bobzdar
New Member
- Posts
- 4
- Location
- Richmond, VA USA
I picked this up end of last summer, exMoD FFR truck converted to 12v (partially), been slowly working on it getting it usable and set up for my use. It'll be an overland/expedition vehicle, mostly weekend camping trips and occasional off-road exploration. I know the whole 'overland/expedition' thing is trendy now, but I've been doing it for 15 years or so when we just called it off-roading and camping. I've been through a half dozen Jeeps and love them, but they're just too small, hence the 109. I had wanted a 5 door hard top, but they're expensive and very difficult to find here, and honestly the 2 door soft top has really grown on me. I like that the back is very flexible in it and the top is easy to open up in the summer.
When I got it, it wouldn't start (it was running when I went to look at it 2 weeks prior), suspected fuel pump issue. We loaded it on the trailer and I got it home, then pulled the fuel pump off to look and saw the valves were stuck. It would pump gas if it was full, but apparently after sitting for a while the gas would partially drain out and it couldn't re-prime itself. So, I filled it up, poured some gas down the line from the carb, and it ran. Not well, though.
Next was carb work, I went all through it and couldn't find anything wrong, cleaned it up, put it back on and it wouldn't idle without the choke on. Rather than spend more time going through it again, I bought a new one as they're pretty cheap, and it started up and ildled nicely once it was adjusted.
Next up I swapped on a Warn vr8000 winch from one of my Jeeps with a new Warn winch plate. This at least let me do some off-road testing of it, and it ran pretty well (though a few seemingly carb related hiccups) and it needed at least one new rear tire as it was close to bald. I cleaned out the gas tanks and put fresh gas in, which seems to have fixed most of the issues. I thought about just swapping the like new spare on as it matched the other 7.50's, but after some reading and looking at other series (and getting it stuck), I decided it was time to join the 900 club. So, a set of Wolfs from Bearmach and some locally sourced like new 9.00x16's and this is where it's at:
Of course, that necessitated some more testing off-road, including multiple attempts to get it stuck where it had gotten stuck with the 7.50's, but it performed admirably and I didn't need the winch this time. Only some minor rubbing on hard left turns, so just a steering stop adjustment and it should be good to go. No other rubbing when articulating, so the Wolfs+900s seem to be the ticket on the exMoD 109's.
Next up is mounting the roof rack I have. Not sure exactly how I'm going to do it, but my thought is to use rear ladders, the antenna mounts, and windshield frame mounts to support it. Not many soft top series with roof racks, most are defenders that are mounted to the door surrounds in front or part of a cage. No such provisions on this rig, but since I have the antenna mounts and a rear ladder would be useful anyway, I may go that route.
When I got it, it wouldn't start (it was running when I went to look at it 2 weeks prior), suspected fuel pump issue. We loaded it on the trailer and I got it home, then pulled the fuel pump off to look and saw the valves were stuck. It would pump gas if it was full, but apparently after sitting for a while the gas would partially drain out and it couldn't re-prime itself. So, I filled it up, poured some gas down the line from the carb, and it ran. Not well, though.
Next was carb work, I went all through it and couldn't find anything wrong, cleaned it up, put it back on and it wouldn't idle without the choke on. Rather than spend more time going through it again, I bought a new one as they're pretty cheap, and it started up and ildled nicely once it was adjusted.
Next up I swapped on a Warn vr8000 winch from one of my Jeeps with a new Warn winch plate. This at least let me do some off-road testing of it, and it ran pretty well (though a few seemingly carb related hiccups) and it needed at least one new rear tire as it was close to bald. I cleaned out the gas tanks and put fresh gas in, which seems to have fixed most of the issues. I thought about just swapping the like new spare on as it matched the other 7.50's, but after some reading and looking at other series (and getting it stuck), I decided it was time to join the 900 club. So, a set of Wolfs from Bearmach and some locally sourced like new 9.00x16's and this is where it's at:
Of course, that necessitated some more testing off-road, including multiple attempts to get it stuck where it had gotten stuck with the 7.50's, but it performed admirably and I didn't need the winch this time. Only some minor rubbing on hard left turns, so just a steering stop adjustment and it should be good to go. No other rubbing when articulating, so the Wolfs+900s seem to be the ticket on the exMoD 109's.
Next up is mounting the roof rack I have. Not sure exactly how I'm going to do it, but my thought is to use rear ladders, the antenna mounts, and windshield frame mounts to support it. Not many soft top series with roof racks, most are defenders that are mounted to the door surrounds in front or part of a cage. No such provisions on this rig, but since I have the antenna mounts and a rear ladder would be useful anyway, I may go that route.
