bill van snorkle

Yesterday I spent a few hours assisting a young English lady load her converted ex British army LandRover fC 101 ambulance into a shipping container bound for South America, so that she and her boyfriend could continue their round the world journey, began in UK a couple of years ago. Anyway, I spotted that the truck had a power steering conversion which differed to conversions we do to them over here, and asked her where they had it done. She told me that they took the truck to a well known LandRover conversion specialist, famous for Ford v6 conversions in Manchester I think, who kept it for some 2 months in order to fit a Leyland Sherpa Van power steering box assembly and pump to the V8 engine. The standard of fitment seemed ok and looked quite tidy, so I asked her how much it cost. Well she almost had to pick me up from the floor when she mentioned that the company charged them four thousand British pounds. They were very distressed at the price but feared that if they refused to pay it they would never get their truck, which they had spent hundreds of hours on preparing for the expedition, back again. We worked it out that they could have put the 101 into a container in the UK, shipped it out to our firm in Australia. We would have fitted a Nissan power steering system to it and shipped the truck back to the UK and they would still be one thousand pounds in pocket. My question to the UK members of this forum is. Is this kind of extortionate overcharging normal and acceptable these days? Is it that difficult over there to find firms that will take on conversion work, that when you do, they have you by the short and curleys and can rip you off for any amount they see fit? I really feel sorry for those who have no choice but to place themselves at the mercy of these blood suckers. Bill.

I missed this question earlier. Transit van diffs are more equivelant in size to a Dana 44 but considerably stronger.I ran cut down Transit diffs with Landey hubs and swivels, with Tracta joints on my Landey many years ago. I still have them in my boneyard. They were excellant diffs with more ground clearance than the small rover diffs. I only changed them for Salisburies because the homemade sliding axle difflocks were difficult to engage and at that time I wanted to try detroit lockers(big mistake). At one stage for about a year I ran the Transit 4.625Ratio in the rear and a Dana 60/Salisbury hybrid front axle with 4.7:1 ratio and never had any issues with transmission windup in 4wd. As I recall there were a choice of 3 different ratios. The single wheel transits were 4.625 :1. Duall wheel Transits were 5.125 :1 and around 5.7:1. the interesting point being that the low ratio ring and pinions were equally as strong as the high ratio ones due to using thicker,but fewer teeth . I do not believe Transit diffs were made by Salisbury asthey were beautifully machined and finished, and the crownwheel to pinion backlash and bearing preload was altered by turning threaded adjusters just like on the small Rover type diffs. Bill. Bill.

Rest easy Ben. I have withdrawn the contract that I put out on you last night. Bill.

Mc Namara's 35 spline upgrade kit is quite expensive as it involves side gears, axles,driveflanges and new oversize spindles etc, and your hubs need to be bored out for oversize bearings. Maybe you could source a complete 101 FC rear end from UK and adapt the coil spring mounts to it. The 101 axles are almost as big as 35 spline Dana's. Bill.

I assume this is a democratic forum? and that I am entitled to express a qualified opinion? If more true enthusiasts like me had criticized Rover a bit more when they began losing the plot ,circa 1990 instead of glorifying shoddy design and workmanship through the various LandRover specific magazines etc, then the quality and reputation of the product worldwide might not be quite so poor as it is today. Bill.

I wouldn't do that Jez. On my several trips to Vietnam to visit my wife and daughters I have admired the old Gaz 69's and UAZ469's especially some that were fitted with portal axles. In fact , if my wife decides that she is not happy in OZ and we move back to Hanoi, if I can't take my LandRover over their I will buy a portalled GAZ and build another special with which to tour China and South East Asia. Bill.

Dana 60 ring and pinions can be fitted to Salisbury's. You need to drill the carrier bolt holes out to half inch diameter. the outer pinion bearing cone needs to be changed, and the propshaft driveflange from the 60 needs to be used. (delete flange from Rover propshaft and secure uj by the 60 style ''U''bolts.) can't tell what country you are from but over here in Oz 4.1 ratio Dana 60 rear axle assemblies can be sourced quite easily and cheaply from many of the Dodge and International light trucks that were sold in the 1960's and 70's Bill.

Hi Ben, Yes I was born in Britain. Moved to OZ in 1957, but still consider myself a Pom.Haven't been Neutralised.Even travel on British passport.Commenced my apprenticeship at Regent Motors LandRover in Melbourne in 1966 at age 16.Bought first LandRover in 1968 because it was British and at that time, the best that was readily available in OZ. Have lived and breathed LandRovers ever since. Recognised the faults and weaknesses from day 1 but had high hopes that the marque would evolve into a world beating product that Brits and Anglophiles alike could be truly proud of. The series 3 period from 1972 to early eighties was abysmal. the product was pure carp and would have killed the LandRover company had it not been for the RangeRover.The introduction of the 110 series was cause for optimism. A reasonably well built truck with good offroad ability off the shelf, most of the mechanical components were strong and reliable and came quite close to matching the Japs in the kind of mileages that could be clocked up before major rebuilds were required. But anyone who claims that the Defender series since its introduction is not as bad as I make them out to be is still wearing their LandRover or British Blinkers. For most of the past 40 years I have made my living from loving,maintaining, repairing, dissecting, wrecking and modifying LandRovers and when I reach the conclusion, as I have done in recent years that the quality of the product has rapidly declined to the point where I cannot think of any other brand of working type four wheel drive in the world , including Chinese and Russian that is worse, I do so with a heavy heart. Bill.

I repaired one last week. drilled out the rivets to remove the pump head. the spring loaded inlet and exhaust valves had disintegrated (very common). Pulled an old 2 1/4 litre CAV petrol pump apart and found that the valves were virtually identical. Fitted those and refitted the head with 3/16 pop rivets. There is a rubber ''O ring type gasket between the head and pump body that could be repaired withor even replaced with silicon sealer. Bill.

Over the decades, on internet and magazine forums, I read where LandRover apologists blame the drivers abilities for exposing the various mechanical design flaws and weaknesses of their favorite vehicles.In the working 4wd sector in most parts of the world, LandRovers have been replaced by other brands of vehicles that are built with sufficient reserves of strength and reliability, so that relatively untrained drivers can perform a usefull days work without having to mollycoddle and baby the vehicle for fear of suffering time wasting expensive breakdowns. Yes driver training will assist operators to get the best from their vehicles, but it would be great if the vehicles was designed right for the use that the manufacturers promote them to be suitable for. IMHO Rovers love affair with the concept of traction control, by braking a spinning wheel and transferring the drive to the wheel with most traction is flawed for crosscountry vehicle application ,when compared to locking or LSD's. If a differential has say a 4:1 gear reduction and you brake one wheel, the remaining wheel on that axle is driven, due to the action of the spider gears at a 2:1 reduction at twice the speed and half the torque, which in some circumstances on vehicles such as the Freeloader with no low range, causes stalling, and other times the rapid change in wheel speed will cause wheelspin and loss of traction. For reasons that escape me now, I am and have always been a LandRover owner. But I think for the most part they were designed by engineers who didn't have a clue, and were built by people who couldn't give a stuff. I genuinly hope that guy wins his case. Bill.

Over here in OZ we can get pitted chrome swivels re hard chromed. Is that now impossible in the UK? Are the teflon swivel assemblies capable of holding ep90 instead of grease? About the only components on earlier Defenders that didn't wear out were the front wheel bearings and drive flanges, because just enough oil would get out of the swivels, past the stub axle seal and keep them wet and lubricated. I am servicing and preparing a 130 for a customer to go around OZ, and so far LandRovers design for built in obsolecense is really eating in to his budget.This truck is privately owned and has not lead a particularly hard life, by working vehicle standards. Grease in the swivel balls doesn't lubricate the cv joints, wheel bearings or drive flanges very well and all these needed replacement, in addition to the usual rear axles,flanges, wheel bearings and one stub axle, universal joints on propshafts and steering, clutch assembly and release fork,timing belt and tensioner, I could go on and on and probably will when I recommence working on it next week. There really is a reason why Nissan and Toyota rule over here, and many other parts of the world. Bill.

I vaguely recall a conversation with Mal of Maxidrive some years ago and the cost of the 101 CV conversion was right up there with his portal axles. The swivel balls were designed to fit into Series 1,2 and 3 outer swivel housings, which are significantly larger than coiler ones. They were really designed for the rear end to make Maxidrives 4 wheel steering conversion viable. I have got a pair of 101 swivel assembles that I converted to be bolt on like regular Landies. The spindles (stub axles) were machined down to take 2 inch ID bearings. Regular Landy hubs were bored out for these bearings and drive flanges broached or slotted to the 101's 21 spline pattern. I intended to use these on a cv eating Salisbury front axle I built and ran for many years, but in the end I elected not to use them because replacement cv's , if or when needed are manufactured from either Unobtanium or Unaffordium ,so I decided to make portals instead. They will probably be fodder for a future project. Bill.

OT I know, but I believe the ''Fairey Corp'' The manufacturers of those crappy overdrives is in the aircraft business? Actually I agree that LandRover have misrepresented the Freelander in their advertising, but nothing new there. They have been misrepresenting their products abilities since 1948, ie '' Go anywhere 4wd tractor'' ''Worlds Most Versatile Vehicle'' '' Toughest Vehicle On Four Wheels'' ''Best 4x4 x Far'' etc etc ad nauseum. I don't think the guy is a plonker, and feel he has every right to be dissappointed, and expect a reasonable degree of all terrain ability for his money. After all, one could drive a motorised wheelchair over that grassy paddock. Bill.

I used to run Detroit Lockers front and rear, then just the rear. After two years of suffering all the ill handling, banging and clanging, broken halfshafts, cv's etc, I ascertained that the most suitable location for them was my scrap metal dump.

That is an absolute disgrace. Words fail me. What towing capacity do they give TD5's these days? If someone has a serious accident due to the crossmember breaking while towing below the rated maximum I hope they will be permitted to sue LandRover into oblivion. Thanks Michele, I will try to ''save'' the pics in my files from now on.

Sorry Tony, moved house about 10 months ago. One box with photos and other stuff went missing. Can only refer you to outerlimits4x4.com Rover forum, page 60, thread title''Nigels Landey in 4wd monthly''there are a couple of short video's of hybrid with forced articulation during development testing. Also page 58, thread title ''Daddylonglegs 6x6'' page 2 of thread. a couple of vids of my old 6x6. Page51, thread title ''Another Volvo Rangie'' had a series of photos of a white 110 county on portals that I built as well as my series 2a SWB on home made portals, but it would seem that photos have a use by date on that forum and no longer exist.

That is really pathetic. What, did the factory forget to fit crush plates inside that crossmember? Or have they deleted them as yet another cost cutting measure ? Why do people keep buying these P.O.S? If I had the desire and the money to buy a new or late model 4x4, I am sorry to say that it certainly would not be anther Rover product. They have screwed the pooch in every way possible.

I'm not sure what you are trying to say. Do you believe LandRovers are structually stronger than other 4x4's and offer better protection to the occupants in the event of a mishap? My experience with Defenders suggest that certainly isn't the case, and unless fitted with a full roll cage are absolute deathtraps. The aluminium foil my wife wraps the Sunday roast in has more structural integrity than Defender bodywork. Series 2 and 2A Landeys however,were better built and used a much tougher grade of alloy that would stand up to a bit of awfulness.

one evening a couple of years ago an annebriated Kombi van driver ran into a power pole outside my house. I rushed outside to find the driver slumped unconcious over the steering wheel ,obscuring the ignition key, and foot jambed hard on the throttle. There was petrol everywhere, the engine was screaming at full revs and the only thing I could think of was to open the engine hatch and reef the distributor cap off. Well in the couple of seconds it took to do that I must have received a few hundred high voltage belts that still makes me wince when I think about it.

The ''Twist Off Gone Wrong '' thread has got me wondering. If you took a Landy with a rear locker and front and rear anti roll bars attached up an articulation ramp until it lost stability (with a safety chain of course) and then repeated the attempt with both bars disconnected, would it lose stability earlier or later? My guess is that it would drive further up the ramp with bars disconnected before it did a'' Hummer''.

I would agree that only the tread needs to be covered. In fact stock standard Landy 130 high cap pickup rear wheel arches barely cover the tread and the sidewalls are well exposed.

There are probably a few good reasons to move to Australia, but freedom from persecution by the anti 4wd media isn't one of them. I don't know what it is like in Queensland but just about everywhere else in Australia we have the same anti 4x4 media bull**** on TV and print media. If you get these programs up there try tuning in to ''A Current Affair'' or ''This Day Tonight''. They have had an anti 4wd campaign for years now. And when the news media report on traffic accidents and a 4wd vehicle is involved they always emphasise the fact that the accident involved a 4wd vehicle. Police have been hassling offroaders at popular localities on a regular basis doing roadworthy inspections in the forest, ticketing people for having dirty head lights, tail lights and number plates just after exiting tracks with deep muddy waterholes.

Ben, What machining was required ? I once machined an induction hardened pirate copy of a AEU2522 cv to clear a rangerover spindle. I got the finish super smooth and radiused but the stubshaft failed, broke clean in the modified area. I then replaced it with an unmodified joint of the same brand and when it failed the stubshaft split into several sections along its length.

Yes, that is a possibility.I have had splines ground in the past on case hardened components and as long as they don't receive surface scratches or dint during handling they have been ok.and of course annealing a cv wouldn't be necessary when doing external splines. I was thinking back to when I had an early RR cv annealed, broached and rehardened, and the bell shrunk ever so slightly,enough that I couldn't reassemble it ,even with an old cage and balls and lapping paste.

That would be fine if they could be annealed, resplined and then rehardened without shrinkage to the bell or affecting strength.