I fitted the Rocky Mountain Roverdrive today. Another knob, another colour! The Superwinch built Fairey unit I had before had a black spherical knob that matched the main gear stick; only the engraved annotation differed. This one is more similar to Land Rover’s PTO control levers. I covered the stainless steel lever with heat-shrink cable wrap to make it match the others and make it a little more subdued.
It’s a little more involved than fitting the Fairey type, but not much. The good thing for those of you considering the same swap is that the operating lever’s location is the same on both types, so the existing hole in the transmission tunnel is correctly set.
I found that the main nut RM supply to replace the castellated nut is very tight on the threads of the gearbox main shaft. I suspected for a while that they may be a different pitch and that I was cross-threading them, but after close examination of the threads, I perservered. The other fitting issue was getting the front half of the Roverdrive casing to close up to the transfer box – it stopped 1/2″ short and didn’t want to slip in any further. A quick call to Martin Hogan (UK supplier) revealed that he had the same trouble. It’s just the nose of the casing being a little tight on the transfer box aperture – it’s a slight interference fit that provides very accurate location. A few taps of a rubber mallet saw it home.
If you look closely at the transmission photo, you’ll see the new oil dipstick between the Roverdrive and speedo housing. This sits over the rear end of the transfer box’s intermediate gear cluster shaft. The O-ring on the end of this shaft was weeping a little, so I replaced it before fitting the Roverdrive parts. You’ll also see the new transfer case inspection panel in the top right of the photo – this has a filler plug for topping up the transfer case. The operating link from the lever to the aft of the Roverdrive is straight, unlike the Fairey’s cranked rod. It also benefits from nylon bushed rose joints at each end, as opposed to the rattly clevis pins that the Fairey unit used.
The unit made a lot of noise initially when priming it. Once the unit is fitted, you add a pint of oil to the transfer box, select neutral on the transfer lever and leave the engine running for 5 minutes with 4th gear selected. This allows the Roverdrive to pump transfer case oil around and prime itself before being used for drive. The noise quickly settles down, but it’s a bit of a shock if you’re not expecting it!
I have only driven the vehicle off the driveway, on to the road and back to turn the car around and neaten is parking. The Roverdrive seems fine, though engagement/disengagement is stiff and notchy – it’s not nearly as easy as the Fairey. I think this will loosen up a little as the unit beds in, but the instructions do mention that many users slip the clutch slightly as they change over, unlike Fairey users who de-clutch completely.
Hi Nick,
You installed a Defender hand brake lever. Is it easy to install it onto Series Land Rover transmission brake?
Hi Kris
The lever is still the standard SIII item; I merely fitted a Defender gaiter to try to reduce the noise and draughts let through the Series gaiter, which not pnly has a tendency to perish and split, but also fails to seal the void inside the shape of the lever itself. I had hoped that the two gaiters together wold eliminate the draught and reduce the noise from the transmission area significantly, and intitially they did. Unfortunately, the Defender gaiter had an even greater propensity for self-destruction then the Series one, largely due to the different movement that this lever has over a Defender lever, so the later gaiter was eventually removed and the original gaiter is now alone.
Fitting a Defender lever is possible, with a little trimming and possibly plating/reinforcing of the seat base, but you’d still have problems with the linkage; the Series brake uses rods and pivots while the Defender uses a Bowden cable. I suspect that you’d need to fit the actuator unit from inside the Defender drum as well as the lever and cable for a retro-fit, and I can’t really see the point in all that work when the SIII brake works so well when used in conjunction with the optional transmission longitudinal tie rod (between the bell housing and cross member, as fitted to MoD vehicles).
Nick.