What will I break?
Discussion
Having random thoughts, as you do.
Building a Dakar from my 1987 RR Classic Efi Auto (which succumbed to the tinworm before anyone shouts 'sacrilege') and will obviously take it out to play in the mud.
Something will break before too long so what will it be?
Before anyone suggests it, I already have a spare bulb kit!!! Thinking somewhere along the lines of half shafts or trackrod ends.
Thanks
Steve
Building a Dakar from my 1987 RR Classic Efi Auto (which succumbed to the tinworm before anyone shouts 'sacrilege') and will obviously take it out to play in the mud.
Something will break before too long so what will it be?
Before anyone suggests it, I already have a spare bulb kit!!! Thinking somewhere along the lines of half shafts or trackrod ends.
Thanks
Steve
Nice bit of recycling!
If we're talking about what will break as a result of off road use this will depend on how extreme you take it and what level of strain you put on the drive line which is largely determined by tyre size and grip available. Your RR would have had 205/80/16 tyres fitted from LR, so if you fit a mud terrain in this size chances are you won't break anything unless either a) there is a serious shock loading/your giving it full bore throttle or b) the component is already tired so gives up at the 1st sign of off road use (abuse!).
If however your upgrading the tyre size, which I assume you will be given the big wheel arches on a Dakar, then this is when standard stuff starts breaking often! I run 36x12x16 Simex ET2's with ARB lockers on my Discovery but have a full set of Ashcroft CV's/shafts/drive flanges to compensate! Without these it WILL break CV's and shafts on every single outing. As a result of these tyres wheel bearings don't last long either. So it comes down to deciding on what size/pattern tyres you want as this will dictate driveline mods. For instance on my 1st Discovery I only fitted 205R16 Diamond back mud tyres and broke 1 CV joint in 2 years using off road at least once a month.
As to the rest of the vehicle, common sense really simply check everything that wears and replace anything suspect and it should be reliable. Also it helps if you protect stuff from the start, i.e. make sure seals for the swivels are good, otherwise they'll fill with mud and destroy your shafts before the tyres do! Also fit wading plugs, extended breathers are a good idea and also under body protection. HTH.
If we're talking about what will break as a result of off road use this will depend on how extreme you take it and what level of strain you put on the drive line which is largely determined by tyre size and grip available. Your RR would have had 205/80/16 tyres fitted from LR, so if you fit a mud terrain in this size chances are you won't break anything unless either a) there is a serious shock loading/your giving it full bore throttle or b) the component is already tired so gives up at the 1st sign of off road use (abuse!).
If however your upgrading the tyre size, which I assume you will be given the big wheel arches on a Dakar, then this is when standard stuff starts breaking often! I run 36x12x16 Simex ET2's with ARB lockers on my Discovery but have a full set of Ashcroft CV's/shafts/drive flanges to compensate! Without these it WILL break CV's and shafts on every single outing. As a result of these tyres wheel bearings don't last long either. So it comes down to deciding on what size/pattern tyres you want as this will dictate driveline mods. For instance on my 1st Discovery I only fitted 205R16 Diamond back mud tyres and broke 1 CV joint in 2 years using off road at least once a month.
As to the rest of the vehicle, common sense really simply check everything that wears and replace anything suspect and it should be reliable. Also it helps if you protect stuff from the start, i.e. make sure seals for the swivels are good, otherwise they'll fill with mud and destroy your shafts before the tyres do! Also fit wading plugs, extended breathers are a good idea and also under body protection. HTH.
The tyres themselves will put a little more stress on wheel bearings due the 12.5" width. Grip wise they will be fine but aren't 'extreme' so the drivetrain should be happy with them, my only concern would be that with the V8's instant punch that might cause a breakage whereas the Tdi would cause less strain. Unless you want to spend some cash on some shiny new parts I'd run it with stock items (obviously in good condition) and consider carrying some spares if you are going anywhere remote. If you do get axle lockers then ideally you'd want to upgrade to avoid the hassle of regularly breaking stuff!
On my dakar, with a 3.9 running 33x12.50's I broke in order:
Clutch
Front diff (replaced with ashcroft 4 pin and shafts)
Two rear std diffs
Replaced with a military 110 4 pin diff and 24 spline 110 shafts.
Then fitted 5.7 chevy engine - and fitted 35' tyres.
Broke the so-called indestructable TH350
replaced with a TH700R4
Then fitted a pair of turbos to said 5.7 chevy,
Broke 700r4
uprated 700r4
broke 700r4
uprated 700r4
broke 700r4
uprated
Still holding - just
4l80e next.
So in summary - the 3.9 manual trashed all the LR driveline when doing off-roading - doubling or nearly trippling the power with an auto (and not off-roading) hasn't broken any LR driveline, but plenty of chevy autoboxes.
Usual things things that break with big tyres are std 2 pin diffs and old 12 spine halfshafts.
Clutch
Front diff (replaced with ashcroft 4 pin and shafts)
Two rear std diffs
Replaced with a military 110 4 pin diff and 24 spline 110 shafts.
Then fitted 5.7 chevy engine - and fitted 35' tyres.
Broke the so-called indestructable TH350
replaced with a TH700R4
Then fitted a pair of turbos to said 5.7 chevy,
Broke 700r4
uprated 700r4
broke 700r4
uprated 700r4
broke 700r4
uprated
Still holding - just
4l80e next.
So in summary - the 3.9 manual trashed all the LR driveline when doing off-roading - doubling or nearly trippling the power with an auto (and not off-roading) hasn't broken any LR driveline, but plenty of chevy autoboxes.
Usual things things that break with big tyres are std 2 pin diffs and old 12 spine halfshafts.
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