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Or use fibre board as used for waffle boards/sand ladders. I did my Ifor LM146 (??) in 22mm. It sat outside for a long time but as it has holes in it the water drains through and doesn't puddle As it's fibreglass it doesn't rot, and when I did mine it cost a massive £50 and it's also fairly light. It's carried about 3t of "treasure" at various times, Rand Rovers and Disco's so plenty strong enough Mark

I'm not sure if this thread is still relevant but ; - When we bought our Ifor LM146 it had of all things a caravan on it (prev owner wanted an offroad caravan) and the only piece of phenolic still left was under the front which had been made into a gas bottle store. Once the "van" was removed I priced up new phenolic board but even then, about 2008 they were £100 ish/sheet which was too expensive. I used to sell waffle boards and thought the same material would work perfectly well as a deck so we used some 22mm thick with approx 6mm holes in which has been excellent and is still on there now and was lat used at the weekend for Sodbury. It doesn't hold water, won't rot and has a fine grip on it and apart from vehicles and general treasure (tut) I've had plenty of bulk bags of various building materials on it and it works perfectly well. I've even had loose soil on and all I did was lay a tarp down first and wrap it like a parcel. I don't know if that's of any use as an idea or if you've already done it but its possibly food for thought !!! Mark

I've painted many (LR) wheels over the years as i worked in a large vehicle manufacturers Wheel Plant at Dagenham, and well, it was easy and free and seemed rude not to but I don't know if the same process is available anywhere commercially. I used to shot blasted the wheels first to remove rust and old paint and then put them through the paint system which firstly chemically washed them, sprayed them with phosphate which was an etch primer process and then they were electro coated satin black in a dip tank before finally being cured in the oven. The whole process took 1hr 10 ins i.i.r.c. The black was actually only an undercoat and could be painted if you wanted (I didn't) as many years ago they used to also be sprayed silver until it dawned on someone that they then fitted full wheel trims and so that stage was removed at a great saving. The painted wheels were obviously tested which Inc being scored and having salt water sprayed at them under pressure and they had to last something like 360 hrs which was to simulate more than a lifetimes use. If you could find somewhere where they had these facilities you'd never have any problems with them but i'm not sure it'd be cost effective or even available but possibly somewhere that paints outside fabrications used in harsh environments although i'm thinking they may be galvanised. Anyway, sorry for waffling on but thought it worth mentioning how manufacturer's paint their steel wheels. Mark.

Hi All, I'd recommend Costco which ok, you have to pay to become a member, but the tools and stuff in general are all very good quality. They now sell on-line which you can purchase from whether you're a member or not although i think its abit extra if you're not. Worth a look and if you want to go into the store to check the item out you can as a prospective member but you obviously won't be able to buy anything although beware as some stuff is on line only and not in store. Mark

Cheers Dave, So the fuel filter being hot is ok ? Thank's, Mark

Abit of a strange one, but after having a leak (again) from the fuel filter on my 2004 D2 and changing it i was making sure all was ok by taking it for a run but on my return i felt all around it to check for leakage and the filter was hot. Is this right as i must admit i never noticed this before and wouldn't have thought it should get hot. ? Thanks Mark

Thanks Chaps, Some good ideas there with the adj drop plate idea and the tube instead of a roller. I thought about the ammo box already and if it was gonna stay on the trailer i'd do it that way or possibly make a discreet (ish) box but it does cover the "where to store recovery bits problem" too. And thanks Al, i didn't understand first time round about the fairlead but i'll try the hook through it as the one i have i bought with a wire and hook and solenoid with tails etc and a wander lead from that very nice chap David Bowyer at the first Beauleigh "Sodbury" as i knew they'd come in handy one day. Don't you just love it when that happens and it makes all of those spares and shelves of bits worth it !! At the risk of being too fussy however, whatever way i do it, i don't wanna weld to the trailer but make the mount boltable as at some point i'll sell it and don't want bits welded all over it. I've just got a new motor cover and freespool lever for it as the originals were knackered and have a drum cover on order so i'll be sorting it all out fairly soon once school hols are over but want to decide how i'm doing it and get bits under way if i've gotta make anything.

Thanks Al, The Anderson connectors i have and thought it made a neater job as i'm also gonna wire up my 90 with them on side of seat box for jump starting should i ever need to but yeh i could just run onto crocodile clips. I've seen the tow ball mounts but didn't want to have to disconnect the trailer to use the winch. The fab'ing side of things isn't overly an issue as i have access to machining and laser cutting etc so it'll be well made and engineered if nothing else ! The roller guide idea started out as a 3/4 round grooved pulley which the cable runs through when vehicles on the ground and obv as it goes up ramps it'll lift out or another idea was a hardened conveyor roller to fit between the ramps that clamps or bolts to ramp lip on back of trailer and wire can move across it and again will lift off it as car moves up ramps. What did you mean ? "If your rollers are staying with the trailer make sure they are big enough for the hook to pass through." Thanks, Mark

I have a Superwinch S5000 which i want to fit to my Ifor LM146 trailer but want to fit it to be removable, not only for the obvious nickability but also for the weathering element and the fact it will only get used occassionally. I'm thinking of using Anderson connectors and it will run off cables ala jump leads but bigger (prob weld cable) as don't want to hard wire it. Does this sound ok and am i right that i'll need to put some sort of fuse in line ? I want to mount it fwd of the trailer headboard so i don't lose bed space if needed and will run the cable through a large/normal size fairlead fitted to h/board. Although the winch has one fitted already the wider one will give me more scope. Ideally it'll be level or slightly higher than trailer bed so i wondered if anyones mounted one similarly or if anyone has any ideas, views or pics would be even better ? At the other end of the trailer as it'll be running over a sharp ish edge i was thinking of making either some sort of roller or small pulley set up or poss a 3 roller or V type fairlead set up, just to cradle the wire for when the vehicle first comes up ramp. Again, has anyone any ideas, views or pics pls ? Thank's, Mark

Another well thought out bit of kit Si - Not very pc or saleable but what about "The bo LOX" range. It could be adj to cover all variants ? Gear loX Pedal loX Brake loX The list could be endless !

O.K., thanks, I'll give it a good clean and try to see exactly where its leaking but it was all put together properly and has been ok up until recently.

Hi, I'm hoping someone can offer some advice as to why would the diesel filter under the o/s wheel arch leak on my D2 ? I changed it a while ago as i had trouble starting and its been fine since but i've noticed recently that its been dropping diesel on the drive. Thanks

Thanks Fozsug, Thats the one i saw but i wanted info about where its wired into as i wanted to do it myself. Thank's, mark

Gents, I'd like to fit a new bluetooth head unit to my 2004 Landmark for the phone and mp3 facilities but am becoming abit bogged down with info etc as having decided on a unit i was told it would be a real p.i.t.a. due to the system being amplified. Has anyone fitted an aftermarket head unit who can throw some light on the subject pls ? I've also seen that the original unit can be fitted with an aux socket for mp3/phone and it retains both the CD changer and the original look of the dash but i'd like to know more about where this is connected to as its done inside the radio and i thought i'd have a go at doing it myself if anyone can offer any info about it pls ? Thank's, Mark

After trying the purge process a couple of times without success on Thurs night i recieved a smug call from my girlfriend on Fri morn to say she'd got it started. Did i say smug, abit of an understatement really as when i came home i thought her head was gonna fall off backwards she was smiling (laughing) so much. Anyway, i used it Friday afternoon and it was all ok and ran fine and then sat i used it with my trailer to pick up a couple of ton of sand etc and again it all ran fine. I'm now trying to shift the sand etc and when i get a chance will look at the filter but i'm not sure if the noisey pump was anything as i now notice it abit and am wondering if it was like that before. Finally, thanks for all the replies, help and suggestions. Mark