Tomorrow I plan on removing the front drive shaft (replacing it), but also inspecting the CDL linkage as it simply flops from side to side. I also plan on removing the rear drive shaft and lowering the TC down enough to gain access to the Interlock solenoid and bypassing it as the TC is stuck in 4Hi and will not shift into N or 4Lo. If I get all that fixed I'll finish that stuff by replacing the rear rotoflex coupling. If all that works out it'll literally be mechanically sound. I got some LED light assemblies for the rear license plate lights so all exterior lighting is now good to go.

 

Nice looking rigs! Are you able to leave your bedding in that hardshell RTT? Been doing research on a new RTT and that is a priority for me now. Fumbling with zippers, endless tucking while standing on rock sliders, in the rain and cold...is getting as old as l am...lol.

 

Yes I have my sleeping bag and pillow in the RTT along with the ladder and the 2 shoe bags, and the 2 small awning rods. I had that iKamper 3.0 king size RTT and I was SUPER disappointed in it for several reasons. First off that hard plastic is still like an egg shell and a small tree branch put 2 holes into it on it's outing!!!! Second the ladder stores up against the sky light window and eventually it scratches and marks the window. Third it doesn't have seals all the way around it when stored and it can get moldy. Last but not least it was a total PITA to fold back up!!!! Opening it wasn't bad, but folding it on a lifted D1 and only being 5ft 8 made it stupid without a small ladder. The OVS Mamba is a 15 second job to open and another 30sec to reach in and grab the rain fly awning arms. Climb up the rear ladder, release 2 metal latches, and lift up!! If I'm by myself I don't even use the ladder tbh. I can simply climb up the cargo door D1 ladder, stand on the tire and get into the tent. To close it you simply pull down and tuck the sides in as it folds and once the air is out of it double check it's all folded up inside and push it closed and latch it. The Mamba has seals all the way around as well so it's literally closed up from the elements. The tent also has 2 rails built into the aluminum hard body so you can mount things to it if you wanted to. To me personally the iKamper was not worth the $$$$ vs the OVS Mamba.

 

I got the front drive shaft off after nearly 3hr with fighting with OEM nuts that were nearly all rounded off. Someone thought they did a good thing by upgrading the D1 stock front drive shaft to a D2 style, but OMG was I lucky.... I only drove the Eco around neighborhood at slow speeds and I thought I heard chirping. Well both upper U-Joints were completely trashed along with the center ball. It was literally broken and simply bound up and holding itself together by hopes and dreams!!!! That transmission was doomed had I probably even gone 5 miles at 50MPH. I didn't have as much time as I had wanted this weekend, but I did look at the CDL linkage and it looked intact. I'm going to have to investigate the CDL function and the entire TC eventually as I think something is going on with it. Got the rear rotoflex swapped out as well and called it a day. I fixed a few other misc things as usual as well. Both F/R sway bar bushings were completely gone so like the other 2 XD's I simply removed the sway bars.

 

Thank you, great info!

 

I hate driveshaft flange nuts. Such a pain in the neck.

 

Yeah they're bad enough in good condition but these had seen plenty of slips n 12 point vs a good 6 point lol. I was extremely happy once I won that battle!! Next up the Hi/N/Lo Interlock solenoid and to investigate the CDL linkage further.

 

I bled the brakes again and this time the MC started leaking from the reservoir seals. Off to a parts bin that came with the Eco to locate a NIB aftermarket MC. Installed it, bled the brakes, and had a good pedal. Took it for a drive and it was fine, but then parked it. Went to move it later and the pedal is squishy again. I'm sure some air we didn't get on the first go around made it's way thru the system somewhere.

 

I was recently laid off 3 days from my 6 year anniversary. With that said it gave me some time to tinker with the Eco Challenge. First I had to wash it as the neon green pollen was all over it! Ever since I got it the idle was a solid 1k no matter what upon startup AC on, AC off, and I was very suspicious lol. I removed the IAC to find a brown/black molded hole of the IAC filled with goo.... The head of the IAC spun freely and my guess is it got stuck into place via all the goo and simply stripped/broke. I cleaned the IAC hole, got a new spare IAC I had in my XD after the 2,600 mile NM trip I had just come back from ( had a blast out there )!!! Reset the adaptions and took her for a spin. Now she idles up/down like she is supposed to so one small victory there. Next up between job hunting ( looking into a totally new career ) I would like to replace all the shocks with the longer units I have (eyelet nuts are like fused on sadly.... and I want to save the shocks as they're nearly brand new OME shocks). I then drove the old gal to a friends house about 60 miles round trip and she drover pretty darn good minus the short shocks in the rear overextending over big bumps.