stock gearing totally sucks. For many difficult situations, 1st gear just isn't low enough and results in lots of clutch slipping being required. A lower crawl ratio is really needed. Going 4.11 on the axles, and changing the high ratio to 1:1 is definitely a viable alternative. The final crawl ratio would be lower, without drastically affecting the highway RPM.

But I'll look into this too.

After all these years, the other thing I hate about the manual, is that shifting this thing really is incredibly terrible. I'm starting to suspect the problem is just the oil in the box. I used whatever synthetic fluid from Ashcroft. My experience with the MTX75 in the Focus was similar. All the performance guys swear the standard fluid is junk and that you should replace it with synthetic. The synthetic resulted in terrible shifting, it's just not good for the syncros. I changed back to the standard fluid, and it went back to normal. I'm suspecting the same is true with the R380. IIRC, it's specced for an ATF actually. Worth a shot.

For a long time, I was thinking it was just that the R380 is a bad gearbox. But at some point I got to test drive somebody's D1 with a factory installed R380, and it was actually one of the better shifting boxes I've used.
 

R_Lefebvre

Expedition Leader
I guess one thing I did that never made it to this thread. My rear cargo barrier. I wanted to do something to give me more storage, but not drawers as I find that they waste a lot of volume, are heavy, etc. So I just made a shelf system, with a barrier integrated. This allows me to pack all my heavy recovery gear underneath. And then camping stuff or whatever goes on top. In any sort of accident, the stuff piled high on top can't shoot forward into the passenger area. And this would also give some roll-over roof crush protection. I also replaced the rear door panel with steel sheet. No, I didn't make a table. I don't cook gourmet on the trail.

Yes, the CG is high if I pile it to the roof. But it's still much lower than if it was on the roof rack. And yes I have to dig for stuff on the bottom. Oh well.

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