[commander]

Back from Boda 14 and you guys deserve all the praise thats coming your way from all corners. The trails were unbelievably good with a test for both man and machine. This year also had very few breakages from all the participants but thats not to say it was simple. It was a balance of driving skill, vehicle performance and at some points the drops were so intense that we went through only because it was Boda certified. The amount of recce and effort to bring out this event in an isolated place deserves special mention. I just wish we had more trails as some of us had a very light day one but was made up for that on day 2.

PS: Pic from my scrap book is from my 11 standard which I forgot to mention. Reminds me of Mr. Bean otherwise :P

My Commander - Started the day with a bit of guilt, nervousness and edginess mainly due to SPOA conversion. Since I barely drove my Commander on road after the body and off road after the SPOa conversion. My drive through to Kanakapura had me satisfied with the on road performance of the vehicle. Running with the front sway bar connected on road gives a much more balanced feedback to the Jeep. Once off road tested with both front and rear sway bars disconnected. We were given some lovely trails but I was sweating out the whole morning. Most trails had been on the slopes and it would just panic seeing the Jeeps ahead of me. But once I got there done what had to be done and was relieved. By afternoon , settled in and enjoyed the rest of the OTR. The second day was all rocks and I just loved the way it monster'd through the trail effortlessly. Just enjoyed every bit of the Jeep without me having to worry about my gearbox bed or anything.

The first pic in this trail on the first day had me hanging for dear life. However my spotter were pretty confident and it doesnt look that bad at all.





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Regards
Barani.

[commander]

Its been a quite year with the Jeep so far with maybe about five to six locally organized OTRs which brought some great experiences.

Spoa: After converting to this set up the Jeep has just been phenomenal offroad. Solved multiple issues on the LWB. The only drawback so far was a busted drag link due to this set up on some hard rock trails. That and access to the Jeep without side steps.

Chassis mounted roll cage: Somehow i could not fabricate this set up with much success. I was not too happy with the roll cage as I found it really difficult to isolate the vibrations passed on from the chassis to the rollcage. After studying various other forums and analyzing pictures realised a few errors in the set up and decided to scrap it altogether. I have lost most of the pics on my phone but found one in my whatsapp list. For one as you can see from the picture below, it should have another link from somewhere in the middle as a well as down so that all the pipes are linked at various intervals and run throughout the Jeep. The use of rubber bushing between the mounts would have also aided better damping. Somehow I still wasnt convinced that this is something necessary for my build and planned to do something simpler.



Rollcage: Actually after seeing more pics on google, decided that what i was looking for is right there - the land rover defender rollcage. After months of fabricating the pipes finally got time to finish up the rollcage. Overall Im quite satisfied but i messed up a calculation of the side pipes. Not wanting to run around again (bender especially) decided to complete it as it is and start the last phase of this build tomorrow.

Attaching a few other pics.

[commander]

The last stage of this rebuild is completed and am very happy with the trail runs so far. Will be posting more pics next week cos my phone camera has gone nuts. The upgrades done are explained below.



To Beboy John sir for personally sparing his time and resources in helping me to complete this phase. First pic thanks to you.






3m antirust: Got the entire body and firewall coated with 3m anti corrosive paint. Costs Inr 410 a litre and lets see how well it works. Also when insulating firewall at the liner's shop, they have thermocol sheets of varying thickness (5mm to 10mm and so). Didnt know that earlier and have used the thicker sheets.





Dynamat extreme: Insulated inside the cabin with dynamat extreme. I would say that it definitely cuts out the 90% heat. As far as the noise is concerned, the clatter of the Di becomes a murmur inside the cabin. Satisfactory results maybe due to the open KMT and gearbox shield openings.

The major issues with SOA lift affects the steering geometry due to the angle on dragling and steering arm(pitman arm). With my current phase of rebuild the problem just got a lot worse.



I had been running the above setup of SOA with a bent draglink(not the one in above pic) near the leaf springs. It did serve me well for a couple of OTRS but then gave way in the middle of the trail(pic above). On a rocky trail the drag link couldnt hold it much longer and lost its strength. This had me trek down for two hours and trek back with a mechanic and tools. I was looking to strengthen the next one but didnt find much material online and dropped the idea.





(Pics source: Google images. For reference. )
Had this thought for a long time in my mind about extending one end of the pitman arm to correct the angle of drag link but found help on google. As I was searching for mods on pitman arm i came across this set up called drop pitman arm. The pics explain how this setup is and has been used on lifted vehicles in many forums.

I picked up a DCM toyota pitman arm for this purpose and got it forged at the local blacksmiths as in picture. The DCM arm is a good three-four inches longer than the MRCBT arm which gives a good drop for the drag link. The arm is heated to cherry red for about half an hour or so with coal in the hand run blowers and bent so that the ends of both pitman arms fall in line and allowed to cool slowly. The milling of the Dcm unit is removed to accomodate the milling body of the original arm and welded together. The other end of the pit man arm is reinforced with copper bushing for the end of the drag link to sit. A good lathe shop should be able to do this I guess. Currently running this setup.

Did come across another set up called hi steer, where both the tie rod and drag link move above the leaf springs in SOA. A special fabrication is required at the knuckles but dont have the resources to try this one.

Moving over to leaf springs:

Had run the original six pack leaf spring of the chassis on SOA and it was ok. Under articulation however the leaf packs find it harder when the vehicle is tilted due to the weight transfer. Re-chambered with two second main leafs now and the Jeep has a sort of nose up stance a bit. Monstering over bad roads has never been much more fun. It kinda takes it all in the stride without transfering much inside and surprised by how much you can change by playing around with them.

Unfortunately for rear got the wrong ones - pick up ones with six leafs(8mm atleast). Got to almost throw up after the first 100 kms and recambered with only three main and one short leafs. Ride has improved tremendously and is a joy on bad sections but still lacks that little bit on the highways. Will be reverting to Bolero rear springs in a while.

Other headaches: Got to increase the bed of the rollcage as I have gone for OE bushes for the cabin (used local rubber mounts before). This has reduced the cabin-roll cage space but shouldnt me that much of a mess.

TO other mods as and when time and money permits:

33/35 inch mts - Dont know bighorn or dynapro.
Power steering from pickup.
Ac at Wecool Bangalore.
Front and back Lockers from Gautham.
Fabricate a heavy duty tire carries, bumper and rock slider.

And. Amen.

Regards,
Barani.

[sriny_blr]

Bharani,

Your Jeep has transformed very well..

It has changed drastically since I saw it on 2013!

[commander]

Originally Posted by sriny_blr

Bharani,

Your Jeep has transformed very well..

It has changed drastically since I saw it on 2013!

Thanks srini. Thats a long time in Jeep years Few new pics with a natural beauty. More finishing touches will be done later on the front bumper. On a more sane mind, I would have maybe completed the above mods by next year. Installed PS and 33 dynapro mts.

[commander]

Updates so far.

Boda 2015:

Kudos to Boda team. This year Boda 15, personally was a misery of sorts. Actually I was so pumped before the event because this was the best setup I have trailed so far. Loved every aspect of the build but lady luck wasnt by my side. On stage three of day one busted my front left axle. Left me gutted cos I was just having fun and that was the end of Boda 15. Parked it back in the camp and hopped in with Viji sir back to the tracks. By afternoon another friend from the team had also broken his front axles as well as his rear prop shaft. So we decided to hitch his jeep to mine and head into town for repairs. Since none of were having spare axles we planned on fixing his prop shaft and wind up. As we were heading back heard a grinding noise from my Jeep. On inspection found that the broken axle had jammed and cracked open my Lamda hub on the left side. Since it couldnt get any worse already we stopped for chai and evaluating our plans for the night To our luck another Jeeper Fazul who was heading that way was carrying spare axles and we offered to buy it from him. All went well and we spend the night at the mechs fixing the two jeeps for day 2.

Day 2: Now all fixed up, I just had to get my hands on a lamda freewheel hub to continue day two. Unfortunately even the lamda people werent carrying any cos nobody ever buys them during events. Then just like that when the convoy started leaving camp I was told that MP Srinivasan sir was having a set of fixed flange as spare. I have never met that gentleman before at events and he offered it straight away when I asked if he could help. Little known to me was that he has travelled across India extensively in his stock Armada 4x4 (a green one seen at events) and maintains a spare stock of essentials. Speak of experience and I failed to even carry my stepney. Thanks sir. Fixed the left flange, locked the right hub and set out for day two. The trails were good and the jeep did everything in one go considering it was a LWB and weighed much more than the others. Well now it was the turn for the left tire to have its day, while we were in the convoy. The minute I heard a thuff sound I knew it cos we were discussing these hankooks to have soft side walls and it has happened on another jeep with the same brand previously. A chopped stem of a bush had punctured the sidewall. I was gutted as these were tyres that had barely clocked 300km and brought my worst fears true. Borrowed my friends 31 Bighorn, headed back to camp, returned the fixed flanges to MPS sir and waited for my friends to get back and call it a day. Looking back now, I think that its all part of it and I have had lady luck when I was in way deeper s**t.

Hankook Dynapro: Apart from the one point as mentioned above, these tyres seem to hold up pretty good. I was running 15 psi during the event and will likely not drop below 20 psi in the future. The tires have no chip marks and after 3000 kms on road feel their wear and tear better than Maxxis. Lesser noise, good pattern would recommend it as for more on road occasional offroad.

Got the tyre patched up pretty well.





Fixed AC on the jeep as well. Did it in Salem itself and not in Wecool. Sanden 507 new (7500rs) fixed to the existing dash. Very efficient cooling. As seen from pic, it cleary shows the constraints with fixing an AC to a 4wheel jeep. The compressor mount and compressor comes directly above the front diff pumpkin. Getting a mileage of 10.5 with AC and no power drop as I have already tweaked the pump before.





Warn 8274: Got a Warn 8274 as a gift from a friend. Good lad. It didnt have the mounts so had to fabricate the winch mount and plate.




So just finished up with all this and another dilemma starts. Since the winch covers the entire air dam and the condensor blocking the radiator further plus my increase in the air fuel mixture has led to temperature shooting up when I begin cruising at 80+. The minute I slow down or gear down, the temperature drops to around 80 within a km or so. Now i have to start planning for a bigger radiator. Argghh.

Other niggles: Soon after Boda 15 i felt a sudden unusual sway in my Jeep at times. It wasnt much but it wasnt comfortable. Since I had lifted it and put PS, altered steering links, bigger tyres didnt know where to start. After checking each component and alignment it wasnt getting any better. Like when cruising around suddenly it would give a mild sway to the left and then come back. A casual chat with Mr. Dhanush and he advised to dismantle the front end to the basics and come part by part. Soon enough found the culprit to be the left side ball joint in the housing where the lower end was very loose. Replaced it and back to its confident best. A part of the reason maybe due to running a smaller 31 dia tyre on my way back after BODA 15 while the rest were 33 and it messed that up.

DI turbo: After tweaking the pump, very satisfied with this engine. During the build phase I was looking at a trouble free engine cos I wanted to have a jeep as a daily drive and a good trail Jeep. Without any ECM hassles it is solid but for a daily drive a NGT will be a better combo to this engine in terms of refinement. On driving the SZ plus you can feel an instant boost of power but more insane was this 2.6 crde and kmt combo that I tried on a friends jeep. This thing was revving like a petrol gypsy and was so addictive to drive. To put it it was more like a ktm duke on four wheels and does some insane highway speeds. Had my heart sold out to that combo but long term reliability and requirements towards my build just didnt cut it for me.

Closing shots.

Regards

[commander]

Changed the radiator to Bolero vlx ac type from the Marshal DI type as I having having trouble after the winch mount. Actually they look identical apart from the labeling and few minor changes to the mounts. Seems to be a better match for the DI turbo and AC.

After a long debate of whether to rework the KMT or go for NGT 520 opted for the latter. The only complain I had in my KMT was the noise. I might have opted for a rebulid but not many were sure if the problem would be addressed. Now this 520 is such a breeze with the option of 5th gear perfect for highway cruising. Yet to try 4wd. Also found KMTs with XDP and CL550 Di engines to be less noiser than the ones with DI turbo.

Will be reinstalling the LAMDA freewheeling hubs as I think they will ride even quieter. With the Jeep being a daily drive, the hubs look all the more necessary. The fixed flanges will be used during events, to prevent damage to the Lamda hubs.

Future upgrades:

Lamda lockers F&R: Opting for Lamda for service and spares backup.
3m Antirust treatment
Wheel arches

Added to more leafs to the front for the added weight upfront. Yet to re-camber the rear as now I can feel the rear shocks bottom out. Shed weight for a couple of days. Those doors are heavy.

Regards
Barani

[Shubhendra]

[quote=commander;3713092

The compressor mount and compressor comes directly above the front diff pumpkin. [/QUOTE]

Bharani Saheb,
Any perticular reason not putting compressor on top right of engine ? Did you offroad after this AC setup ?
We faced issues while fitting AC in DiTC, had to fabricate a compressor mount on top right.

Regards,
Shubhendra Singh

[dhanushs]

^^ Hi, he has SPOA, so I guess with a stopper, it shouldn't be a problem.

[commander]

Originally Posted by Shubhendra

Any perticular reason not putting compressor on top right of engine ? Did you offroad after this AC setup ?
We faced issues while fitting AC in DiTC, had to fabricate a compressor mount on top right.

Hi Sir,
I spoke at Wecool Bangalore a couple of times and he wasnt convinced either in fitting the AC on the DiT. I followed up on him a few weeks later as he was trying a different set up which didnt workout either. Since I was already having the Ac components except compressor and mount, went ahead locally. Also as Dhanush has mentioned, took my chances considering SPOA setup. Havent done anything extreme except flexing it a bit for now. Will update further. Can you please share a pic of the mount for reference when possible.

Regards

[commander]

Pic1: My CL550 MDi engine in SUA in stock set up. The minimum distance between the block and pumpkin is around 1.5-2inches max.


Pic 2: My commander with SOA and AC compressor mounted. The minimum distance between the compressor bracket and pumpkin is 3inches+. Since flex here should be lower guess the distance is ok. Hopefully.

[Shubhendra]

Originally Posted by dhanushs

^^ Hi, he has SPOA, so I guess with a stopper, it shouldn't be a problem.

I forgot that this jeep is running on SPOA, my bad !
BTW, i missed meeting you in RFC, was there for weekend, couldnt see you.

Originally Posted by commander

Hi Sir,
Can you please share a pic of the mount for reference when possible.

Sure thing, Jeep is in paint booth now. will surely do.


Regards,
Shubhendra

[commander]

The jeep has been fantastic and covered 25k kms. Few pics over the years and a small upgrade. The traction bar had a feast of my tires. Removed them and replaced the rear tyre. Professional roll cage, and cabin extended for leg space. Warn 8274 winch plate installation in progress. Looking to upgrade the engine/ gear box down the line in a year or so.

The events have become super competitive and expensive, not very keen to upgrade too much. Hoping more trail drives and BODA style events come more often.

[TwistOfFate!]

Hello Barani,

It's just amazing to see where this Jeep started and where it is today! Unless you specifically mention that it started off as a Commander, I don't think there's a clue for someone to realise that.

Kudos to you on achieving this feat. I can see how you grew from a novice to an expert now. That's what probably a Jeep does to you.

That said, in all these years of your perseverance with the Jeep, how did it fare and what are the niggles you face today? Would you still suggest rebuilding a Jeep or instead advise on getting a new That straight out of the showroom?

Thanks for keeping the thread going!

Regards,
Vinay (ToF)

[commander]

Originally Posted by TwistOfFate!

Hello Barani,

It's just amazing to see where this Jeep started and where it is today! Unless you specifically mention that it started off as a Commander, I don't think there's a clue for someone to realise that.

Kudos to you on achieving this feat. I can see how you grew from a novice to an expert now. That's what probably a Jeep does to you.

That said, in all these years of your perseverance with the Jeep, how did it fare and what are the niggles you face today? Would you still suggest rebuilding a Jeep or instead advise on getting a new That straight out of the showroom?

Thanks for keeping the thread going!

Regards,
Vinay (ToF)

Thanks Vinay for the compliment.

SPOA was the only out of the box mod that I went ahead with since my LWB used to get perched in the middle. SPOA has infact complimented the LWB and planning a few upgrades soon. Most of the rebuild is actually a learning curve and you have to be very biased about your jeep in the economical sense. Remember bugging Swastik Viji sir in a BODA event a couple of years back about the tyre wear and he said he lost his tyres much earlier in his Thar. Its about trail and error sometimes with rebuilds.

How did it fare?
So far it has held its ground and not let me down. On par with the convoy on trails I have gone.

Niggles?
Quest for more power and to balance that. SZ plus and bilsteins maybe.


Would suggest you to pick the next gen Thar as it looks like it comes with a lot of mod options. After that if you have to thing for it., you can always plan your rebuild.

Cheers