Steve 90

If you use the 200Tdi prop shafts with the R380 gear box the motor will sit somewhere in between where you would find a std 200 on Lt77 and 300 on R380 if that helps. 300Tdi is perfectly good for most UK style comps. As for Portals, No body can tell you that, Its purely personal choice. I would only (am considering infact) use them with some chassis mods to keep articulation as I have it now (not brilliant but enough and stable) without gaining any height over a 2" lifted truck on std axles. Take a look at Alan Kemps, Looks just right, only an inch or so higher than my truck but running portals, if I can get mine to sit like his on portal axles then I will be happy. My main focus If I do change will be to move spring mounts, bump stops etc up as much as possible so I can keep it low on the portals and use upward movement to keep decent articulation (I.E. so the axle still has spring pressure) rather than the axle articulation relying on it dislocating which is a waste of time (Opp's, another can of worms opened) Also remember you will gain width using portals, so it depends what events you plan on doing and in my humble opinion there is no way you can run them without a disc conversion.

Blimey, Wish I had your luck Les. Every single one I have done the bolt on the chassis end has been seized in the bush so tight I had to un bolt the bracket and press the bolt out. Totally agree about OEM rubber bushes, By far the best although I did put some super-pro bush's from OEC in the panhard rod last year and they have lasted very well so far, fingers crossed!

Pikey has a pair of leather recaro's in his disco. Really nice seats and didn't cost him too much but they are just too thick in the back for my 90 which is why I like the QT ones. They work out thinner than the landrover seats so I might even gain some room. They are a bucket but not too deep (Adrians getting old now, no wonder he has trouble getting in, Him getting in Jims truck must be like my Gran trying to get in her metro! ) The ones that Chris posted look good, excellent for the money, Again tho, wonder how thick they are in the back.

One last point, I squeezed a bit of good quality RTV type sealant up through the middle of the top hat before putting the threaded bit through but If I needed to do it again I would probably tap thread in the center of the top hat and just use some thread sealant.

Scribbled it on a piece of paper so you can see what im on about! The stud through the middle wants to be very small (BA or 3mm at most) then you can make it to go through a 6mm hole. The harder the plastic/nylon the better as it all tightens up much nicer. They are a bit fiddly on a big lathe, If you have a small model makers lathe its simple. Once you have it all in place and tightened up just drop your eyelets and a second nut on either side and your sorted!

I take it this is for the fuel pump on mouse! I did a similar thing once and made my own, Turned up a top hat piece and a washer with hole through the middle out of hard nylon (think it was a bit of mums old chopping board actually) or anything thats an insulator. Two top hats, one from either side would do the same thing. Then put an O ring grove in the one half to seal against the tank. Put the top hats through a hole in tank, a piece of threaded bar with a couple of nuts either side then attach your wires with eyelets. Its simple but works. Hope I explained that O.K.!

QT services rang me in response to my Email, fair play to them. The seats are on the shelf, ready to ship. A seat, cushion, and the quick release mount (as Jim mentions above) are £255 each plus VAT. They have made them not as deep as a normal bucket seat to make them easier to get in and out of for a challenge truck. The quick release mount will fit straight on to a defender seat runner and you can take them out just by removing one pin. The the other option is seat, cushion and the one part of subframe that they must have to give the seat its strength which is £180 each +VAT. I think thats pretty reasonable looking at the seats, they are perfect for what we want. The price of some of the seats ive looked at they are not out of the way price wise. Better go rattle my piggy bank, I'm really skint and really want a set !

I mounted mine with the lap straps to the original lower seat belt mounts and the shoulder straps to the truck cab rear bulk head just below where the lower section meets the upper and put a large spreader plate on the back side. The only trouble with this is you have to make sure you have harnesses that will shorten enough to do it. Originally I was going to sandwich through the bulk head and fasten them to the cage/tray. Thing that put me off is a heavy roll that could possibly bend the cage will also drag the harness back and cut you in half :o

I might be wrong but something tells me it might be very soon rather than later, Maybe it was the look on your face the other day......!

:hysterical: Well I only have a short concentration span, If you didn't take so long to do everything I wouldn't get distracted! :lol:

I got to say the more I look at these the more idea they are. I did try and phone a couple of times earlier but they were engaged so I sent an Email. see what happens!

They would have to be easily removable or atleast hingable because behind the seat is the only place I have to stash coats, Sandwich's and emergency beer!

Co driver! What does it mater what they think!!! They should just be happy we take them along!!!!! :lol: the std seat is great untill you start bouncing around or get hung up at a funny angle for ages. I like the look of these coz I run my seat right back against the back of the truck cab bulkhead and most buckets are just too thisk in the back and would loose a lot of room!

Those are the ones ive seen and liked the look of! No sign on the web site, I'll give em a ring maybe!

I have a low line (one of the new TDS/EP9 jobs) for my Ctr winch and thats mounted feet forward. They dont have anything in them that would cause a problem whichever way up you put it!

Does anyone know what happened about these seats? Steff? Ive seen some QT seats in a challenge truck on the three peaks and they looked good as they were thin and could be pushed a fair way back in a truck cab but no sign of seats of any type on the QT web site!

Your lucky I let you in the truck, You should be outside running with a ground anchor or something!

Thats not really the best example you could have given Alan, Past results dont look too kindly on Hydro. 1st on the 07 Tay were and 8274 and (as mike says) PTO winch. We were second, Both trucks running (at that time) standard 8274's although we did drop most of the saturday PM when Pilot error broke the front winch on my truck. Alan and Saley were third with Hydro, If I recal correctly John had no winch's at the end because the Pump packed in and Alan had to be rescued from a bog he couldn't get out of! All these winch have there troubles granted but as yet im still happiest with the electric, especially with the twin motor. Its quite simply brilliant. Jims trying to get me to run higher ratio which I probably will very soon but at the moment the std ratio is very very impressive.

Sorry for being a bit daft but whats PSC?

Ive got stainless on the front and alloy on the back. The stainless is just starting to dog bone a little on the front but the alloy one on the rear is about worn out. Both been on less than 12 months.

Well done Chris and also Adrian, Excellent results fella's. Looks like a cracking event.

Blimey John, Not only new winch's but a bath as well!!!! You aint messing about this season are you! Good luck to you all, Looks like the makings of a cracking event. Should have got off me arse and entered. Cant wait to read the reports coz I think its gona be a good one.

Thanks for the reply. I have search'd, Found page's and page's of stuff, spent hours trawling through it but Largly irelevent or loosely related but not really answering what I wanted to know which is basically a comparison of the various types available, which is the best start point to go for, What are the problems with each one and whats available, what needs to be fab'd. I have the facilitys and ability to fab most stuff but time is very short so if there are quality parts available like the disc brake conversion etc I would prefer to buy and that way it gives me more time to spend on the other parts such as tube work etc. As for internals I know of quite a few people who have broken shafts in portals. Im fed up of breaking axles myself and have lost confidence in my truck to the point that I worry about it through every event and try not to use it too mush between events to play which completely goes against the whole reason I built the truck in the first place. I kinda had the feeling the choice would be Volvo or mog. Whats the pro's and cons of the two? Which are stronger etc? Disc brake conversion availability? Diff offset? Cheers.

Right, Chewing over the new truck build and I really need to start sourcing the parts but still aint sure what to do about axles. If I do decide to go Portal (still need to decide on that yet) which are the best to start with. I know absolutely nothing about portals so I'm at the mercy of the experts on here. Main things I need to know to start with are:- Which are best? (E.g. Which have the best internals, are there issues with casings being week on some? Can this be easily strengthened? Which have the best internals? Which are easiest to get upgraded internals for iff needed? Which have the best/most reliable lockers? (Did Alan Kemp have trouble with lockers not disenganging). Availabilty of decent disc brake kits as I really aint keen on drums and hopefully to take landrover stud pattern? Width of axle? (drum face to drum face including disc brake conversion) dont wana get too wide. Aproximate gain in height? Dont wana get too high. Availability of parts? Reliability of other parts (eg steering etc)? Ease of moding steering setup (possibly go full hydro any way)? what Overall final drive ratios are available? I dont want to debate over weather Portals are the best thing to fit to the truck, I just want to know which one's I need, What I need to do to em and how much it'll cost if I do go down this route. Cheers. Steve.

3 years, In my experience thats pretty good for a polly bush. Ive roasted them in 4 months before and wont use em now. Since then ive stuck to GENUINE rubber bushs as they seem to outlast and outflex everything tho I have got super pro in the panhard rod and they are holding up too it well so im gona try a full set when I get time.