leeds

You might find the trails in this SITE interesting Regards Brendan

Interesting. I did not realise that. You live and learn. Regards Brendan

Why I am no fan of Scorpion Racing in their business ethics or their advertising methods the current story which has surfaced on another forum is based on Personally I have no idea if SR has gone under or not. IF it has gone under then I feel sorry for their employees and any of the suppliers who are owed money. Not exactly the best time for SR employees to lose their jobs and it may well have serious repucussions down the supply chain. IF money is owed to HM Revenue and Customs by a limited company I can not see how the directors of the company can be in the firing line. HMRC will be at the front of the line of creditors to be paid out. Any bank which has given SR loans may or maynot have taken out personal guarantees from the director of the limited company and they would pursue the directors to the limit of any personal gaurantee. Regards Brendan

Hi Al, for tool guides have you considered the Delrin grades of POM? The technical help guys at Barkston used to be very helpful when we were after small amounts of material for research purposes, so they are worth a phone call. W/hog that hawser guide looks interesting but I am dubious about some of their claims, especially about lubrication. The guide could also be damaged by rocks etc but any burr on that hawser would not be as damaging to a syntheticltine as a burr on an aluminium hawser. Have you considered a material called Comtex? It is a one piece composite made out of drawn PE fibre. I know that Safety Devices were considering using it as a tank guard as we made a prototype for them. It has low friction and reasonably high abrasion resistance. It is lightweight, pretty tough reasonably bullet proof (i.e.stops a .44 magnum but not a 5.6mm high velocity round) and is probably stronger then UHMWPE as it is made from drawn PE whereas I suspect that the sheet material of UHMWPE is not drawn. Ford were also interested in the material and funded some of the research. Not sure what happen with the commercialisation these days but the University of Leeds were certainly trying to commercialise it. Believe the group responsible might have moved to Bradford now. Hope that helps Regards Brendan

It is a few years since I have worked with polymers so things might have changed a bit. UHMWPE can be entertaining to process hence my query. If you want some guides for tools Al, I am assuming you want sheet material and presumably in relatively small quantities. Am not sure that UHMWPE would be the best material for your application. Try discussing your applications with the technical support guys at Barkston on 0113 249 2200 they may be able to guide you to the best material for your application Al. Hope that helps Regards Brendan

Where I used to work the employer had a group licence for microsoft and other applications/programmes. If the IT people found you had unlicenced applications on your pc you were in for the high jump. Would it me possible for a 4 x 4 club to get a 'group' or community licence so that it's members could share software such as MM? Would be cheaper for individual members whilst still being legal Regards Brendan

and how you intend processing it. Regards Brendan

Even shorter version Nope! Know as helping a friend out on their stand Regards Brendan

Hi Simon, We have 3 Land Rovers in our stable of vehicles and do use them for everyday vehicles, overland trips and attending local RTV events etc. I therefore think I have a right to post on Land Rover forums. The main point of my post was that someone asked the question were LRO desperate for visitors to the Billing Show by their latest marketing gambit. I pointed out that LRM are doing a marketing gambit by extending a 20% discount offer on trade stands. Are LRM desperate to get traders to Newark? Personally I think LRM showed a lack of business wisdom by pulling out of Billing AND not ensuring that another Land Rover show could take place at Billing on that weekend. Especially due to the events of two years ago. I believe that ALL LR show organisers need to put effort into getting ex show attendees to return to attending shows again. Personally I think the majourity of shows are too expensive (event/camping/off road fees/beer/hot food/fuel etc) and are too 'samey' I would personally rather put my money into my vehicles/trips. I will not be attending any major shows as a fee paying visitor in the foreseeable future for the reasons outlined above. However it is possible I may be at one or more shows as a 'hired friend' . LRM and LRO have made a business decision about the shows, however it has caused some problems for the traders and the traders will have to make a business decision in their own best interests. At least one trader has made the decision not to attend either show if both run on the same weekend. That is their decisions. Yes, business decisions might change as events unfold. I agree with you Simon when it comes to hoping that all the traders and visitors have an enjoyable and successful weekend. What shows if any traders/visitors attend is up to them. If the LR4x4 management decides that my contribution on this or any thread on LR4x4 is a waste of bandwidth then they have the power to do something about it. Regards Brendan

Is this also a sign of desperation? Are the Newark organiserers desperate for trade stands? Or are LRO and LRM just using normal business tactics to attract both trade stands and visitors to their respective shows? Lets face it LRM and LRO are in competition on a monthly basis and are now in competition by having a show on the same weekend. Both LRM and LRO will make business decissions in what they consider to be in their respective best commercial interest. Let the magazines/trade/visitors make their own minds up about which if any show/s to organise and attend. My decision is NOT to attend any show this year as a fee paying visitor. Regards Brendan

Have had a couple of very enjoyable trips to Norway. If you typically cover 50 miles per hour in the UK on A roads expect about 50kph in Norway. The coastal road is wonderful and you have many ferry crossings to either short cut across fiords. Fantastic scenery Other routes to Norway includes Copenhagen and then the bridge/tunnel into Sweden. Other routes into Norway includes the Gdansk to Stockholm ferry. Tallink to Stockholm or Tallink to Helsinki and then island hop across the Arland islands to Sweden. Highly recommended Unfortunately none of these routes are really compatible with just a 2 week trip due to the time getting there. Norway is not particularly cheap especially the booze. Take plenty of food with you, avoid hotels and restraunts then you can have a good enjoyable holiday at a reasonable cost. Highly recommended destinations Regards Brendan

Clatter height barrier had 1.85 m/6'1" on. Was in disco and approached slowly. Cleared barrier easily. Went up onto floor that hotel parking was on. On way down got stuck on raised roof. Deflated rear tyres and drove out. Height 'clatter' barrier was set at 1.96m. Concrete beam on ramp was 1.91 m Disco height is 1.904 m! Yes you could say I should have know height of Disco, BUT how many of you know the exact height of your vehicles? Is it reasonable to expect that if you clear the 'clatter' board that you will not get caught up on the roadways in the car park? Regards Brendan

Has anyone got any links to official standards on car park height barriers? How accurate should the warning 'clatter' barrier height be? If the barrier says a certain height would you expect the 'clatter' barrier to be at that height? Is it acceptable for the warning height on the 'clatter' barrier to be X and the barrier set at X plus 11 cms? Yes you can guess what's happened Regards Brendan

I have never claimed to be a trader Mike. I have no commercial or business interest in the 4 x 4 world accept as a paying customer Regards Brendan

Thanks for your replies folks. This enquiry was the result of an idle conversation. I never realised that an anodised coating was porous so unsuitable for steel. The idea of zinc passivation sounds interesting and might be an alternative to powder coatings. Powder coatings are not so good on sharp edges and once the coating starts to lift rust can quickly spread underneath the coating. Whilst aluminium does not corrode/rust par se it is suseptible to bi metallic or electrolytic corrosion. I used to have ali dropped forged carabiners in my caving days. These 'corroded' due to the pitting from general knocks received underground and presumably from the slightly acidic nature of cave water. It was possible to peel the outer skin off these karabiners which exposed the 'granular' texture of the core of the carabiner. Fortunately when they looked horrible they were still above the rated strength as I had access to tensile test machines. Regards Brendan

At the weekend was talking about anodizing. Yes it can be easily done to aluminium. Can it be done to steel? It is as far as I am aware basically an electroplating technique so why isn't it used on steel as a decrotaive/protective finish? Regards Brendan

I was also at that meeting and I think it will be fair to say that certain peoples passions were running high. Personally I hope that the calmer more logical decisions will be made by all parties concerned now. Some of the deliberately stirring that has been going on by certain 'interested' parties has not endeared them to other parties. There is room for all concerns to trade without slagging off the competition which certain people appear to use as a standard marketing tool. Personally I will only buy from traders who I percieve to have decent business ethos and give good unbiased advice and do not slag off the competition. There are two lists of traders who are going to attend NEWARK and BILLING. Interesting thing is some traders are on both list, so covering both bases?? Other traders have stated that they will not do any show in July if both run! Maybe there should be a gentlemens agreement in future years between the show organisers not to have a 'national' show on the same weekend and that preferably there should only be one large/national show per month. This would enable the companies time to recover between shows and allow the show groupies time for their finances to recover. Personally I will not be attending any major show for the foreseeable future as a paying visitor as I consider the total cost of the whole package (entry fee/camping/offroad course/beer/hot food/fuel etc) too expensive. I would rather put that money into my vehicles/trips. Also the shows are so 'samey' nothing new and invigorating at them. I know I am not the only one who thinks like that. Maybe show organisers should pay some attention to get more of the ex show attendees back Regards Brendan

Do you mean this? Available from Devon 4 x 4 HERE Hope that helps Regards Brendan

I do not speak any foreign languages and have had a great time in Poland, Romania, Slovakia etc. Travelling solo is no problem. Go and enjoy yourself and remember to post up some photos. Regards Brendan

Thanks for the replies folks. I decided NOT to fit Ashcroft type shafts to my 110 as I felt it would be easier to replace a broken half shaft in the middle of nowhere then to try and find a replacement diff. Weakest link idea. Spare half shafts were carried. Is it time to reconsider that idea? Remember the 110 is an overland vehicle and not a competition truck Regards Brendan

Have an ARB rear axle locker fitted to my 110 overland vehicle which runs on standard half shafts and HD drive flanges. Last year did 25,000 miles in total in Australia with about 20,000 miles done off bitumen. The rear axle locker was engaged say a dozen times at low speed when I thought it would be useful to have continuing drive to both rear wheels. On inspecting the half shafts they are both twisted. Could engaging the rear axle locker whilst on the move actually be the cause of the half shafts being twisted? Or is the twist just the result of general driving in the Australian outback? The heavy duty drive flanges on the rear wheels shows some wear as the standard drive flanges on the front wheel. Regards Brendan

Hi Soutie, which shocks did you use on the back of your 110? What is the best angle for the shocks? I can see an arguement for having the shocks verticals so that the main line of force is in the direction of the shock. Against that I can see possible problem with the shocks having to be postioned too far 'outboard' to avoid fouling the spring. Problem with leverage on bottom mount and where to locate top mount. Hope that explanation makes sense. Good point about the crush tube Mike. I will not be fabricating anything myself as my skills with a welder is even less then my skills with a set of spanners. There again I know a few people with the appropriate skills. So any advice/guidance is appreciated. Regards Brendan

Have travelled through Poland a couple of times Stayed here for the cost of a pretty average B & B in the UK A bit above the standard of the average UK B & B The amount of English spoken varies around Poland and with the age of the population A smile and willingness to try and comprehend does go a long way Had an interesting chat with these local Poles who thought we were of wild camping I would happily go back to Poland and explore more Normally travel as a solo vehicle and had no problems with security in Poland Regards Brendan

A few years ago Optimas were certainly considered the best available. Since then it sounds like various battery manufacturers have moved forward and overtaken Optimas. In a few more years I am sure that it will be 'Brand X' which will be the best of the bunch. Since buying and fitting the yellow tops, I have been told that they last 3 - 5 years. Mine are about 4 years old so can not complain too much on the lifetime score. So what is life expectancy of Numax v Odysseys? What are the differences between them and not just CCA and price? Regards Brendan

My best meal in my life? Christmas day meal of new potatoes and sag washed down with black tea. Done after a glorious days walking up a sunlit Himalayan valley. A fantastic moment of a Bergan Spectra at nearly 20,000 feet on Kali Patar overlooking Everest base camp. Best beer? Supped whilst watching electric storm in Simpson Desert All fantastic priceless moments. Money can not buy these moments! Regards Brendan PS My only problem is deciding when and where to go next