Category: shocks

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Installing the Radius Arms on my Range Rover Classic Overland Rig: Part 4 (Post #714) 8/10/2025

Thanks for coming back. This week I installed the Panhard Rod and got the rear Radius Arms back on the Range Rover. Interesting observation from the install. The suspension had moved due to the poly bushings failing. Probably didn’t help with me driving it.

The new bushing could not be tightened until the axle side had been installed. The was just not enough play in the system. On the first side I first tried to install it with the frame bushing installed. That was a no go. I could not get the axle side to line up the holes for the bush and the bolt.

You may encounter that when you are doing yours. I also had some trouble with the port side bushing due to my use of the cutting disc. It had carved a ridge on the mount that I couldn’t slide the bushing past. That took a little extra encouragement to get it lined up.

I used anti-seize on all the bolts. I feel pretty good about that. I’ll need to replace these at some point and it doesn’t help when they are rust welding themselves together.

The panhard rod still did not want to get lined up when I tried to install the bolt. I used the old bolt and drove it through the bushing to eliminate what ever was keeping me from installing the bolt.

I took her out for a drive down and OH MAN what a difference. This small upgrade fixed a bunch of the issues. She’s safe to drive again.

It was soooooo hot today. I tried to start early but just couldn’t get out of bed and started. By the time I was cleaning up the garage floor it was 105F in the shop and it was really taking its toll on me.

Mrs. Okierover got home from the National Senior Games where she competed in the Women’s 3v3 basketball in the over 60 age division. They did not have big point differentials so they were relegated to the Bronze Division this year. They swept all the teams but the last one out of San Diego.

The ladies of the Oklahoma Wolfpack played well and we were extremely proud of them.

My wife took our oldest grand daughter Cadence along as well as my son Drew. Erica even drove up from Spring Hill, Kansas with the boys so they could spend some time with Mimi and so they could watch her play.

I added a short clip of one of her games on the end of the video I posted.

I had some website trouble this week, so hopefully you didn’t come by and find it down. I got some TERRIBLE advise from Go Daddy’s online chat support (from India) and they managed to get my page hijacked by a restaurant somewhere in Maine(?). I also had no way to make any changes. They just kept suggesting I add products that would help me. It was all in vain because I had no protection after they had me remove my SSL certificate. Idiots.

I called back and talked to two help desk technicians (American) and they were awesome. The first guy was awesome. “Why didn’t they just put it back to the original configuration?” I said, “EXACTLY!” They nearly lost my business over this latest SNAFU.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering. May the wind take your troubles away.

https://youtu.be/b23aFdQC_0E
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Installing Shocks on my Range Rover Classic Overland Rig (Post #710) 7/14/2025

In this episode I install some shocks on the old Range Rover Classic. I went for the basic shocks this time. Ordering these from Atlantic British resulted in Boge brand shocks for the front and Girling for the back. The item should have been four from Boge, but I guess they didn’t have the stock and swap the parts for what they did have.

I went about installing them and guess what I found??? RUST. I know, you are shocked, but it’s true. The cups that hold the rubber bushings were very rusty. I cleaned them up the best I could and painted them with Rust Inhibitor paint.

I have no fantasy in my mind that this will stop the rust, but it did FEEL good to try. Also the nuts were VERY corroded and were quite a chore to remove. In order for me to not go through that again, I added some anti-seize goo to the thread parts of the shock. It won’t affect the nuts staying in place because they are nylocs.

The install went about as I expected. I did one front and one back for the video. I’ll do the other half next week and start looking at all the parts that have to come off to replace the bushings.

Thanks for reading, like and subscribe if you watch the attached video, and Happy Rovering.

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Unboxing with a Bad Back Parts for my Range Rover Classic Overland Rig (Post #709) 7/7/2025

I am still recovering from my back injury. I am able to unbox my bushings and shocks. Boring I know, but you do what you can when you are not quite 100% (or even 60%). Next video will be an install video for shocks for my Range Rover Classic Overland Rig.

I bought the basic shocks and a set of bushings. The rubber type. No matter what I read about poly bushings, I have experienced them failing. They are good for about 5 years. For half the price you can buy rubber bushing that last twice as long. I fell for the hype one time. Not again. If I could get OEM rubber bushings I would install them every time over poly.

The shocks I ordered were also the basic shocks. I could have popped for another set of Terrafirmas or Old Man Emu but I am on a budget. The Big White Bus had Old Man Emus on it when I first swapped the shocks. At that time I put Terrafirma on her. They served me well and I have no complaints.

So this time I went budget and if I notice them failing in the future and my need for better shocks comes up again, I’ll investigate a “name brand”. Girling is a recognized provider for British autos and motorcycles. I make a joke in the video about “girly” shocks, I’m sure these will be fine for the type of driving I do. The front set is Boge which is a German brand. I’ve never heard of them. I’m sure they will be fine too.

The next step will be removing all the suspension parts that are going to get new bushings and taking them up to my friend’s shop to press the old out and the new in. How exciting! I wonder if Mike will quote another “Love Buffet” song for us? Love Buffet’s lead singer passed away in 2024.

Thanks for reading, like and subscribe, and Happy Rovering.

https://youtu.be/gHp8XaVtDaI
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Planning the Suspension Repairs for my Range Rover Classic Overland Rig (Post #708) 6/29/2025

Camp Mimi 10 is in full swing. Part of Camp Mimi this year is Mrs. Okierover taking the grands to a “cabin” in Medicine Park, Oklahoma. Its a house, but if she wants to call it a cabin, whatever.

With that she needed to take the Honda Pilot to the dealer for a check of the air conditioning. We had a lively debate as to whether or not it was actually cooling when we went to get a Fro-Yo from Braums last weekend. My assertion was it was NOT cooling. She insisted it was and I said, “whatever you think dear…”. So she didn’t get it looked at and drove it to Kansas to pick up Lucas and Logan.

When she got back she said it was NOT cooling. So off to the dealer for investigation. No leaks just 6 year old coolant. So they swapped it out. Yay cooling!

They also told us that our brake pads wore dangerously worn. She told them I would take care of it. I stopped by O’Reilly’s on the way home picked up a set of pads $92.00(US) or there abouts.

I swapped them first thing Saturday. They were NOT dangerous if anything they were about half way. The pads wear pretty unevenly. The inside pads wear less than the outside pads. I need to get over to the Piloteer Message Board and see what that is all about. While I was swapping them, I managed to do one stupid thing and put my back out.

It doesn’t take much, and I’ve been REALLY careful for nearly a year, so it was pretty unexpected that I cut my weekend short by screwing that up.

I’ve started my steroids and am popping Ibuprofen like an over-zealous Corpsman was handing Chicklets to me. I see the doc on Tuesday, and I bet she’ll give me a steroid shot if I ask for one. I’ll be right as rain by the time the campers return.

With all that going on, I took Lucas for a ride. He enjoyed it. The ride just reinforced to me that I need to swap all the bushings and get the shocks replaced. I ordered them Saturday night and expect them this week. They will go in either late on Sunday or early Monday so look for another video then.

That’s about it, like and subscribe to the channel, and Happy Rovering.

https://youtu.be/jEocqJyciC0

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Let’s go for a ride in my Range Rover Classic Overland Rig (Post #705) 6/1/2025

I took the Range Rover around the block (technically the section lines) to get all the fluids warmed up and to gauge road readiness. The fluids did get hot. The RRC is NOT ready for the road.

What I experienced was a vehicle that has some obvious issues.

First, the shocks. I think they are tired and probably done. They’ve been on this truck for at least 15 years.

Second, my medium springs on an empty truck make the ride pretty harsh. I’ve pulled all the seats out and all the interior. Besides the noise, it has very little on board to make the springs do anything.

Third, there are some bushings that have failed. You’ve seen the poly bushes in the back failing. I also experienced the signs of a panhard bush failing when the truck dives right when I let off the gas. Probably wouldn’t hurt to get them all refreshed.

I have this crazy idea to take the truck over to Mickey’s Garage and have him get her up on the lift to do an inspection. If I could get a list of all the stuff that needed replacement, I’d feel better about what I needed to do next.

In the video, I talk about my coolant being low. It took about a half gallon to top her off. Considering how long she’s sat and air bubbles getting flushed out from the engine being at full revs I’m not worried about the level changing like that.

I also had a brake light on. I had replaced the plug on the brake fluid reservoir. I got the wires swapped into the new plug and I guess one had a poor connection. I fussed with it and the light went out. I’ll probably crimp the spade connectors again to tighten them up.

I also showed off my new Knightsbridge seat covers with Molle. I’ve got a couple of bags on there and am scouring Pinterest on the potentials.

That’s about it for this week.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

https://youtu.be/WDFVjEBxj08
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Rust and the Art of Welding (Post #332) 4/22/2013

Do you know what this part is?

Nope, it’s an upper shock mount on a Range Rover Classic. Wait, what? You guessed that right? Bully for you. This weekend I climbed under the Range Rover to swap out the old and tired Old Man Emu shocks I bought in 2001. Before it was over, I had ordered two of these.

I sourced a set of Terrafirma shocks from Atlantic British and they had been languishing in their boxes on my garage floor. It was time to replace them.

The front shocks on went without a hitch. However the rear shocks were quite the ordeal to remove. It required me using the electric impact wrench. (Brilliant tool, by the way. If  you don’t have one, get one.) The rust was terrible. I have pictures to share in another post.

The nuts were welded to the shafts with corrosion and after hitting them with the impact wrench they just spun on the shafts. I had always wondered why people buy shock mounts, they are made out of metal right? How pictures have you seen or witnessed in person a person breaking a shock mount on the trail? I used to think these things were from hard use. Apparently they are from “use”. The part is shipped from the factory unpainted and you know what that means. RUST.

This means that after just a few years the rust has begun and the structural integrity of that part is being compromised. After climbing around under the Range Rover this weekend I was really surprised at how much rust was forming on the parts I had painted with Marhyde Self-Etching Primer just a summer ago.

If I had the budget and time I would probably pull the major bits and have them all powder-coated. But that is not really practical nor affordable. If I were doing a FULL RESTORE it would be. But I’m not, so I’ll just chase the rust around, part by part.

Speaking of rust, I noticed the brake calipers on the rear are really nasty. I replaced the right rear brake caliper a year or two ago when I noticed my second caliper rebuild failed. Frustrated I sourced new brake calipers. I did not paint them at the time thinking if I needed to return them under warranty they would not take them back. That left them with what ever they were coated with to rust. Turns out they were coated with Pre-Rust ™. Yes, I just trademarked that product. I will show a picture of the right side rear caliper in a future post.

After pulling the wheel to remove the shock, it turns out, I will need to replace the left side brake caliper as well. It does not seem to be contacting the brake disc. I may or may not have mentioned already that I have a pop when I apply the brakes and I would bet 100$(US) that this caliper is sticking and the culprit.

So what started as a Difficulty Scale 1 shock replacement, is going to be four jobs:

  • Replace Upper Shock Mounts
  • Rust Abatement on Right Rear Brake Caliper
  • Rust Abatement on Left Rear Brake Caliper
  • Replace Left Rear Brake Caliper

I think I will pull the right rear caliper and take it to JagGuy’s shop this coming weekend and sand blast the rust off. Then everything will get two coats of primer and get slapped back on. I wonder if anyone makes a “portable sand blaster”? I’m guessing Google is going to get work out on that search string later today.

I missed SCARR this weekend (http://scarr.texasrovers.org/) I really wanted to go but the time was not available. And as it turned out, my Range Rover wasn’t ready either.

Happy Earth Day. I hope it was awesome for you. In honor, I cut down a tree Sunday which was encroaching on my swimming pool. Up with people! (there will be no singing).
Smoke’m if you’ve got’em.

Thanks for reading, and Happy Rovering.

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