Steve 90

I cant really take credit for it tho Will as the inspiration came from another thread just altered it a bit to suit what I wanted!

Yep, Disco drop arm and drag link. The panhard rod runs almost identically to the std defender setup. There is a rose joint at the chassis end of the ram, As you say the ram moves with the drop arm going through an arc.

3/4" x 3/4" rose joint and a 3/4" UNF bolt.

No movement at all. I drilled the arm out to slightly under the bolt size then reamed it finally till the bolt was a snug fit. I made sure there was just the right amount of parallel shank on the bolt to go through both rose joints and the arm then just enough thread for the Nut to tighten it all up. I am going to put a better quality bolt through before I use it in anger tho as its in single sheer and the bolt I have is an S grade which I think is the same as an 8.8.

Pump was Alfred Murry, The ZF74 is quite £££££y but atleast I was sure it was the right one. ZF use the same castings for 95% of their pumps but none of the ZF German car P.A.S. pumps that look the same have anywhere near the output figures quoted for a ZF74. He was tidy to deal with and posted it next day delivery. The ram was a straightforward supplies kit. Basically because I didn't have the time to start working out what size ram I needed and searching for one etc so I just bought one that does the job and it seems to be about right really. I have only used the ram tho as the brackets and pipes I ended up making as I needed them.

After discussing this with Jase a while back I gave it a fair bit of thought. The problem I could see was that under the diff nose was out of the question as the ram would be the first thing to hit tree stumps, Rocks etc and over the top would not have enough clearance under the sump on full bump to fit the ram in. Also the track rods would be at a funny angle by the time they went from a ram mounted above the diff nose to the hubs bellow the diff nose over quite a short distance.

Thanks Will, Im quite pleased with it now. The ram is up out of harms way and with the steering guard in place should be even better, The hoses are tucked up very nicely and very short and its got over the few small problems I had with the Mk1 and 2 versions.

Thanks. The Ram should cut down on steering box failures, It should take some of the shock loading back through the steering and protect the box. 4 bolt are said to be stronger than the 6 which is why I changed mine but some people say there is no difference!!!!

Depends how much current your isolator will carry. I only have one but its a huge, solid metal lump that is meant for some heavy plant application.If its the little red plastic handle ones you'll need about 25 of them!!!! As far as wiring goes, You can use one albright to run both motors but to be safe (and i think its advisable) I used two. Just wired them with their own 40mm feed from battery to an albright for each motor and it works brilliantly.

Here's the ram in the MK3 position! Despite concerns I had over putting it here and it giving the Panhard rod bushes a hard time the advantages were more than enough to make it worth a try. Ciderman suggested I rose joint the Panhard rod which I think I will probably do.

Im using the ZF74 which works brilliantly. Also it might be worth mentioning that I had problems with oil starvation on side slopes with the std small plastic ZF type reservoir. The difference in fluid volume needed by the ram from one lock too the other was greater than the small reservoir could hold. Changing it to the early tin RR/90 type would be ideal but I couldn't find one so I used one off a bedford TL.

Feel free to send them on Tony, Did you get the last lot of pics of the MK3 version??? I haven't got any pics handy of the steering box at the moment but will take some in the morning (as long as I remember my camera, Memory like a goldfish) and post them. If you are going to drill the box you really should strip it to be sure you dont get swarf in the box. You would probably get away with doing it in one piece if you grease the drill and tap but id be happier pulling it apart. Is it a 4 or 6 bolt box you have??? I have both here drilled for Hydro assist so can post pic's of whichever. alternatively as Tony says you can T into pipes and take a feed off the bleed nipple.

Nope, Didn't get it, Got too it and the brake on the front winch fell apart because someone (me ) didn't tighten the bolt properly!!!!!!! We only had 15mins to get back and most the bits were in the bog so we headed back! Not to worry, We didn't need that punch anyway!!!!

Yes but think how much you saved on the front cable!!!!!

When I did my twin xp'd setup I wanted 70mm. I was going to use two albrights and it was a bit of a pain to fit the 70 in amongst all that wiring and route it to the right post on the albright so I just doubled up with 40mm, Ran a separate length for each motor from battery to albright and a separate earth from each motor back to batteries. It made routing of cables much easier and the 40mm is much more flexible for keeping it out of the way, The ends are much smaller giving more room between them at the albright end and it carries more than enough current (I suppose its the equiv' of running 80mm) The Twin motor is awesome BTW, Single line pulls through anything and it doesn't even slow on stuff that would stall a single. This was single line!

Yep, Id agree totally. Tony whichever you get go for ones with a decent double sided adjustment/locking mech. The one sided ones are fine when new but very quickly start to sip. I have two different size sets of knipex which are excellent. The Bacho stuff is also very good quality

So far then we have Richards, Desighna and marsland! with Richards being best on reputation!!!!! will give em a ring in the morning. Cheers fellas!

Thats the last time I tell you anything!!!

Been thinking about building a new challenge truck for a while and I think its time to get on with it, Need to start with a new chassis although it will be different from standard at the rear as it will be a tray back (probably cross between tom cat and tray back actually), need roll cage mounts and also (probably but not 100 sure yet) need non landrover engine and gear box mounts also a few other mounts for various things. I also want it Galvanized which is why I need the mods done at chassis construction rather tan just doing them through the build. So who does a good chassis and will do them to a custom spec? Any ideas/recommendations??? Thanks. Steve.

Im on the scrounge for pictures of how they mount the windscreen in the front hoop of the cage on Tom cats etc. If there's anyone out there with one and can post a couple of close up's it would make my christmas :D Thanks. Steve.

Think you hit the nail on the head there Jase, Ive found the same thing. The one on the rear is an early winch. Not entirely sure of age but it had a 2.5hp motor with tapered shaft and motor gear so its pretty early and from what I can see it has much better, machined mounting points. The one on the front (which is the poor one) is an 8274-50, again not sure of age but much newer.

Just thought I'd post this as some other 8274 users might be suffering the same trouble and not know it yet, So you might want to check yours. Had my 8274 apart for routine maintenance and noticed some strange wear on the large drum gear. It was worn heavily on one side and hardly touched on the other which made me think something was out of line. I was particularly worried as it was a new gear after I stripped one on the Tay and this one sided wear could have been a lot of the reason the old one stripped. The picture doesn't really show it that well but here it is. So I bolted the lower case and end support back in the bumper, had a measure up and sure enough they were way out of line. It looked like the plate at the front of the bumper had a bow along the length of it that was kicking the lower casing and end support away from each other. It was kind of my fault as I originally made the bumper out of 6mm plate then realised it was flexing with any load so doubled up with another piece of 6mm plate on the front. This stopped any flex but looks like welding the two together made it bow. I cut the front out of the bumper and replaced it with a piece of 12mm plate. Sorted, Ran a straight edge along the front and its bang on. Fitted the lower housing and B**ger, It still sits out of line. It doesn't look much but the gap at the back between the square and the casing is 3mm. I know thats only a cast edge but the difference on the machined surface around the drum bush/bearing is the same! When I looked closer at the mountings of the lower case they are very poor. They look rounded and way off being square. I'm sure this is the reason its wearing the gear one sided as it doesn't stand a chance of bolting down tidy with the mountings like that. It looks like thats the way it came from the factory as the original paint was still on it till I scrapped it off with a file. I'll mount The casing on a face plate in the mill and machine the mountings flat and square tonight then do the same with the end support to line it all back up. Then hopefully it will all sit a bit better!

Couple more pic's!