6000 Mile Massive Coast-to-Coast to Coast-to-Coast Trip 88 Hours!
We took a Range Rover from Denver to LA to Denver to Washington DC, to Rehobeth Beach, DE, to Greenwich, CT and back to Rehobeth Beach then all the way back to Denver. This was a massive trip going from the West Coast, Disney Land, Las Vegas, all the way to Rehobeth Beach, DE which is a beautiful small beach town without sales taxes and with great shopping.
This trip was massive, going through death valley in 129 degree start and stop traffic the Range Rover didn't give up. Thank God!
In the middle of nowhere, no cell phone service, the desert the Range Rover drove as she should. The only casualty another dash light in addition to the common RR CEL. The red battery signal which forebodes the ides of march for your alternator. She is still running.
We have done this trip in pieces but never within a week of each leg. This trip was huge. In fact this trip made me realize it is time to write an Range Rover Off Road ebook. Look for it soonit on Amazon now!
4×4 Systems Overview: 4×4 vs AWD vs Permanent 4WD vs torque vectored vs locked vs unlocked
The Range Rover has always featured innovated 4 wheel drive systems but there are many versions of these drive systems, in addition to the host of other Land Rover off road technology.
The first thing to note is that 2wd needs 1 open differential to ensure power is delivered smoothly around corners. This also means that if one of those wheels has no traction the open differential sends all of the power to the wheel with the most slip!
The Range Rover's locking elocking rear and center differentials enables progress when traction is low.
An all wheel drive system adds two more open differentials, one in the center between the fore and aft and two open differentials on each axel. In this system again the power will go to the wheel with the most slip. So basically if one wheel has no traction you still aren't moving by positive power train action.
A permanent 4wd system like those employed on range rovers provide a viscous coupling in the p38a, a torsen in the 2003-2005 Range Rover, and electronic locking in the 2006-on. The point of the (partially) locked center differential is that some power will be sent to the opposing axel so if one wheel has no traction you will still be able to move. Or if both front or both rear wheels have no or limited traction you will be able to move forward, unless truly no traction is provided and then you would need a locker, or an electronic locker.
A main difference between the h1 and the hmmvee is the differentials in the H1 are torsens and the hmmvee had lockers. The G500 also has 3 lockers.
A 4wd system implies a true center locking center differential and a low range, although new gearing and gearboxes have made some off-roading available without low range.
Jaguar Land Rover 5.0 Timing Chain Tensioners, Timing, Supercharger Isolator Coupling, Water Pump Replacement
The Jaguar Land Rover Range Rover has had the timing chain tensioners redesigned and have had reported issues with the timing chain tensioners on various forums including rangerovers.net "timing chain shot at 44k?" and on JaguarForums.com. This issue happened to me, immediately proceeding I was in a parking lot in wal-mart. When I got back in the car was much louder especially at idle. I knew something was wrong. I drove her home and began to look up how to take care of her. After getting a few quotes around 8-12 hours and 2500 from independents (did not include a new chain and retiming) and over "7,000 dollars" from Land Rover Flat Irons. I took to the internet and decided to look for Land Rover mechanics to hire directly to fix the car in my garage.
Adding Paddle Shifters
One thing many don't consider, is you can actually add OEM Land Rover Paddle Shifters to 2010-2012 Range Rover L322. I was first made aware of this via an ill titled thread on rangerovers.net.
The only issue with the install is that the L connector from the paddle shifters is the wrong sex to connect to the the wheel connector. There are a few work arounds. The one I would reccomend is using Powerful UK LTD who provides a sex adapter for the Range Rover "Flappy Paddles". The harder way which is of course the way I choose is to mock up a connector using a small 4 pin computer 3.5" disk drive power cord shaved down and pressed in very tight. It took a few hours to get the connector just right and I still worry that the connector may loose itself. The best advice I read is to ensure the flappy paddle plus and minus symbols light up with the lights on which will ensure they are wired properly.