Are Overdrives worth it?

[Terrys]

One thing to keep in mind is that your power transmission always goes thru the OD, whether it's engaged or not. Fairey's are reliable enough on their own, but the splines of the adapter on a Fairey are smaller than the Roverdrive and Toro (No longer available unless you find a used one) The Santana OD was pretty bullet proof.
I have seen several Fairey adapters striped out, If you off-road, and especially if far from home and tools, keep your original intermediate gear in your toolbox, along with either the special socket, or, in an emergency, a long drift. If you strip your adapter, you'll have no power transmitted from the gearbox to the TC.
I picked up a used Fairey, and completely rebuilt it, but I'm really on the fence about putting it in , as I don't do any highway driving with my 88.

[LR Max]

If you do any highway driving, yes. You need an overdrive.

This past weekend I cruised over 100 miles to Alabama, wheeled all day, and drove back. Rolling with an overdrive made it A LOT easier.

That is the only time I use mine. In town traffic, never.

But that overdrive plus a seriously healthy engine and highway cruising isn't a problem.

3 issues with the overdrive I have (have a fairey with many miles on it, wasn't rebuilt when I put it in):

1. The stupid handle rattles...ALL THE TIME. I put a bungee around it but one of these days I'll figure out how to make it not rattle.

2. The unit is LOUD. Like, 2x louder than anything else. I wear ear plugs when I drive it.

3. I think the syncros in it are shot. I can engage it, but can't disengage without a nasty gear grinding noise.

I'd say rover drive. I hear nothing but great things about them, especially from guys who put a lot of miles on their series trucks. If you do get a Fairey, rebuild it before installation!

[rejeep]

I purchased my Roverdrive before I even took delivery of my series truck about a year ago...
fantastic improvement in drivability and really cant imagine driving a series truck on the hwy without one..
even around town in 40-45 mph zones the 3 1/2 gear is just perfect..

[galen216]

1. The stupid handle rattles...ALL THE TIME. I put a bungee around it but one of these days I'll figure out how to make it not rattle.

Mine did this too. Where the linkage connects to the OD the opening in the linkage is much larger than the connection on the OD. When I put the Pin back in I forced a washer in between the linkage and connection on the OD. The rattle is now gone.

My transmission is out at the moment. I'll try to take a picture b/c I don't thing I am explaining very well.

[Momo]

Max, on every Fairey OD I've had (3 or 4 now), the large bolt holding the lever to the linkage has backed out over time. If this is what's happening on yours, a drop of threadlocker should do the trick.

[luckyjoe]

Galen,

There are plastic strips with a hole in each end, that form a loop when bent back on themselves. They were part of the hardware kit and when installed, keep tension on the linkage so it doesn't rattle. You can still get them from RDS, or cut them from a soda bottle.

Max - not sure if this is related to your rattle or not...

[TedW]

IIRC you can go to your local Ace Hardware and get some really thin nylon washers that will stop the rattle. You may need to drill them out to fit, but no biggie.

[LR Max]

LOL, sorry for the hijack thread...but while we are here...

Yeah, I think my bolt is backing out and I do not have a plastic thingie on there. Thanks for all the recommendations but really, I'm thinking of pulling it, selling as is (needs rebuild...and little plastic thingie) and installing a rover drive.

Why? Because I'm tired of looking at my girlfriend before each trip and telling her, "See you when we get there"