Steve 90

Ive just bought a TDS to replace my center winch, Havn't used it yet but it looks nice, Good quality.

Mmmmm, Funny thing is I have a 200 disco one and a defender one here which are identical, both the same as the one on the left in JST's pic. I have a 300Tdi disco one which is the same as the one on the right.

I want to go auto but I don't think the Tdi has the power to cope with one so until I decide which engine I want to use I'll have to stay as I am. There's two reasons I want to change, Firstly the auto is so much easier on the rest of the drive train, They seem to have a certain amount of cush in them which helps reduce the shock loading through the axles. Secondly when winching really technical stuff with a lot of grip using a manual you have to slip the clutch to avoid abusing the transmission too much. With an auto you just ease your foot down for the required amount of power/drive assist and away you go, If it starts to spin, just back off a bit.

Totally agree about the viscous unit Jim and if I could use one I would. Unfortunately that's one down side of running a disco 200Tdi in the defender, It wont fit. I did have plans of finding the necessary bits to convert it to defender spec then I could re fit the fan. Its not worth it now tho as the days of my truck being Tdi are numbered. Going to have a hunt round for a spal tonight, Thanks for the advice everyone. Steve.

I suppose one thing I can say in the defence of the Bowmotor is you'll never wear the brush's out. You'll get fed up of waiting for it, struggling on medium pulls and double lining when you shouldn't have too then throw it away in favour of an XP long before anything wears out. I fitted a Bowmotor, Was hugely disappointed, Didn't even have the power of the 4.6 I had replaced (which was always a particularly good example). Then, after only two events I was so un-impressed I replaced the Bowmotor with on XP and it transformed the winch. A regular circuit we do in the in-laws wood that had a steep pull needing a double line with the Bowmotor or it would stall could be single lined with ease. The XP is a far superior motor and also reliable although the brush's do seem to wear quite quickly. I can deal with that tho because they are so good. Back to the original thread, Tony did you have any joy with the brush's? I tried Bosch directly and they said the motors are licensed to Warn and Bosch will not allow any of the wholesalers to have any.

Spal, Never heard of them but very interested.

Do you know of a decent supplier of the Pacet fans? Google doesn't seem to bring much up!

This is whitbread, But I think he has changed them a bit now as the last of his I saw didn't taper in with the windscreen like mine. I think the price has gone up a bit since I had this. I did add a diagonal to the the roof which made it a lot more rigid. This truck has had some heavy rolls, Including going end over end 1 1/2 times then a series of barrel rolls to land back on it wheels at the bottom and seemed to come out of it well considering. I have also moved the rear stays to go up to the rear hoop at the point where the roof bars meet.

I've never had any cooling problems up till now (except when the fan aint working) with just one fan so I think one will be fine. Also theres not really enough room for two, especially with the intercooler etc. Think The v8's do need a bit more!

:hysterical: Oooops, I see I posted twice earlier, Sorry!

I only have about 1/2 an inch between winch and Radiator so fitting one in front isn't an option. I wouldn't use the thermo switch as I use the X fan housing and a switch I sourced for the correct temp. I just want a reliable (suck) fan that's not going to give me grief and I can pick up the phone and order it without hastle (coz Ive got more than enough to do on the truck otherwise) and if I ever do need to, I can order another as a direct replacement that will bolt into whatever brackets I have to make (I really dont want to have to mess with brackets but I really don't like that malarkey the kenlowes come with)

Need to sort a new fan for my truck as I'm doing a few more alterations, Including moving the rad and its probably the best time to do a proper job of sorting it out. Previous attempts have always been last minute/in a hurry lash up's. Ive always used whatever fan Ive had lying around but getting fed up of this as they are usually getting toward the end of their useful life. Also 99% of car fans don't even attempt to keep water out and when they do go up in smoke I can never find a direct replacement. The fact that a challenge truck spends large amounts of time running, not moving and relies heavily on the fan makes me think it deserves some attention. Plus the fact I think Ive used everything I have "lying around" and don't have either the time or patients to go trawling through the scrap yard/ebay looking for something, then spending time making brackets that could be spent on the million and one other fabrication jobs I have planned over the next few months. So I'm looking for a decent quality electric fan that will go (easily) on the back of a 300tdi radiator. Kenlowe seems to crop up all the time. Whats the quality like? Do they have any form of waterproofing around all the bits of electricery/bearings? And what do people make of the mounting system? Its probably just me being fussy but pushing a pin through the gap between the fins then putting some sort of fitting on the back side to hold the fan just doesn't seem right! Anyone got experience of these, Good or bad?? or any other suggestions? Many thanks. Steve.

Yep, spot on. Thats the problem. the 24 spline shafts and diff are stronger but CV is weaker. The 10 spline shaft and diff are weaker but the CV is stronger. Ashcroft make a special 23-24 shaft so you can use the stronger CV with the better diff which IMHO is the way to go. Theres no way you can do this with std parts. If you are looking to upgrade then the 24 diff, ashcroft 23-24 shaft and early CV with the longer stub axle and wider spaced bearings is the way to go. If your looking to use std parts id go 24 spline diff and shafts and the weaker CV with the closer spaced hub bearings. The bearings will be OK just wont last as long as the early type but if you do break something with this setup, its more likely to be the CV than the diff. CV is much easier and quite quick to change in the middle of nowhere and you can carry a spare.

Only 19 days, Im starting to get excited ! Still got quite a bit to do to the truck tho .

BTW, Just to really confuse the issue. The 24 spline diff's and half shafts do tend to be a little stronger than the 10 spline although the CV is weaker.

I use the older (longer stub axle) version for two reasons. The bearings are that bit further apart which helps with the extra load of large diameter, big offset wheels. Secondly the C.V's are stronger. If you have a spacer between the bearings and a single staked adjuster nut then its probably a very late axle. A lot of people throw the spacer away and go back to the nut and lock nut type found on the earlier axles. You could find problems swapping the two types as the early ones probably have a 10 spline shaft in the diff and the late ones are 24 spline so you will need to keep the diff, half shafts, C.V's, stub axles and hubs all together.

Upgrading to a Bowmotor?????? Thats a bit like "upgrading" from a Mercedies to a Mini metro!!!!!

Upgrading to a Bowmotor from an Warn?????? Thats a bit like "upgrading" from a Mercedies to a Mini metro!!!!!

Well done guys, Looked like a good event.

I dont think id like a gear change any worse. The LT77 is bad enough when your going for a quick gear change trying to get a run up to a long hill climb or a boggy patch.

After saying that its just started snowing!

Whats the gear change like, I know the LT77 aint great (although my new one with Ashcroft mod's aint bad) but I had heard it was an improvement over the 85

Is the input gear to the LT230 and rear of the gearbox mainshaft different on a auto box. I don't know, never done anything with them but this could be the difference.

Should add I looked at the R380 also. Ashcroft had some short ones in stock but they were going to be pricey. Had a long chat with Dave (he knows I drive the truck pretty hard also) and he said the LT77-H was a far better box than the early ones and would be fine. You will only get part of the surcharge back if its an earlier box going back in exchange.

I had a few problems with mine (including jumping out of reverse) which was an early LT77, Now fitted a H suffix (late type LT77) which seems far better. Info here http://www.ashcroft-transmissions.co.uk/part_1.html#pa1. then click on "Technical info" I know of a few people running these and they all seem to be fine.