It's time for some updates! About a month of so ago we took the MDX on a weekend trip to Bellingham, about 100 miles from home, so not very far really. It did ok. We had some issues having enough space inside for 2 adults and 2 great danes.
Last weekend we took a trip to Clarkston, Wa. Right on the boarder of Idaho next to Lewiston, where my Uncle once owned a nursery. So I wanted to show my wife around Lewiston, and take her up to some of the look out points and the best one I knew we'd need the AWD. But how would we feel after 6 hours there a full day in the MDX tooling around, and another 6 hours back home.... Two days before the trip I got an inspiration I pulled out the back seat and built this.
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I bought the dog barrier obviously. The "floor" is T-111. The legs are 2X4's. With a 2X2 across the top to both strengthen the setup and to keep the dog barrier from sliding off. This worked out VERY well. No more huge stack of stuff behind the seat, with the dogs stepping all over it. And the space under the shelf is plenty of room for both our bags, plus a few other things. Leaving the space behind the seat for a cooler, a few snacks, and whatever else, jackets and raincoats for this last trip. This weekend I'm going to pull the shelf out and carpet wrap it so it looks good. I've only got black carpet on hand, but with the floor mats being black, and I have a black liner for the rear that's not in the MDX when the picture was taken, I think it'll look good, certainly better than the unfinished boards. I'll post pics after I get it done.
There is actually a third row seat in the MDX so I may cut a longer board and pull that seat out to which would make nearly all (except the back 8") a big cavern under the board in which stuff could be stored for trips.
Below: was taken at the hotel in Clarkston when we were headed out, you can tell we'd been off the pavement. I still had to use the "bag" style roof rack to put the dog crate in, but I'd like to split the crate into two shorter crates so those can be slid under the seat making the roof carrier unneeded for most trips anyway.
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So this SUV that I took only because it was free and in VERY good condition, and I thought I'd never really like, has fit in SO well to the fleet and the family. At this point I do really like it, not for it's style at all but for it's fit in the family and function. Also mangled 22mpg on the highway. Bet that goes up a little without the roof carrier. It most certainly will be the trip vehicle from this point on.
So she's staying for sure. So today at work I did all the gear fluids, plus an engine oil change. The rear diff with VTM-4 fluid, the transfer case with 80W90 and the transmission with Honda fluid. I actually drained and filled the transmission fluid 3 times. It was a little on the brown side. Not terrible but that stuff needs to go since she's hanging around. The technique is dump the fluid, fill it, run it on the rack for 10 -15 minutes, making sure it spends time in all the gears and then doing it again. Maybe not quite as thorough as using a power flush machine, but certain much safer. I'll check the trans fluid at the next oil change and see if it needs to be done one more time. Oh, also hit the car wash.
Oh, and remember I was questioning the AWD earlier. No won't be questioning it anymore, it's certainly a capable vehicle. Going up a steep gravel / dirt road to a lookout, it was curvy and the speeds we slow. We came around the corner to be greeted with that slippery clay like mud that is so common in that area. Hit that and I could feel the wheels start to slip. Shifted into 2nd, hit the VTM-4 button and proceeded the rest of the way up the hill without any fuss.
Yup she's a keeper. Next up will be flushing the green coolant out. It's suppose to have a no silicate coolant like the asian blue in it, but obviously does not. I did a timing belt and water pump on it, so I want to protect that new pump. Also will do a thermostat and hoses on it at the same time. Hopefully I'll have the money by this fall to put a little bit more aggressive tires on it than it has right now. Hopefully I'll get to finish that floor / shelf thing this weekend, and I'll post pics of the finished project.
