The Sellers thread

Well everyone it is a year and a few days since I purchased the Dicso from @Brandon318 . I thought this would be a good time to take a look back and and a look forward to see where all of this was going.
First the truck has been very reliable and has not required any more work that any other vehicle I have ever owned. There are always small things as a vehicle gets older along with regular maintanance. I know this is not the case for everyone, or even this truck. Anytime I want to learn about its repair history I can just look up Brandons posts on it. Which is a nice perk of joining this forum.

What I have done:
I was warned about evap codes when I got it. It was good right up until I was about to register but I was able to reset and drive cycle it just in time. I ordered a new fuel cap and purge valve in an attempt to resolve the issue. It looked like it worked but it came right back. I noticed that elevation changes effected it the most. I adjusted a hose at the fill neck and that reduced the code to only happen with big elevation changes combined with tempurate changes. When the code shows up it goes away now in a few days and to be honest, if it were not for the ultra gauge I would have never known about it after I had adjusted the hose connection. For all I know every vehicle I have ever known has done this but it never turned into a permanent code. I know my elantra complained every time I drove out of california until it adjusted.

I replaced the blower fan and resistor as the fan was failing. I figured with the cost being low I might as well do both. The fan was DOA so I had to return it but I did get a chance to clean out the old one and eliminate the occasional whine it made. That one connector near the blower that tends to go out went out so I fixed that as well.

I removed the rear seats (7 seater). I really liked having them under the idea that my nephew could ride back there on camping trips. But our camp set up is too much and I need the space. I have always been a bag/wool blanket and a backback kind of camper. I now have a home away from home and have run out of cubic feet to put things.

I have installed the inline thermostat mod and highflow water pump. I see this as a necessity for me now and wish I had done it sooner. Pretty sure I have a head gasket job waiting for me in the future. After the 5th time hitting 221 it developed a small slow cooland leak in the back of the engine. It only leaks when I am running at higher temps for prolonged periods. For now I just top it off every 1k miles. Living in socal I have to travel through the desert too much to keep the coolant system stock. Brandon did a great job with it, but I am asking the truck to do a little more than what it wants to do temp wise.

1 O2 sensor went out so I replaced them. This one I should have done earlier as a part of maintenance but it worked out fine.

I installed sway bar disconnects. This has made a huge difference in offroad handling. I do not want to get rid of the sway bar, I just want to get rid of it offroad.

I adjusted the back door to close a little tighter in the hopes that I will stop being dusted to death on the trails. The fine powder is a pain to clean out from that back. Water leaks I dont care as much about as I just toss a towel down.

I replaced the air pump. It was on its way out and I was getting ready for a long trip. It served for 18 years so it did its job fine. All it needs is a rebuild but given the distance I was planning on traveling and the risk of me doing a poor job (trip was 2 weeks away) I went with a full replacement.

I replaced the rear bags. Nothing wrong with them, just preventative maintenance.

Future Work:
The headliner still needs to be replaced. Right now in the current market it bothers me much less than the cost of having it done. I will do it myself when I have time set aside to do work that should be done while its out.

At first the sunroof had no issues with leaks. I attribute this to it being summer in California. I will say I get child like laughter when I hit the brakes and it comes spilling out the front. I just flip my hat upside down to catch the water. It not much, but its there. I will fix this once the liner is off.

Sunroof controller has ghosts in its blood. I already have its replacement and I will replace this once the liner is off. For now I pretend I am in an aircraft cockpit and have to flip switches to get everything started.

After spending time with the truck on trails I have decided that I am goign to switch to 16 inch wheels and 245/75/r16 Wildpeaks. I would like some extra sidewall for airing down. The disco is bouncy and the wife would like a smoother ride. Sometimes going slow it is like riding a bull. More than one head has smacked up against the b pillar (2 heads so not much more). I have another thread about the typhoon wheels I got.

I have 1.25 inch wheel spacers on order for the new wheels. I am a stickler for maintaining the factory safety envelope and every inch up on the disco is an inch out. With the new tires I only need .75 per wheel but a little extra wont hurt. They are also not so far out that I would need to alter the look and change the flares.

The rear bumper is cracked. I fall just a bit into the range to be a clydesdale and it did not like me stepping on it. I really like the look of the front and rear bumpers so I will most likely get a set. I will need to look into reenforcing them before putting them on as I would prefer it not to be a yearly event.

I plan on getting a vinyl wrap at some point to protect the original paint. It is in great shape and I would like to keep it that way. I will likely go for a clear wrap since I like the color and just want it protected, but who knows, maybe I will have fun with it.

I had planned on getting a chassis in about 4 years time but the wife has made her final descision that she wants a Grenadier. The chassis is good enough for the next 10 years so that will go on hold. (rust rust and damned rust)

Minor leather repair, again, clydesdale.

I will get front and rear lockers in the next 2 years. While the cdl and traction control is really amazing on this truck the front diff is on its last 30-120k miles depending on who you ask. Since I already want lockers I will treat it as a maintenance item and upgrade them. I dont really do hard trails, but I have learned the hard way that easy trails can become hard trails with a little rain and snow. I would prefer to be over speced just in case.

There are few things I always keep in my truck. My bugout bag (food water shelter first aid) and my tools (when I will be away from home). I have always had these in every vehicle I have owned but the gear has become unwieldy and I am using a big tool caddy for storage now. I will be making a drawer system for the back, half for tools and parts and the other half as a camp kitchen. When the time comes I will make a thread for the build out.

I would like to get rock sliders, not sure on the style yet. This is in part a part of armoring up the underside and part step for the wife and family.

So far all or the work I have done has been less than my camping gear and well within my calculated yearly maintenance cost. There really is not much I would like to change. I am very happy with the disco. Short of a true and complete total I will be sticking with it. The Grenadier is the only new vehicle that is of any interest to me and I see no reason to downgrade to a newer truck outside of that. At the end of the day it is a tool and it does its job it just looks better doing it.

We even finally decided on a name for it, Disco Dolly.

 

glad you love your disco. Constant work to keep these in decent shape

 

Glad to hear you're enjoying it. You should post some pictures too

 

I was thinking about that as the wall of text grew. Maybe I should go back and add some images bit by bit. It nice to have a break in the text.