Well that time has finally arrived.....must move the LR3 out of a stock form. Laurie and I have made the decision to change our entire setup, so the Toy Hauler, Dozer, Excavator, F350 and three Quads have been sold. In the door has come a new Evolution E3 offroad tent trailer, a custom built 20' toy trailer (kept the RZR and four quads) and more mods to the Rovers. We have one more "big" ticket in the mix, but that will be shared at a later date.

The LR3 is going to have to do some towing, so first on the list was wiring for trailer lights, a brake controller and a real hitch. If interested in watching the modifications, you can follow along right here.

Whats next? I have the lift, have the wheels, have the tires....need the time to get them on. Soon though.

More to come.

Dustin

Here's some inspiration for you, Dustin.

I've seen them perform off-road, and although I don't particularly like driving them, they really are very good at what Rovers are supposed to be good at.

Sweet!!! Someone else finally running one though the ringer!!! I've run mine for 2 years now. ARB will hopefully be the next mod for me...About the only give away is the roofline in this pic.  What year is your LR3?  I can give you some spare parts Ideas that you should carry. (I have broken my share of parts on the trail with mine)

Ryan,

I'm sure that was on an authorized trail, but because it gives the appearance of not being on a trail, and could easily be used by others to demonize offroading I'm taking the photo down.
 

Sorry, but that's the world we live in and the NW Overland Society is trying to build bridges between environmental stewards and offroaders.  Hope you understand.

Craig

Here is new shot that is much less questionable and also on a road.  This was also during the 2010 Northwest Challenge which was hosted by the BC Roverlanders and took place in Squamish BC.  The night before this I sheared a bolt on the rear suspension.  A quick trip into the Napa the morning of this shot yielded a temp bolt to get me through the remainder of the challenge only missing one special task!

Ben- Love that look...that is the direction we are headed.

Todd- Thanks. I am anxious to get it put together. Funny you mention the "first response" rigs, we actually were seriously considering it before we decided on the FJ platform.

Ryan- It is a 2007. Great pics you posted, not sure I will tackle those rocks right off the bat, what we have the DII for, but the LR3 will see its fair share of adventure.

Please do lay out any "tips" you have learned while off road with your rig...parts, do's, dont's and so on.

Thanks
Dustin

Installed the lift, 18" wheels with new Duratracs and the Curt hitch. Turned out pretty darn good. Still rides like a dream, really mellow tire noise and Laurie loves it. She is asking what is next? More to come. You can view the entire write up here.

Dustin

huh...so basicly those "rods" just fool the computer into thinking it's still at the lower ride hieght..that's pretty slick...It looks good just like they should from the factory.

Ben,

Benny has it....the new Johnson Rods are slightly different in length and they "mechanically" change the distance between the lower actuator (which adjusts the ride height) and the fixed mount above. This causes the height to be different than the factory setting in two of the three ride height positions. The picture shown is in the normal height position and is (according the computer) the same as the factory, but is actually 2 1/2 inches higher. Same when you select the off road position, factory plus 2 1/2 inches. Yes, the speed limit is still intact even with the lift when operating in the off road position.

While this lift is being run on many rigs and has been proven out well on the trails, you substitue price ($135 for the entire lift) with risk of a full supspension fault on the trail that would truly make the rig non drivable. That is if you go with an oversized tire and wheel combination like I have.  This can happen obviously on a factory set up as well, but you have a bit of clearance that you could limp out potentially running the factory tire and wheel setup of 255/55/18. I am now running 275/65/18's. In the not too distant future I will be running with a fault box so if I get in trouble out on the trail at least I will have a chance to get out.

I did a ton of research on this before I did it and would not have done it if I was not confident in the Rover itself and the overall mechanics of how this thing works and what the risks are. Everything I could discover and those that I called and talked to directly have had no issue with this setup and have run trails that are pretty impressive in my opinion. My plans for the LR3 are very different than the DII build we have underway. While this rig will see off road with frequency, I am not planning to run on "crazy" trails with this rig when way out.

I know that Rovertym makes a version of these rods as well, but I opted to go with Johnson Rods because of the stainless steel rods...the others are hard plastic simiiar to the factory set.

We have some runs scheduled this summer for the the LR3, once I prove it out I will report back with the pros and cons.

Dustin

So are the bags now fully extended at "normal" ride height with the lift? What happens if you dial it to offroad, does it lift even higher. Also what about adding bumpers and etc. would it then compensate and fill the bags even more.

No, the bags are not fully extended...they have plenty of room left. Even when in the off road mode (which moves the rig up another good bit), they still have room to go into a little known setting called super extended that get's triggered by the computer only in certain conditions. The word is that you might, in severe articulation, set off a suspension fault in that mode due to pushing the limits of the bags. Bottom line, way more bag on this thing then people believe.

Yes, slap on bumpers or tow something, system automatically adjust to the correct ride height.

Dustin

now that's just cool!