Ulysses

Brilliant day out great to see you showing the big wigs how it's done in a Jimny

That's hilarious. Imagine not knowing about the plywood try squeaks! I really would be maddening. haha

Still chasing noises. Been a noise on the driveline for a while. I kept thinking it was the rocklobster box but eventually tracked it down to broken bearings in one of the rear prop UJs. Took the prop off for a better look and to bits to see whats needed. Needle roller bearings are dead. Looks like its full off mud in the grease channels, so the seals must have gone and let crap in, meaning greasing it was doing nothing





That is a couple of years old now as it was on J999MNY first. Have sent Jimnybits a message about spares for it.

Onto the rear load bed cover. Issue with the tarpaulin was that it would collect water if raining. Also access in/out of the rear is a bit awkward with the bungee cords holding the cover down.

Made a flat angle frame to fit fairly snug over the bed body and put some bent bars in to keep the stretched up. Welded on some hinges and used pop rivets to attach to the bed body for a trial fit:











It works well and looks like it will stop the water collecting. I have some more of the stainless over-centre latch things as used for the tailgate and theres some little rubber pads to stop vibration noises. Plan to use some gas struts to make it stay up rather than a hammer



Found a great website which calculates the loads and spec as well as shows where to mount it to work properly:
www.gasspringsshop.co.uk/gas-spring-calculator/

and back off for painting...

Video of the prop before disassembly...

+1 on the load-cover solution!
That's a smart idea nicely executed

Tyres today.

The Coopers are getting replaced with some Toyo M/Ts. This is because I have one flat cooper from Drumclog and another with a repairable slow puncture. It worked out about the same money to buy 4 Toyos and keep one of the coopers for a spare. Also I prefer the Toyo's as this is the same tyre (but smaller) as the ones on J999MNY. They are quieter is all really, but as it turns out the Toyos are also bigger than the coopers, for the same supposed size (31x10.5r15)...

Toyo next to a cooper - poor pic but is shows about an inch height gain


so off to the tyre garage and a crisp £20 note later they are all on with my nice new ceramic balance beads and a new valve stem...







Little extra height under the diffs will never go amiss They fit well, are quiet and comfy after I set pressures down from 35psi to 22psi.

Next also a quick oil and filters change now that the new engine has done a few miles. Oil removed was only a little dirty and had no nasties in it so happy days there


Still havent ordered the gas struts for the load cover, but that can wait for now. It is fitted and painted now. Do think I should have made it removable somehow, its pop riveted on at the hinges. Maybe I could remove the hinge pins and replace with a long bar through all of them. That would make it pretty easy to remove?

Looks good, good price, and only £20.00 to fit what a result

Trip out with Dave, Brett, Adam and Phil & Rob in Ulysses, as you will probably have seen from Dave's build thread (or if you havent, see about half-way down page 108 here: www.bigjimny.com/index.php/forum/18-buil...ner-build?start=1284 )

I wont bore on with hundreds of pics but it was a great day out. The radius arm mount on the rear passenger side sustained some damage, but will bend back (and get a guard made). I do have loads of gopro vids so will link them so you can see what its like from my view























































And all in totally the wrong order. The gopro battery went flat about halfway down Nibthwaite, so missed the snorkel eating lane and a few others. A shame as it wasnt only Dave's snorkel that went flying. Adam's popped off and out of the trees right in front of me

Ulysses sustained no serious damage thankfully and actually went in for another MOT on Monday as the insurance demanded it for the engine swap All passed with flying colours

Finally. J999MNY and Ulysses have become one. The private plate has been transferred and is now on Ulysses/J999MNY. What i'm now calling 'the grey one' is up for sale if anyone is interested... 57 plate 1.6, big lift, twin lockers, 33" tyres and loads of other goodies...