Member Since: 16 Aug 2010
Location: Warsaw
Posts: 13
Disco3 "Overland"
Hi Everyone,
While I joined this forum several years ago, only now I finalized to build and test my „overland” Disco and thought it would be interesting for me to hear back from more experienced members of this forum whenever my solutions seams to be the right one for the purpose.
The purpose of the project was to build a car, which could be used for longer trips, across less developed parts of Europe / N. Africa, without the recourse to any fixed “camping” facilities, at least having few days of autonomy. I decided to source from Canada a LR3, with 4.4 petrol engine, considering the expected weight of the whole setup (close to 3,5T)
The car should be good to host 2 adults and 2 kids. Therefore it has the roof tent for two and simultaneously deployable full size internal bed (140x200 cm) once the rear sits are folded down.
Original LR accessories were used, whenever possible. No modifications to the electric and electronic systems were made (except the electronic module replacing the original air suspensions ECU, once the air springs were replaced with traditional ones). No drilling, nor cutting/welding of the car metal structures. Only existing fixing points were used for internal/external equipment installation.
All the electric/electronic accessories are powered from a separate and independent circuit, isolated from the original car’s electric system.
The whole roof rack is easily removable thanks to special system of quick and water tight connectors, so it can be left suspended in the garage, when not in use. The same applies to the rear boot space unit (water tank and camping stove drawer), which can be disconnected and removed within 30 minutes, leaving the rear cargo area as originally designed. Thanks to this design features the car can quickly be converted from expedition setup, to a daily use – if necessary, allowing even entrance to the underground garages with 2 m height limit.
Here is the list of mods. You can see in the gallery the pictures of most of them:
Base car:
• Converted to coil suspensions (Dunlop retrofit kit) - Dunlop air to HD coil spring conversion set (equivalent to suspension 2” lift), including a plug-in electronic module, replacing the original air suspension ECU functions
• Upgraded front breaks (4 pistons, Brembo Range Rover Sport)
• Special HD Italian alloy 18” rims with Continental CrossContact AT tyres 255/60/18
• Original LR snorkel and watertight air intake
• Spare wheel rear bumper carrier
• 95l additional fuel tank with dashboard operated transfer pump
• Original LR winch plate
• WARN ZEON Platinum 10-S (synthetic line and advanced multi-accessories Bluetooth controller)
• Original LR aluminum engine sump plate
• Gear and transfer box protection plates
• 4 front/rear hook-up points for hi-lift, bolted to the chassis frame
• LED DLR/Fog lamps (OSRAM)
• Bumpers, wheel arches, mudflaps and sills trated with Line-x
• IBS Double battery system with Yellow Top Optima second battery
• Front LED light bar 22” 150W
Additional and camping equipment
• Built in battery charger and 12V/220V power supply unit, with standardized “camping” plug in socket
• 2kW, 230V full sinus-type power converter, feeding the water tank heater (600W, thermostat control), for hot showers and dish washing
• 75l insulated, stainless steel, custom built water tank, located behind the rear seats, including water level gauge
• Rear boot space hosting 2 drawers box: one drawer containing the 2 burners gas stove and water sink with water tap, second drawer for food supplies, or other The sink has a waste water connection hose to dump the waste water away from the rear of the car, up to the car’s front, right wheel
• Top of the drawer unit is serving also as the top half of the internal bed – the other half is laying flat on the box and sliding forward, once the rear seats are folded down and the boot space separation bar placed between the B-pilar, as the bed’s front support
• Boot space separation bar (including the net) are mounted to the B-pilar using CNC crafted adaptors and existing B-pilar apertures, normally hidden under the upholstery
• Original air suspension compressor, now manually controlled used as “on board” compressor (for tire inflation)
• Rear windows shades and rear door windows mosquito nets allowing for sleeping with open rear door windows
• Rear AC system converted into an independent heating unit, based on Webasto AirTop 2000 (supplied from the secondary petrol tank)
• External shower quick connector, hidden behind the tank filler door
• HD aluminum/steel slim line roof rack
• Bespoke aluminum roof rack box, including mounting points for two 3,5kg propane tanks and gas lines and quick connectors to the burners mounted in rear unit drawer
• ARB Series III Simpson rooftop tent
• EEzi-Awn 270 Bat type, with independent, bespoke built-in LED scene lights
• LED working lamps around the roof rack
• Camping table stored under the roof rack
• Bespoke internal fiberglass roof panel for CB radio and all electric switches and fuses for the secondary electric installation, and remote control for the CB antenna extending/folding
• Active and passive GPS antennas mounted on the top of the snorkel, wired into the glows box for further interconnection with Garmin GPS, or laptop based GPS
• Waeco CFX 40 freezer mounted between the two rear seats (in place of third rear seat)
• Tailgate locks modified for manual aperture, in case of electric latches failure
OK – I guess it’s enough for one post….
I'm open for comments/questions
Quick connector between the stove and the roof-mounted propane tank
Propane stove and sink
Manual tailgate unlock
Full size internal bed
Bespoke scene lighting for the awn
Eezi Awn extended
IBS Dual battery system & Parrot Bluetooth Car Kit
Internal bed on a front support bar
External shower
CNC machined aluminum fixtures for bed support bar inserted into C-pilar to support the boot division
net bar (the same bar which supports the bed)
Bed bar support fixtures mounted on B-pilars
Air to spring suspension conversion
Mosquito nets in rear door windows
Engine and gearbox protection plates
Roof console with main switch panel and CB Radio
Waeco 40l freezer/cooler
Last edited by wojtekrr on 5th Apr 2018 5:11 pm. Edited 1 time in total
5th Apr 2018 11:52 am
James W
Member Since: 27 Mar 2008
Location: Wirral, UK
Posts: 3067
A fantastic conversion, thanks for sharing. This could be 'Modified Forum Disco of 2018' easily. So much thought has gone into it, obviously, but I wonder why you decided to go to coil from air? (Genuine question, not criticising?)
D4 XS, gone, much loved, never forgotten
2018 FFRR SDV8 Autobiography - Gone to someone with less sense and more time to enjoy it
2016 Toyota Hilux Invincible - Liberating experience
5th Apr 2018 12:06 pm
grzesiul
Member Since: 11 May 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 6266
taking it to pustynia Bledowska soon?
loving the house and the plot of land
looking for smiilar over there any hints ?
5th Apr 2018 12:09 pm
wojtekrr
Member Since: 16 Aug 2010
Location: Warsaw
Posts: 13
James W wrote:
A fantastic conversion, thanks for sharing. This could be 'Modified Forum Disco of 2018' easily. So much thought has gone into it, obviously, but I wonder why you decided to go to coil from air? (Genuine question, not criticising?)
Good question...
I have some experience in expeditions/overlanding, so I started with the air springs and added special bypasses to be able to inflate/deflate each spring individually, in case of a failure of the system. I believed, I will be able to manage the situation, in case of a failure.
However, once it happened, the valves block didn't shut down all the valves, as it supposedly should, and left it in such stage, that I could not raise the car using the secondary compressor. It was in the middle of the serious mountain track in Albanian Alps and I ended up in "limp mode"...
Eventually - I managed to repair it, but only once I get down, to the tarmac and found a mechanic with a proper car lift. Could it be repaired on the track - where it happened? In theory - yes. Practically - no. There is really little you can do on a mountain track, while your 3T car is sitting on its belly blocking the track and the nearest garage is 80 km away. So I decided to further reduce my personal level of stress and let go the air suspensions
5th Apr 2018 12:49 pm
Heath_DA
Member Since: 05 Aug 2009
Location: Stockport
Posts: 667
Member Since: 03 Apr 2018
Location: Menlo Park
Posts: 2
This is an amazing build!
I've been looking to do a bed/drawer set up exactly like this. Would you mind sharing more details on the water tank and the mosquito nets?
Is the water tank located behind the rear seats but in front of the drawers? I am curious how you made it fit and how the lines are routed. Are the mosquito nets purchased or DIY?
11th Apr 2018 12:29 am
wojtekrr
Member Since: 16 Aug 2010
Location: Warsaw
Posts: 13
Ben,
The water tank is a bespoke piece built to fit exactly the space between the rear seats and the drawer unit. It was welded using stainless steal. It seats on the car's floor and gas special "ears", on the both sides, that are bolted to the existing supports of the boot area floor. Since the floor is removed, the supports were available To fill the tank I use a separate hose, with the option of connecting small, battery operated water pump, if there is no tap water available. Please remember to install a special water filter, biological grade, prior to the sink tap, to have always a "safe" water" source, as the tank can get biologically contaminated if you use different, ad hoc water sources, when travelling.
Then, the 230V/600W resistance heater was installed along the bottom of the tank, from the left side. The piece is from standard water heater, including the thermostat. You can see the thermostat head on the picture below. The heater is connected to the 2kW power inverter, installed under the driver's seat and fed from the second battery circuit, through a remotely controlled 200A relay. You need it to separate the inverter from the 12V system, when not in use (I use it only when the engine is running), to avoid significant parasitic load of such inverter, present even if there is no load on the 230V side. In addition the heater is connected to the onboard 230V charging system, that's operated when there is an external 230V source available (camping/home). This way you can always have a hot water for your shower or for making the dishes, even the next morning, since the whole tank is wrapped with the self-adhesive neoprene foam for insulation
The water filling inlet (marine type) is flush mounted on the top of the tank, right side, and its available through a hole in the bed's half panel, which otherwise covers the tank and uses the tank as the support, when the panel is extended from its travel position to the sleeping portion. That's why the tank and supports ("ears") are so robust - they can easily bear a top load of 300 kg. Aside the water tap there is a water level sensor, connected to the water level gauge.
Again - on the right side, close to the bottom there is a water pump installed, along with all the tubes and pressure switch. From there are two tubes routed:
- first -- to the fuel door, where it ends up with a shower quick connector,
- second -- along the rear of the "kitchen box" to the stove/sink drawer back.
That's where the difficult part of the build starts: in order to get the sink connected permanently to the water tube I had to build a double bottom of the stove/sink drawer. Then I inserted an PVC tube into this double bottom in such way it can freely move/bend when the drawer is extended and closed, while staying permanently connected to the water tap on the one side and to the water tank piping on the other side (box rear panel). All this should operate without chocking the water flow, once the drawer is open. This is something you have to experiment a little bit with, as depending of PCV tube diameter and rigidity, the length of the tube will vary few cm...
The mosquito nets for LR3/4 can be purchased in several UK Internet stores under the name “shades”.
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This could be 'Modified Forum Disco of 2018' easily. So much thought has gone into it, obviously, but I wonder why you decided to go to coil from air? (Genuine question, not criticising?)
