Category: springs

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Where is everyone? (Post #407) 11/6/2013

This is the 42nd block of North Western in Oklahoma City. If you are a familiar with this block you have Beck’s Garage on one side of the street on the other you have VZD’s. I eat lunch at VZD’s every Monday. FYI: If you want to talk Land Rovers look for me on a bar stool between 11am and Noon.

I have never pulled up there before and seen it so empty. Not a single car in the parking lot or on the street in front. Very odd. So I snapped a picture.

Next door to VZD’s is a “salon/day spa”. So normally there is at least one or two cars parked there for the women who “do” salons/day spas. And normally Teresa Wall is parked out front as well. Teresa owns 42nd Street Candy Company. This is where I stop and pick up those fancy chocolates and candies that gets me nominated for Husband of the Year by Mrs. Okierover. I highly recommend you stop in and say hi to Teresa and get some bon-bons. You won’t regret it.

This neighborhood is known as Crown Heights. My biological mother lived at the corner of N.W. 39th and Western before I was born. How do you know that? Good question! I looked her up on the old Criss-Cross directory at the Oklahoma City Public Library. I was probably conceived in the apartment there above the house. (You probably didn’t need to know that.)

I’ve always loved this neighborhood and the great old homes found between Shartel and Western. One house on N.W. 41st street has a terracotta dragon sitting on top of the chimney.

Back to the Range Rover. I’ve got a very noisy left front spring. I think I’ll need to get it up on a lift and look at what’s going on. It’s annoying and since I just got those springs under there I should find out why it’s making those noises. Every thing else is going well so far.

I am going to the Battle of Honey Springs this weekend. So the Range Rover is going on a long drive Friday after work. I’m going to take the “Blue Highways” instead of the interstate. I’ve been listening to William Least Heap-Moon’s Blue Highways from audible.com. I’m enjoying it very much and thinking of a similar trip for some day in the future.

I used the roof rack as a platform to take a picture of our Halloween Block Party. Paradigm Church has had a trunk-or-treat set up each of the last two years. We set up games for the kids and hand out candy. We are getting quite the reputation for our “carnival”. We even have a competition between the bible study groups who theme their trunks each year.

My team has won both years. Last year we had a panel of judges, this year we let the kids/parents decide. We decorated as pirates the first year complete with a cardboard pirate ship and this year we had a Despicable Me (2013) themed trunk. We built a Gru-mobile and the shrink ray from the movies.

Everyone had a great time and the weather was perfect.

Good grief that post was all over the place! I could have made it two, perhaps three different posts.
Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

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Cool New Springs (Post #372) 7/29/2013

I just picked up the Big White Bus from Mickey’s Garage. We had her in to get my recently purchased Terrafirm medium duty springs installed and some air conditioning. The air conditioning has been out since RovErica was driving her back in 2009. 
The improved ride height took some getting used to on driving home. Fresh springs changed not only the ride height but how she “feels” on the road. I’m very pleased with the appearance too.
The air conditioning took some magic to get going. In the end a replaced compressor, dryer and expansion valve were needed. I’m sure the hoses will have to be replaced too. I can only imagine that the 20 year old hoses will leak. I’m optimistically hoping I can get through the heat of summer before buying any more parts.
I’ve already received some teasing from +The Evil German Dude . I sent the above picture to he and the former Titanium Hitch. 
EGD’s reply, “But will it start?” was expected. 
He ended the chat with, “Call me if you need a tow. It looks good…” 
I have great friends.
So today has been pretty good. I received my LEAN / Six Sigma Green Belt certification this morning and my Range Rover is once again sitting in my driveway. I’m doing pretty good.
Two more check boxes closer to Circumnavigating Oklahoma. Overlanding is where its at. I enjoyed this post about a legendary overlander Francis Birtles on Overland Live.
Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.
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Not a Failed Brake Caliper (Post #368) 7/12/2013

IF you read my recent post on a failed brake caliper, it turns out it wasn’t a bad caliper at all. Just a failed dust cover. I have since found that both have failed. Just another thing that is kinda annoying.

I bought a replacement caliper and even though the old one had not failed I replaced it any way. I’m having trouble getting the brakes bled correctly now. Just another thing that is kinda annoying.

I am taking the Big White Bus in to Mickey’s Garage on Monday to have the AC reconditioned, springs replaced, brakes bled (if I don’t sort them myself this weekend), and another drive line clunk investigated. I hope to keep the expense under the gross national product of Chad.

I was thinking of a beer commercial mixed with an add for Mickey’s Garage…

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering..

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Sooooo Incredibly Busy (Post #320) 2/20/2013

I thought I’d drop a note so you would know I’m not dead. I’ve been really busy with work and school. I completed the fundamentals for Lean/Six Sigma Green Belt (Strong America Now) over the last three weekends. I’ll finish my Green Belt project this summer. My SQL Server (Wikipedia) class at Oklahoma City Community College class is starting to kick my butt. Big test tonight. This is going to require more cycles if I am to be successful with it.

The weather also hasn’t cooperated. I woke up and drove in this morning (February 20) to GIANT snowflakes coming down. This is the second time this year, shoot fire, this month! I was sitting in McNellie’s Pub in Midtown OKC when it did this last. It looked like we were sitting in a snow globe.

We need the rain and/or snow desperately so I am not complaining. I hope it rains a lot more. The drought is the worst I can remember seeing it. Makes me wonder if I shouldn’t read up on the Dust Bowl (PBS) again. The days it did cooperate, I was sitting in the Carson Engineering Center at OU learning Six Sigma and Lean principles. I’m barely smart enough to open the doors of this Nerditorium, however, Scuba Seamus (Diet Mt. Drew’s friend) who is studying mechanical engineering was in my class, so I was able to sneak in with a kind word from him.

I’m at 37 birds for this birding season. I was pleased to see an American Kestrel on the way home the other day. Even more exciting was seeing the Redhead swimming in a local pond. They are migrating back to Canada and it was quite a treat for me to see one.

Grand baby #3, Prestyn, is doing swimmingly well. She is cute as a bug and we have pictures to prove it, lots and lots of pictures. Her Mimi is happy when she gets to visit. When Mimi is happy, everyone is happy.

RovErica is now engaged. She met a young man that Mrs. OkieRover and I really like. Best of all he thinks RovErica hung the moon. Bonus for us (the readers of this blog and I), he’s mechanical. And not the Fat Jack “I can fix it, I’m mechanical.” and then he starts wailing on the outboard motor with a hammer from the movie Splash (1984) either. He graduated from Wyotech while working on his Masters. Yeah, my evil plans to have him fix the ABS relay buzzing problem are already in the works. He needs a nickname for this blog…but I’m working on that.

Diet Mt. Drew is considering moving back in with us and going back to school. It’ll kill him to do it, but I think he’ll like the amount of cash in his pocket and the well stocked pantry and the free internet service and cable TV.

I’m going to the South Central Coalition of Historical Trekkers meet this weekend at Fort Gibson. I’ll take lots of pictures, not that you want to see them, but I want to take them. It will hopefully be a nice break for me. I need to let the flywheel spin for a few turns without me having to spin it if you know what I mean.

My new TerraFirma springs and shocks are in and have been sitting in the garage for nearly a month. I hope to put them on the first weekend of March. Mrs. OkieRover will be away from the house for a lady’s retreat so unfettered Land Rover mechanicing should ensue. I can fix it, I’m mechanical.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

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195,000 miles (Post #316) 1/19/2013

195,000 That’s a lot.
Just 5,000 more miles and I’ve  reached TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND MILES (dramatic reverb) in a LAND ROVER! I know there are Land Rovers out there that have crossed that mile marker and are about to lap it. I’ve only had one other vehicle with anything close to that kind of mileage on her. That was my 1993 Ford Ranger pick-up truck. I sold her after 185,000 enjoyable miles.

That Ford Ranger still had the original clutch in it. In comparison the Range Rover still has her original transmission. But not for long. I need to have the transmission rebuilt. As I have mentioned before, the  transmission is slipping. I know I’ll improve on my gas mileage if I have a rebuilt transmission.

In addition to the transmission, I need to sort out the sound system and get a functioning air conditioning unit working. If I am to make the Range Rover a daily driver again that will need to happen.

The door handles will also need to be adjusted again. I can’t seem to get those working correctly. I may take her into a body shop and get their opinion about it. The left rear door is so far out of wack I can hear the air escaping like I have a window cracked open. That is disappointing.

After that the anti-lock brake system is out of range due to at least one bad wheel sensor. Those are ridiculously expensive in my opinion. But if I want the factory system to work correctly I’ll need to sort that out.

Springs and shocks are on their way. I ordered those last week. I’m hoping that won’t change the drive shaft angles too much. The springs will provide a 2 inch lift. I’m optimistic that will not affect the drive geometry too much.

The last thing is the buzzing sound I sometimes get. The guess is it is related to the brakes. More on this as I get closer to finding the part causing the sound. I think it is a relay that is failing. I hate electrical problems.

Out on the periphery is a problem with the headlight being too dim. I read something once upon a time about the wiring harness being inadequate. It may just be a set of Hella headlights that have reached the end of their life.

Well that is a basic list of the things I have to deal with as the clock turns 200,000.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

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Terrafirma Springs and Shocks (Post #314) 1/17/2013

Last week I ordered a set of Terrafirma shocks and springs for the Range Rover Classic from Atlantic British. They should be arriving any day now. The springs and shocks on her now are a bit tired.

I currently have a set of Old Man Emu shocks that I bought the same month I bought my Classic. That was June 2000. I figure they are probably ready for replacement. While working with the front shock in my recent attempt to repair the left front shock mount it seemed to perform as expected. I’m not a suspension expert but I figure 120,000 miles on a single set of shocks is a bit much. For the record, I did not have a single complaint with the Old Man Emu shocks.

The springs in my Range Rover were put in to replace a failing air ride system. I’ve always felt they were a bit tired and the install was always a concern too. I have it on good authority that it was done “as standard”. But with out retention rings I always thought something was going to go horribly wrong. Luckily it never did. So next week baring winter snow storms I’ll have new springs to install.

I’ll need to source a spring compressor but I think I can rent one from my local O’Reily’s Auto Parts store. That is if JagGuy doesn’t already have one.

I think the silver color will go nicely with all the gray bits I’ve painted over the last couple of years, don’t you?

 Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

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