Yo gang.

Rolling out at the A-crack of dawn on tuesday from sunny AZ, heading to south dakota to keep the local pheasant population in check.

As a leap of faith, I'm taking the rover this year. the past 6 have been in my faithful F-350.

As fellow rover-heads, I need some suggestions for tools and parts to stock in the back of this thing to keep the bad juju away.

Just did whole power steering system, and T-case has been replaced too. Fluids up to date, its clean, oil cooler leak fixed, and no cooling system leaks since I deleted that moronic throttle heater.

Will have my trust Felo/Facom boxes with me, but what about parts?

throw it at me, this is a yearly pilgrimage across 'merica and I like it to run well.

 

I've taken my Disco on several road trips. It's a 98 D1, which I know is a different animal. I've gone from WI to:

- San Francisco (once)
- Rockies and Moab (couple times)
- Yellowstone and S. Dakota (couple times)

Like you, I have done all the maintenance and make sure the fluids are up to date. Other than that, I don't take any spare parts, just tools and the Rave manual on CD. I've actually never had any breakdowns or even any failures or close calls.

Tools - I have a nice kit I bought a several years ago which includes a quality set of metric regular and deep well 1/4" and 3/8" sockets, metric wrenches, good screwdrivers of various sizes, Spark plug sockets, a mini hack saw, hex and torx bits, wire cutters.
Scanner - I always take the OBD scanner
Misc - 1/2" breaker bar with lug nut socket (in case the included lug wrench doesn't do the trick), 1-2 gallons of drinkable water, Gorilla tape, electrical tape, LED flashlight, CB (although never really needed it, but it's fun to play with on the road), 1 spare spark plug (more for easily determining if I have spark in the event of a no-start situation), jumper cables, 2 cans of fix a flat (never used that either), tube of RTV, couple extra quarts of oil (mine doesn't burn a drop of oil though), Atlas and my National Park Passport book to get more stamps at parks.

That's basically it. Like I said before, I have the fluids and wiring up to snuff, hoses and tires are relatively new. Optima Yellow-top battery, T- stat, fan and everything that usually breaks is all attended to. Many years ago when I was a young mechanic, I used to carry all sorts of spare parts, even though I never needed them. These days I have a lot more confidence in my work. It's very rare that you'd get stranded dead on the road. The only thing you might want to squirrel away in the glove box for extra security might be a crank position sensor. When they fail, it leads to a bad day.

Have fun, it'll be a nice trip. I've been to SD many times. Here are some sights if you can spare the time that you might not think about:
- Scotts Bluff, NE - This is where the westward heading Pioneers on the Oregon Trail would reach this big bluff in the middle of nowhere and had to go through this small opening in the bluff. There's an interesting National Monument there with lots of good info, and you can still see these deep ruts left by the wagon wheels. I loved it, but my wife didn't care for it.
- Car Henge - This might be on your way. Western edge of NE near CO. True highway americana art. It's free and not very far off the HWY. It's in Alliance NE. I love this place. Definitely worth a stop IMO.
- Drives in the Black Hills, SD - A lot of people don't realize that Harney Peak (SD) is the highest peak east of the Rockies. There are many wonderful gravel roads and even some gentle off-roading which my wife and I think are great fun.
- Spearfish Canyon Road, Black Hills - Find it on the map. Nice drive. There is a nice trail at the spearfish canyon lodge you can hike.
- Jewel Cave, Black Hills - Did you know it's one of the longest caves in the WORLD? There are several caves to explore in and around Rapid City and each is a little different and worth exploring.
- Frontier Cabins - These are really nice cabins (new too) at Wall Drug if you happen to be hunting in that area. Worth seeing if you can stay there.
- Custer State Park - A lot of people really like Custer SP. I've been there and the magic didn't seem to rub off onto me, but it might for you.
- Usual sights: Mount Rushmore, Sturgis (if you're into Harleys they have some places), Hill City, a nice place in the Black Hills to stay at. Keystone, SD - A small town at the foot of Mt. Rushmore. I'd prefer to stay there before Rapid City just because it's way more relaxed. Hill City is even better because it has what I think is a better boardwalk with shops and stuff. At Keystone there is a banister slide which is fun to do. Rapid City is a nice small city too.

Well, have a great time!

 

I carry a bin of parts that a local auto store would typically have to order for me, TStat, spare cooling system hoses and clamps, MAF, stoplight switch, antifreeze and I'm weird so carry a spare radiator.

 

A radiator? Wow, that's hardcore!

I think that the CKS sensor is a good idea, I'll order one to my destination. Swap doesn't seem horrible, I've completed worse on the side of the road.

I am also learning to trust my work a little more each year i maintain my own cars, and have yet to spend any serious down time on a trip. Helps to have the means to get parts and good tools on order at a whim, but hey, that's why I work hard.

Double check of tool boxes, and I think the spare hoses/clamps are a great call. I'll also throw in 2 gallons of distilled water. I can always drink it in an emergency too, even if it tastes like crap.

Thanks for tips on stops - I love the "blue highways" side of america and try to do as much as I can off the highways.

Cheers boys.

- dc

 

Oh, and BTW, when I said in my earlier post that I've never had a breakdown, that was in my Disco. And we 'wheel' it when we go to the mountains often by ourselves in the middle of nowhere (smart, huh?). Sure, I've had some small things come up, but nothing major. I try to do as good of preventive maintenance on my vehicles and make sure to carefully inspect and change as much as I can BEFORE I leave home. Like you I guess I can afford to spend a little more these days to replace the weak links on my rig. Better than, than a long walk, right?

When I was going to college, however, I used to buy vehicles out of state, (often 1000 to 1,500 miles away) and flip them. Did it for many years, basically since I was 16. They were all low-buck vehicles. Usually I was with my little brother or my wife but went solo a lot too. I would always check them out before leaving and get them as roadworthy as possible. But, I've experienced just about every kind of meltdown and failure one can imagine from engine failure on the interstate, tranny failure, clutch failure, complete brake failure at stop lights (that wakes ya up!), ran out of gas a few times (faulty gauges), and even changed a truck entire rear end at a truck stop that literally melted the bearings and caught fire (just the axle, not the PU). That one I could have avoided because I checked the axle bearings and felt a lot of play and couldn't find a bearing in stock locally and left for the road against my inner voice. Anyways .... I've pulled apart numerous carbs, alternators, distributors, fuel tanks, gone in the ditch a few times ....you name it, it's probably happened. When I think back it's pretty amazing. But the vast majority of the time I never had any problems, and even when small things come up, ya can almost always limp home, or to the nearest gas station/parts store. And I NEVER relied on any mechanics or shops to help me (and this was all back before cell phones), except ONE time when I was in Page, AZ and it was 120* and the fuel pump went out and I had a full tank of gas on vacation with my new wife at the time ...so I went to a Ford dealer! I never called a tow truck either. The reason I don't carry any spares is I've never needed or used any of the spares I HAVE had, and you can usually buy what ya need or improvise temporarily. Plus the realization that it all works out in the end. A good set of hand tools, a multi-meter (a smart phone these days too) and the knowledge how to use them will take you far. I get a kick out of these guys who carry everything and the kitchen sink..

 

I didn't mention in my initial post to toss in a tow strap. You probably have that figured out. Never really used mine other than to pull others out of the ditch, but good piece of mind.

 

I have a primary set of tools in a bag that I use for all my repairs and take with me everywhere. When I perform a repair, if I find a tool I need that isn't in the bag, I add it to the bag. It weighs about 40 lbs.

Highlights:
Full set of metric and SAE wrenches, both standard and ratcheting
Full set of metric and SAE sockets from 6mm to 24mm (I may have added the big one for the hub nuts as well)
Various and sundry extensions and adapters
Standard 3/8" ratchet, shorty 3/8" ratchet, 1/2" ratchet, 1/2" breaker bar, 1/4" ratchet
Various tools like pliers, dikes, vice grips, extending magnet, zip strips, picks, torx and allen sets, 6 in 1 combo screwdriver (love these), large flat head screwdriver
Ball Peen hammer and a punch or two
Long needle nose pliers perfect for CPS work (I call them my Land Rover pliers)
Tire plug kit
1/2" digital torque adapter

Not in the bag:
Tiny emergency air compressor
Paper towels
Rubber gloves (so no hand washing is necessary)

During a major road trip I'll add a spare jack and 2 jack stands.

Parts wise, I suggest maybe a CPS, a spare belt, spare hoses if you think any are suspect, spare tensioner and idlers (these are not found at parts stores). Also a jug of oil and pre-mixed coolant.

The way I look at, the most likely failures are spinning bits, the belt, or a hose. The alternator can be acquired easily, and I believe the starter is easy also (need to double check this). Water pump I'm not sure of, but they tend to fail slowly so you can probly get home. Power steering isn't critical; mine died when I was 300 miles from home and I just drove back without it. That leaves belt, hoses, idlers, tensioner. Two years ago I wouldn't have considered bringing an idler on a road trip, but I got stranded a coupla years back when an idler seized with no warning at all (same trip as the power steering failure). Very luckily I found a sympathetic part shop guy who dug around til he found one that would work. I have since tried that trick again and had the guy fall just short of telling me to **** off, so I think I got lucky.

The CPS is maybe not necessary. Parts stores have them. If you are going to be in a very remote area, I'd probly bring one.

 

This is a little off topic in that the vehicle was a 1976 Mercury Capri. I drove the Pikes Peak road in this car once in 1979. It had a 4 speed manual transmission. It was great fun. If you've ever driven this road, you'll understand. I had just gotten back in to Manitou Springs after driving down and the clutch cable broke. I drove back across Manitou Springs and all the way across Colorado Springs by starting the car in 2nd gear when the light would change and shifting without a clutch. It would have been really tough driving down without a clutch cable. I changed it the next day in about 45 minutes.

I carry a full compliment of tools in the D2, but the only parts I carry are serp belt and idlers and a replacement CPS. I do carry fluids since, you know, Land Rovers leak a bit.

 

CKS and the usual tool wrap. Quart of oil and a pair of gloves. I have an older Motorola flip phone that stays in the D2 or RR and it will connect to a separate antenna. SD may have better coverage than ND, where you can go quite a ways with no bars on the IPhone. I also take a survival kit after October 1 since we've had blizzards roll in without much warning.

 

That's a good point. South Dakota in the winter I'd bring some cold weather camping gear just in case.