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"A
Land Rover is less of a car than a state of mind."
from review of the 1964 Series Land Rover by Car
and Driver magazine
I own
a 1960 Land
Rover Series II 109 that I purchased in
1978. I have named her "The
Green Rover". During the years that
I have owned her I have learned her mechanical
limits and my driving limits. With practice
I've learned to expand my driving limits and have
modified
my Series Land Rover's limits where needed for
the type of travel I like to do.
I
originally purchased my Land Rover to work as
a ranch vehicle but as wanderlust set in she spent
more time traveling than working on the ranch. After
a while I gave in and transformed her into a long range
expedition Land Rover.
I tend to travel alone with an Irish Wolfhound, good
books and a camera. I'm prone towards a gypsy style
of travel where destinations are optional and not necessarily
desirable. Some days I stop in one location and wait
several hours for the sun to move into the right location
for a picture and other days never break camp because
I'm trapped in a good book. About the only time
I pay attention to schedules and preplanned routes is
when I'm leading a tour.
Over
the years My Series Land Rover, dogs and I have meandered
through North America, East - West from coast to coast
and North - South from about half way up Canada to
the Mexican border. The majority of my Land Rover travels
tend to be in the greater Four Corners area. The
longest I've been out on a single Land Rover camping
trip so far is 3 months.
During the years that I have maintained
and traveled with The Green Rover I have learned
and experienced a number of things I would like to
share. There is lots of good stuff here. I have tried
to arrange the contents to help you quickly locate
things of interest. As an alternative to the subject
contents below, you can look in the index which
is an alphabetical list of topics.
"for some reason
every time I start reading her site, I have the uncontrollable
urge to just get in my
truck and drive, or wrench on it or kiss it." Tim
Smith 2007 |
Planning the day's journey over a morning cup of tea
How watching TV changed my life
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This web site focuses on Series Land
Rovers, conversions and modifications to Series Land Rovers,
Land Rover caravans, Series Land Rover expedition preparation
and has Land Rover related photo galleries. There
is some contents relating to Land Rover Defenders, but most
everything is Series Land Rover focused.
Travel Related Articles
Land
Rover Caravans - Dormobile, Carawagon, Park-Ranger, Land-Rover
Explorer and X-PANDA-CAB
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- Land
Rover Dormobiles
- Land Rover based camping conversions manufactured
by Martin Walter Ltd. The Green Rover features
a Dormobile conversion kit rescued from a wrecked
Land Rover Dormobile.
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- Carawagons
- Land Rover based camping conversion made by R.J.
Searle Ltd. Includes model identification and copies
of sales brochures showing "Standard" model configurations.
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- Park-Rangers
- Land Rover based camping conversion made by Hall
Park Garage Ltd. Includes interior layout
diagrams and caravan feature list.
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- Land
Rover Explorer
- American dealer option camper that fit a 109
pickup. Available from North American Land
Rover dealers from April 1965
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- X-PANDA-CAB
- Pop up roof conversion with optional interior
furniture made in Colorado, USA.
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Early style Land Rover Dormobile wing badge |
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The following is from a 1966 Dormobile brochure
with minor revisions:
Freedom
WHEN YOU BUY A DORMOBILE CARAVAN YOU BUY A NEW WAY
OF LIFE
Consider these 10 DORMOBILE Freedoms:
- FREEDOM to ignore holiday hotel worries - and bills
- FREEDOM to live comfortably and easily in the open
air, out on the trail
- FREEDOM to decide and then go - straight away -
for a month, a week, a day
- FREEDOM to drive without tiresome towing, preplanned
end of day destinations or even paved roads
- FREEDOM to tour - Moab or The Badlands - and take
your home with you
- FREEDOM to take advantage of those spare moments
- those crisp, clear winter days - when owners of
other 4x4's stay at home
- FREEDOM to eat what you like, when you like and
cooked how you like it
- FREEDOM to sleep - comfortable and secure - at
the end of an exciting day
- FREEDOM to enjoy outdoor interests - fishing, boating,
climbing, photography, walking, beach combing- or
just looking
ABOVE
ALL
- FREEDOM to relax, in your mobile home, away from
the everyday routine and stress of modern life.
MARTIN WALTER LTD.
A high percentage of the Land Rovers taken around the
world are Dormobiles. On a per model basis I strongly suspect
that Dormobiles are the most traveled model of Land
Rover. Every
person who purchased a Land Rover Dormobile from Martin
Walter had travel in mind, often long distances to
exotic locations. I'm
always happy when I see another Land Rover caravan
out on the trail still exploring the world. |
Maintenance related
Articles
Series Land Rover conversions and
engine power specifications
Land Rover gearboxes and Common conversion
gearboxes
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- Gear
boxes
- An overview of the gearboxes used
in Land Rovers from series through
the present
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- Gearboxes
and transfer cases commonly
used with engine swaps in Series
Land Rovers
- Along with some thoughts on how to choose
among them
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- Gear
ratios
- Covers Series and coiler Land Rover gearboxes,
popular conversion gear boxes, overdrives
and Ashcroft high ratio transfer case
- 109 rear propshaft
lengths measured at
half extension on the sliding joint: For Rover
diff - 41 13/16" or 1062mm, for Salisbury
diff - 40 1/16" or 1017mm. The
difference between the two shafts is 1.75" or
45mm. A stock Series III 109 rear propshaft
is the Salisbury type since a Salisbury rear
diff was standard fitment on a series III
109.
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Suspension data
and modification for leaf sprung Land Rovers
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This section presents my personal thoughts and current
understandings on the subject of optimising leaf
springs and suspension for expedition travel. These
pages are grouped together because each one adds
something different to the subject of Land Rover
leaf spring suspension.
- Setting
up a leaf spring suspension for expedition
travel
- My thoughts on optimising a suspension including
making springs work better than new.
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- Land
Rover weight specifications
- Factory data for empty and Amax axle & total
weights for all series III models. Includes a listing
of which model uses which spring.
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- Spring
tuning
- Choosing springs that work best with your Land
Rover from the available Land Rover parts
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- Shocks,
setting your leaf springs free
- The shocking news and what to do about it.
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- Adding
ground clearance
- Some factors involved when lifting a Land Rover
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Adding fuel tanks to Series Land
Rovers
Brake conversions to Series Land
Rovers
Modification from stock Articles
Descriptions and
specifications
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© 1997, 2001 Teriann Wakeman. All rights reserved. Web
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