Kev Baldwin

Don't bother with DAB. In-car service is either hopeless or patchy at best. A case of great technology that doesn't quite work yet!

CCV on car-park....but no footage of anything!

Having heard all of the stories over the years, this year was my year! Stolen on Friday night from outside Holiday Inn off A45 2002 Epson Green Td5 90 - Reg K3MUD Subtly modified (lack of 'Lets off -road' stickers!), but with lots of extras including.... Safety Devices external cage 255 BFG M/T (nearly new) on Boost alloys Southdown sliders Mantec snorkel Mantec steering guard Mantec Tank guard Mantec window guards to rear quarter lights only MSS Drawer MSS Cubby Safari Equip Track rod guard OME suspension MUD Rails MUD Bulkhead Removal Bar Aside from the above there were a number of subtle stealth mods of my own that to the untrained eye would appear to be factory fitted. For obvious reasons I'd rather not say what those features are, but there are enough of them hidden away to identify it as mine without a shadow of doubt. Yep. I know chances are I'll never see it again, but there's a reward for anyone who offers any info that might help in its repatriation. BTW. I'm told mine was one of four Defenders taken from Hotel car parks on the Friday night. Cheers Kev B

The LR trucks are on 38's.

I use a Brodit mount for my mobile. Very simple. Looks neat and doesn't fall off! You buy the Defender specific mount that simply clips to dashboard without the need for screws and then you select the cradle for your model of iPhone. The cradle then screws to the dash mount. Cradles are available for just about any phone, mp3, satnav devices. If you change your phone simply buy a new cradle to fit your new device and swap it onto the Defender dash mount. Device cradles come in different options and prices. There are swivel/tilt options and hardwired power dock versions. You can also buy additional mounting plates that allow you to fit more than one cradle, for say your iPhone and a satNav, onto the one dash mount.

We've been working closely with Bradley on a new project....

Contact Bradley Doublelock ref the hitch options. They should be able to help with something like this. http://www.bradleydoublelock.co.uk/product.php?prod_id=480 FWIW. Bradley own Dixon Bate.

Try here. http://www.mudstuff.co.uk/Fitting_Instructions/HAZ-RWW%20switch%20wiring%20pdf.pdf

FWIW, Your choice is very limited in the 15in/380mm department. AFAIK there are only three options in a 15in aftermarket wheel. Mountney. Cheap and cheerful. You get what you pay for. Avoid if you do any off-roading cos they bend and flex. Moto-Lita. Expensive but top quality. OMP. Expensive and top quality but the one 15in model available (Velocita) is only available in a suede finish. I bought a 14in MOMO and hated it which started a search for a larger alternative - hence the reason I'm now a steering wheel bore! My 14in MOMO lasted one trip of a whole 5-miles before I removed it! Nothing wrong with the wheel. Just felt the step down from the standard size wheel was too great for me. There'll be loads of people on here who have 14in wheels who are perfectly happy with their size of wheel which goes to prove we're all different. I recommend you try before you buy before splashing out on something (possibly very expensive) that you may hate the moment you bolt it on.

Official GM press release "Wind down of HUMMER business to begin General Motors today announced that Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Co., Ltd. (Tengzhong) was unable to complete the acquisition of HUMMER. As a result, GM will begin the orderly wind-down of the HUMMER operations. "One year ago, General Motors announced that we were going to divest HUMMER, as part of focusing our efforts on Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac going forward. We have since considered a number of possibilities for HUMMER along the way, and we are disappointed that the deal with Tengzhong could not be completed," said John Smith GM vice president of corporate planning and alliances. "GM will now work closely with HUMMER employees, dealers and suppliers to wind down the business in an orderly and responsible manner." GM will continue to honor HUMMER warranties, while providing service support and spare parts to current HUMMER owners around the world" Note that this relates to the 'Hummer' H2 and H3 trucks only (big stupid rebodied pick-up trucks) and NOT the Humvee (HMMWV-short for High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle) produced by AM General. GM stopped production of the civillian 'Hummer H1' several years ago.

Just priced thee up for a customer. Land Rover price approx £250 per side and then you'll want the rear corner panels that go around the windows to either side of the rear door. Approx £60 each. Simmonites do copycat 'County' trim panels that are a one piece moulding (per side) that incorporate the rear corner trims. £275 a set.

Come along to the MUD stand at the Indoor 4x4 show and you might find something that will do the job.... :-)

We used to do them but dropped them from our range of products due to continuing hassles maintaining quality with the glass and rubber seal suppliers. Their idea of 'good enough' wasn't ours! Added to the fact they were a nightmare to pack and ship, they simply became more trouble than they were worth. Ironically at the time we didn't sell that many so the decision to stop selling them was an easy one to make. Of course since then, especially recently, customer enquiries ref the windows are 2/3 a week! Try Googling a 'Plant Glazing' company in your area. Don't bother with the Autoglass type people. Plant Glazers go out on site to repair machinery windows so carry sheet glass that they can cut to any made-to-measure size.

I've supplied lots MUD consoles to people who were planning on fitting them to ex MoD vehicles and can catergorically state that no one has ever returned one saying 'it won't fit'. I've never tried to fit one myself into a MoD 110 or even seen any MoD MUD installs in the flesh so can't comment on the finished result. Kev MUD-UK

Cheers! We try our best!

Do you mean something like this.... Available here

Domain name had expired thanks to original website developer putting his own email details in the account email field thereby ensuring all expiry notifications went to him and not us! I can confirm we've now put money in the meter. Website 'should' be back up and running normally although seems to be hit and miss for me at moment.

The GKN OD is a fragile beast hence the reason GKN stopped production of the unit. Remove OD and replace with Disco T-Case. Sell OD on eBay for silly figure and the T-Case upgrade will cost you very little.

The support for the programme was done by Wildtrackers a UK based outfit staffed by ex Camel guys who do lots of work for vehicle manufacturers and the TV and film industry. The end credits did list UK Camel Trophy winner/legend Bob Ives among the Vehicle Consultants. The Top Gear Polar expedition was supported by Arctic Trucks from Iceland the same people who built the Hilux's.

If load carrying capacity is a priority then go for the 130 - you won't regret it. Sure the lock is rubbish but it's only a bit more rubbish than a 110. You just get used to it, the same goes for always having to look for the extra bit of parking space. On the subject of size, looks are deceptive. A 130 Dbl-Cab with Hi-Cap is actually shorter than a Dbl cab Hilux. Honest! The downside to their rarity is it may take a while to find a good one. Most have been owned by utility companies and will have worked hard for a living before being de-fleeted. The upside to this is if you have a good one, there will be no shortage of buyers when you come to sell it. I sold my old 130 to the first person to come look at it within 48 hrs of ad being published. 6-months later I'm still getting enquiries from all over Europe from buyers. I wish I had a yard full of them! Based on my own experience of selling my 130 I reckon they have to be one of the most sought after LRs so even if you don't like it, there will always be a queue of people waiting to take it off your hands. I wouldn't bother with the Quadtech. Too heavy. A Truckman Top on the back of the Hi-cap body is plenty big enough. I had 5 mountain bikes in mine once. Without the Quadtech I'd say they're more saleable. They cruise wonderfully on the motorway. If you go for a Td5 get it chipped and it'll be fine.

Just when you thought you knew all there is to know about steering wheels, Land Rover comes along and complicates things... The latest Defenders off the line have now standardised on the 48 spline column so both the 300Tdi style wheel AND the 'Airbag' style wheel out of a new Puma Defender will now fit onto a 300Tdi column. EXCEPT! The early Puma's with the Airbag wheel had the 36 spline column as per the Td5 models! To simplify things the rules are: If you have a Puma Defender and are looking to upgrade your steering wheel with any aftermarket wheel or an airbag wheel the only way to tell which column you have is to remove the wheel and count the splines. If you are looking to buy an airbag wheel to upgrade a Defender of any age then you it's vital you check the number of splines the airbag wheel has to make sure it will fit onto your column. There's a useful guide to Defender steering wheels here

Steamed up screen when the heater is switched on is a tell-tale that the rubber drain/vent thingy in the bottom of the heater intake is blocked. Water that finds itself drawn into the heater intake is supposed to drain away though the vent. The vent fills with crud and traps the moisture. Reach under the heater to find it. Squeeze the rubber vent and you'll hear/see a trickle of water as it empties the heater intake. It's worth removing it altogether to give it a clean since if its trapping water it'll be packed full with crud. The rubber vent is just a push fit although due to its location it can be fiddly to fit. I'm not convinced by heater intake cowls. Had one once that made not a jot of difference to heater efficiency.

Performance & Protection does exactly what you want.

Have you checked the wires are intact where they come through the doors? This is a notorious weak spot on the Defender with the factory installed electric window kit. Pull back the rubber protective boots to reveal the wires. Any breakages in the wiring should be easy to spot.

The Mud Console will not work with the air-con as there is no room behind the air-con plastic fascia. I wouldn't bother with the conversion either. The early air-con system is a horrible thrown together pile of parts most of which are now obsolete/unavailable. If you really want air-con then fit later under-dash style assembly.