SimplyPV wrote:how does she feel on the road kent? handling? body roll? cornering? feedback on the engine? how are the driveshafts responding? how bout power/torque? can you easily climb hills and pass cars now?
congrats on the emissions test! you said you were goin out for the weekend.... come on.. pics and tell us what happened!
I have gone from driving a Mercedes for 9 months to the truck. There is some more vibration due to the solid engine and cross member mounts with poly bushings though I don't notice it much after the few days driving it. The power certainly goes to the rear wheels as the front end starts to lift taking off in first.
The handling is very good considering that I don't have any springs in the front. With the Fox Airshox I can adjust the spring rate, ride height and spring curve progression at any time. They are 12" travel shocks and the suspension uses it all. The rear shocks dampen better not having them at such an acute angle. The Land Rover radius arms are designed so that squat and anti-squat seem to cancel each other. i.e. the front has very little brake dive and very little lift during acceleration.
I seem to have about the same body roll that I had with the spring under which wasn't much. I haven't driven it too hard yet as I am still getting used to it. I can always add a sway bar with quick disconnects or adjust the Fox shocks if I decide that I don't like the handling. The fast cornering that I have done it seems to respond well.
The engine runs like a clock with very good throttle response. Very smooth and quiet. It has the same HP as the Toyota 3.0L six cylinder and slightly less torque. The tach isn't working and probably won't. I think that the pulses and frequency will be off...I'll have to get an aftermarket tach. I was told by the previous owner that the "sweet spot" is between 3500 and 4500 rpms. Very similar to the Feroza engine. The increase in HP is very noticeable.
The W56 transmission has a lower gear ratio than the Daihatsu. I have 5.71:1 R&P's so the overall gearing is too low at this time. 35-36" tyres would help but I will probably go back to 5.29:1's or even down to 4.88's.
The custom CV drive shafts are the equivalent to 3/4 ton truck shafts with no vibration.
I was invited to go to Moab this weekend and didn't go. I just got the thing going so I will be re-torqueing bolts, changing gear oil, checking brake lines etc. for a while yet. All of the drive train (except the axles) and front suspension is different so I will have to re-learn how to drive it. Then I will take it on some easy trails first and work my way up from there. I have been told that it will do extreme trails and it probably will though I am not really interested. I want to go back to all of the trails that I broke stuff on and retry them. They are moderate and some difficult. Mostly I just want to get to the high mountain lakes to fish and camp...and not worry about breaking stuff. Just enjoy the trail, the camping and fishing.
any idea when you'll be able to come down for a visit? i need to get the ball rolling on gettin my rocky fixed up so shes road worthy again so we can both go out for a spin and see whats up. any idea when u will be able to start drivin it as ur daily driver? what else is left to do? keep us posted and keep up the awesome work! 
