Back to the Range Rover Section
Please be aware that ECR is now a Defender repair and modification shop only.
We no longer work on Range Rovers, Discos or Series Rovers.
These pages are from work we did in the past and left up for your enjoyment.
1995 Range Rover Classic
Repair and mild off road upgrades
This very nice '95 Classic has come to us from a dealership in Boston. The new buyer had it sent directly from the dealer to ECR for a host of upgrades and some minor repairs to make it everything that he wanted. We'll be converting the EAS (air suspension) to heavy duty coil springs for long term trouble free service, adding some larger tires for beach use, as well as installing a host of tricks to make this plush cruiser a bit more of a workhorse for the customer's uses on Nantucket.
The first order of business on this Range Rover is to gut the EAS (Electronic Air Suspension) in favor of a mild lift with Old Man Emu springs. In the image above you can see that we have removed the rear air bags and replaced them with coil springs with all the associated hardware. This will give this Rover a bulletproof suspension that can't fail on the owner at some inopportune moment.
The front gets the same treatment. In the image above you can see that the front air bags have been removed. Also notice that the stock front shocks have been retained, this works well in the EAS Rovers and will not cause a problem with the mild lift, you don't need to change your shock system to get rid of the EAS system. The new springs will give the Rover great handling, as well as a mild lift for running around the dunes.
The customer also requested that we remove all the labels and logos from the exterior of the Rover. Here you can see that we have removed the rear logos and will now wet sand and buff the paint. This, combined with the body kit on this Range Rover give it a nice subtle and classy look.
As this Rover will be used a lot on sand, the owner will need to air down his tires for better flotation on the soft surface, but once you air down, you have to air back up for road use. So instead of carrying a portable compressor or dozens of quarters for those gas station machines, we are modifying the EAS system's air compressor and holding tank to be an on board, on demand, air system. We have deleted the EAS's air bags, so now we'll ask that compressor to do a useful job. Here you can see under the passenger's seat where the EAS system computers and relays are. We re-wired the system to trigger power to the compressor through an existing relay and through the existing Maxi-fuse. All the needed wiring was here already, we just needed to reconfigure it.
Underneath the Rover we gutted all the EAS lines and the junction block. In the image above you can see the entire EAS box from the RH frame rail has been removed. We'll strip that down to just the compressor and the re-install it on the frame rail.
On the LH side of the Rover we have removed the air tank (seen in the image above). We'll install a new pressure switch and the correct fittings to run a supply and feed air line into the tank, and then run the pressure switch wires back to the relay under the passengers seat. This nice air storage tank will really make filling the tires on this Range Rover a snap, and it will all be hidden underneath the Rover, out of sight.
Once the compressor and air tank are hooked up and installed under the Rover, we ran a high pressure air line into the rear cargo area for easy access to the air supply. We also supplied the customer with a tire pressure gauge and a length of air hose so that he can reach all four tires with ease. When not in use the system is totally hidden and out of the way, and is always up to pressure, waiting to fill the tires quickly and quietly. This is a great use for the otherwise useless EAS parts.
On the front of the Rover we also deleted the logos and took care of any needed service items, such as oil and filter and such. We'll also be installing Hella H4 headlamps for better night driving, and lamp guards to protect those new lamps from brush and debris.
To make the Rover more capable on the beach we installed a set of BFG All Terrains in a 265/75R16. When these babies get air'd down the Rover will have plenty of footprint to handle the soft beach sand, and the have the right style of tread pattern for both sand and street uses. You will also notice that the owner requested a wheel change. We removed the chrome 5 spoke rims and installed the 3 spoke Rover type that we painted to match the body color of the Rover in base/ clear PPG products. The rim and tire combination gives the Rover a great stance and better performance as well. You can also see the new Hella H4s and the front lamp guards in this image.
This image shows the majority of the exterior and suspension changes in place and looking great. Next we will move inside and take care of some minor repair issues such as a new power seat switch and some other minor work orders to get the Rover up to 100% and ready for whatever the new owner sees fit.
The owner of the Range Rover also requested some off road upgrades for his new Rover. In the image above you can see we have fabricated an ECR ROX heavy duty drag link, steering stabilizer relocation kit and tie rod guard. This system, made to work with the EAS front axle and sway bar, will move the vulnerable steering stabilizer to the front and up and out of the way, as well and encase the tie rod with 3/16" steel so that it can never be bent. These pieces will now be media blasted and then primed and painted for long life.
Also installed were a new set of Bilstien shocks and a complete new stainless steel exhaust system from NRP.
The images above show the new NRP performance Y pipe and tail section. This gives a bit more performance and a great exhaust note, and the best thing is that it is a fully stainless system, so it will stand up to the beach use this Rover will be getting.
Here you can see the epoxy primed and painted ECR ROX steering conversion parts in place. The Old Man Emu steering stabilizer is now tucked up out of the way in front of the axle, just like a Defender (unlike the stock Range Rover and Discovery set up that leaves it hanging under the axle, just begging to get squashed!) and the heavy duty drag link will take a hit and not bend, just in case you didn't see that hidden rock or stump. Check out the thickness of that drag link, it is more than 3 tines as thick as the stock drag link. This is the same set up we use on ECR 4, our Defender 90, and it has taken 40,000 miles of hard off road use and abuse and still works great.
The other end of the steering stabilizer attaches to our frame mounted bracket that uses existing holes in the chassis so that it truly is a bolt in operation, with no modification needed.
This image shows the rear of the front axle. The ECR ROX tie rod guard fully protects the tie rod from harm by encasing it in 3/16" steel. The Defender style tie rod is now free from harm, no matter what. You can even jack up the Rover on our tie rod without any fear of bending it, or the tie rod inside it. Here you can also see that our set ups are made to work with out without the sway bar (sway bar is in place on this Rover). It truly is a bulletproof set up.
Now that this 1995 Range Rover has been fully serviced, updated and modified to exactly what the owner wanted, it is ready for shipping to Nantucket for many years worth of fun and work, with everything from an EAS conversion to an on board air system, stainless exhaust to some custom paint work, this Range Rover is now ready for anything. Feel free to contact ECR if we can help make your Range Rover Classic one of the world's best... just like this one!
NOTE: We do not sell, or have available, the body kit found on this Range Rover.