reb78

Here is a link, so those who havent heard of them know what i am talking about. http://www.echo4x4.co.za/rooftop-and-ttop-tents.html

Hi All, Just after some opinions on the above. Are they a good make? Good value for money? Easy to use? Mattress comfortable? Good or leaky in really rainy weather? Is there room inside to leave pillows/sleeping bags when folded? And anything else i've missed.... I'm aware of the pros and cons on rooftents and when i would and wouldnt use one (i still cant quite decide myself if it is 'vital' toy for me) but was just after info on this make from anyone with any experience of them. The Magiolina (or however its spelt) are out of my price range.

Trouble is, when its that cold, the diesels just dont really seem to get hot enough to heat the cab with the heater supplied - on tickover, you can cool the matrix down and the engine by having the fan on full trying to warm the cab, so an additional heater matrix fed by the engine coolant probablly wont be sufficient, thus the eberspacher is probably a better bet. Also, the eberspacher can be run with the engine off, so you can heat up before you go in the mornings and also if you sleep in the truck when camping. They are serviceable, so lifespan shouldnt be a problem either.

£300ish apparently including shot blasting... Just remembered this was discussed in this thread on LRO recently and might be useful to this discussion. http://www.lro.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=47554&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=20 The reconditioned then galvanised chassis looks good, but i stand by what i said earlier about the interior of it. It could be wasted time and money and a lot of effort to go to if the inside isnt done properly.

Got my D1LC eberspacher air heater from these guys: http://www.4x4play.net/ 150 inc postage. I havent tested it yet and got it a couple of months ago, cos i have been really busy at work. Its a bit gutting really as i reckon i'll have it fitted ready for the summer!! The military spec vehicles had a radiator system that you could plumb in, or i beleive you really meant something like this: http://www.jcwhitney.com/heater-kits-for-on-road-and-off-road-vehicles/p2002895.jcwx# that plumbs into the coolant system. There are better looking ones around, but this was all i could find on a quick search.

I've been wondering something similar about mine really. I can never quite make the decision though! Last summer i replaced the crossmember and i know there is only one other hole (under the gearbox crossmember on the offside rail) that needs welding up. I think i will do that, waxoyl the current chassis myself and then start saving for a new galvanised one to replace this one when it next needs any major work. The issue i have with having my current one galvanised is that you cant garuntee the condition inside it and you cant clean (spotlessly) and remove the rust that is inside effectivley, so i'm just not sure its a good idea to galvanise something that might not be 100% sound on the inside

The pictures Les has put up could be off my landy once i cut the rotten parts of the crossmember off (except mine is green!). The rot is in exactly the same place on the right side chassis rail. I trimmed mine back as in those pics, repaired the rot and then slid a new C section crossmember on top and into slots in the chassis rails and welded it in place. Looks a treat and there is nowhere for mud to get trapped and rot like on the old crossmember.

I have a little welding to do before i continue waxoyling mine - nothing major, a hole behind the gearbox crossmember. Once i have done the outside, i would like to find someone with the correct tools to do the inside, as i'm just not convinced i can do that properly myself. When i changed the rear cross member last summer, the inside of the chassis rails did look in really good condition - what i could see seemed to be mostly covered in paint!

No, you can flick in and out of difflock on the move. Changing from high to low you need to do at standstill. Changing from lo to hi can be done on the move, but despite tring forever to get it right, my transmission sounds like it wants to destroy itself when i do this, so i prefer to do it at a standstill also!

I knew that (it was in the days before we all had phones so mum couldnt phone and ask me), tis a shame the RAC man didnt know though!

Mum had a flat tyre about 12 years ago (around 80000 miles ago). She changed the tyre ok, followed the book, difflock on, handbrake on, in gear and chocked. The chock must have slipped a little when it was up on the jack and the 110 was on a hill and this got the jack stuck under the light guard and she couldnt turn the ratchet over!! She had to call the RAC to get it off the jack! Anyway, he arrived, got it off the jack and told her the diff lock light must be jammed on and there was no way the diff lock was stuck on (of course it hadnt disengaged and he didnt reverse it at all). She drove about 50 miles on the motorway at 60ish, then 20 mil;es on winding lanes to get back to the village. I went out the next day and the light was still on, reversed it out of the garage and it came off! I guess it did no real damage, but would it have increased wear in the transmission/cause other parts to fail sooner than they would? I can make i clunk with every gear change if i'm not smooth - the gearbox is reconditioned, it has a GKN OD fitted, so i suspect it is wear further down the transmission

I like the modified fork. Next time i do a clutch i will be doing that.

MTF 94 for R380 and ATF for LT77, although many reccomend MTF 94 for the LT77 as well from what i can make out. I have tried both MTF94 and ATF in my LT77 and found no difference between the two in that box, so stuck with ATF as it is cheaper.

Got myself a series III seatbox to do exactly what fridge has done (kept hearing Mike telling people to do it and so took his advice....). RRC seats in the front and the old defender front seats are going in the back

He's already done it - it sits proudly with all the other good articles in the tech archive.

Different type of wheel i know, but my BMW alloys wouldnt balance. They were partly the cause of an alarming shimmy when braking hard from motorway speeds. The two rims on the front turned out to be bent (god knows how the previous owner did that and perhaps i'm better off not knowing) and since they were alloys beyond repair (you cant just knock them back into shape). Having a close look at the wheels, there were visible flat areas on the inside of the rim - not noticeable unless you look closely mind. There's no chance your rims are damaged and hence wont balance is there? I know mach 5s are strong, but its worth checking. Dynabeads are what 1010sean meant i think. They might help although i have heard mixed things about them. I think Devon 4x4 sell them amongst others - although not called dynabeads here apparently - http://www.devon4x4.com/products_a/c214/tyre-balancing/0.html

Might be fine, but mine was a very small leak - not noticeable grossly at all.

Easy as Sean says. I have pulled mine to pieces and put back together again (i was replacing gaskets). Ralph refused to pull his to bits at the time to advise me on mine! Not sure what in there classes as a clutch pack though! PM me if you cant get it into pieces and i can probably guide you through it - it really is components that go together and either work or dont. That link is very informative though.

Yep - as several have said now, you probably wont notice the lack of a damper for normal use and as the original is fine, why spend loads on an uprated one that wont do much (if anything) more than the cheaper original. Save your money for something else. Buy that jack you've always wanted...

I had exactly this and both rear cylinders had tiny weeps, not huge great leaks that obviously only caused the valve to come on under hard braking. I know you said they were new - what make were they though? Peel back the rubbers on the cylinders and get someone to push on the brakes whilst you hold the pistons in and look for leaks (otherwise they will out!).

PM sent Peter. Just to add to the above for anyone else interested in the ebay item, i got more info from the seller earlier and this is the rest of the instructions (why they couldnt tell me this in the first place i dont know, then i wouldnt have needed to post at all!!): 'Hi thanks for email,the bit i missed off says - check all connections are correct and secure remove the wire entry gasket at the reasr of the gauge to access the ajustment screw reconnect the battert (earth terminal last) switch on the ignistion and start the engine with the engine at a knowm idle rpm turn the adjustment screw until the gauge reads the correct rpm accelerate thye engine and check the gauge indicates correctly switch on the panel lamps and check the gauge illuminates refit the wire entry gasket'

Thanks. Thats what i thought - thats the bit missing from the guys reply. I shall check. At £50 compared to 150ish for the other options it would be nice if it did work! The other nice thing is that the rev range is pretty much spot on for the tdi - meaning the whole gauge gets used and it is easier to read accurately as the graduations are more spread out than a 5-6k dial where a quarter of the face is never used and the graduations are spaced closer together.

Is there any reason why this: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310120782664&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:GB:1123 wont work on a 200tdi defender? The guys selling it told me the instructions were as follows: 'The leaflet just says for 12volt; connect the red wire to a 12volt ignitionn feed the blue wire to earth the black wire to the `w` term on the alternator & the led gauge illumination white/red wire to the 12v panel light circuit the purple and yellow wirea are not connected and should be isolated for 24volt: connect the purple wire to a 24v ignition feed the blue to the earth the black wire to the `w` term on alt and led gauge illumination the yellow wire to the 24v panel lighht circuit the red and white/red wire are not connected & should be isolated' I know i have a W terminal and the onther wiring is obvious, but does the tacho need some adjustment on it in order to work properly or is the W terminal pickup enough? Also, will this be the same regardless of alternator used - say i u[grade at some stage to one of the ford alternators that fit the engine, so long as that has a w terminal will this tacho work the same on that as my current alternator? Thanks

Doesnt it go a little further though? If the pump timing is out, you will not be able to lock the flywheel and insert the locking oin in the FIP at the same time. To adjust you lock the pump and insert the pin, then loosen the plate on the front of the FIP pulley and rotate the crank bolt gently (shoulnt need much hopefully) until the timing pin will engage in the flywheel. Wait for someone else to confirm that before follwing it, but i'm sure its something like that for the tdi engines.

Overhaul it properly - that will probably fix it. I dont think there is any need to replace the shoes just because it is in pieces (unless they are worn).