miketomcat

It's frc9568 however it's supersede by ftc5200. You do not want ftc5200 but many suppliers will send it instead. Mike

I did Ladoga with stock front axle and transfer box, the rear axle had a borrowed locker and HD shafts. On 33" tyres. My ibex and 110 are both on stock drive train (the ibex had HD drive flanges solely to stop the leak) both get off roaded the ibex is used for marshaling our local site days. Both are on 33" tyres. I run 1.4 transfer boxes, over drive would be nice but I don't feel I need one. If on stock tyres I would go to a 1.2. As for yours assuming the rear axle is a Salisbury service all, recon the transfer box and throw a hi lift and some spares in the back (a winch or turfor is nice). Job done easy to fix unlikely to break given your use and spend the money on the trip. Mike

Ironically someone at work mentioned doing a dry sand cement mix, leveling it then damping it. Mike

The class your going in does less swamp than daan did. From memory we had 30m on the winch a 30m spare and about 50m of assorted strops. I don't recall using much more than 70m in one length, but we did triple line at least twice. We had a second hand M8000 and a spare motor. The camel had a husky and spare motor. If your going to take a spare winch then Chinese ones will probably be fine just give them a good clean and service. I would happily go back with an EP9, come up or TDS my current winch is an X9 also a good winch. Mike

Those bearings just press off the plastic carrier, no need to cut the plastic. Just saying. Mike

On this occasion...........yes I agree. Mike

I have a dilemma due to the wonderful weather recently cutting the roof off the existing shed is looking marginal. So the plan is to sort the rear floor, move all my kit into the back half then finish the roof/front wall. So the rear sections floor needs sorting. I have rough, thin (in places) and cracked concrete. I'm not digging it up! I want in to be vaguely flat and dry. I'm thinking some sort of bitumen coat then heavy duty leveling screed over the top. Or perhaps dpc sand/cement mix and slabs. Either way needs to be as cheap as possible. It's not going to have any vehicle traffic or jacking, the worst is likely dropping something off the bench/beating something into submission. Ideas, comments welcome. Mike

We abused the M8000 on ours a even broke the drum housing where the tie bar mounts (due to bunched rope) but it kept on going. On several occasions we were manually cooling the motor with swamp water. We snapped an 11mm plasma rope on stage 5, tied it together to get us out and back to camp. In camp I spliced it together and continued to use it. In fact that rope is now on the Fairey 525 on the wife's 110, complete with splice still in it. Mike

I also saw this and couldn't quite work out what the problem was. I agree it does look marginal but unless there's more to it I can't see a legal issue. I've towed 3.5t on several occasions with a 200tdi, yes it struggles on hills otherwise though it's fine. I can only assume it was a long hill hence the low speed. Mike

Love it. Mike

As western says but I used silicone grease on the one in 45 (taking care to only get it on the rubber seal). Then I closed it and left it closed. Mike

We were running bfg km2 then switched to the camels mudzillers. The ability to float on the surface is useful but difficult within the size regs. Nav gear is definitely not my area @FridgeFreezer will have a better idea. I'm fairly sure we were given the route at scrutineering so had time to sort it all out (we didn't enter the first stage till 5pm). A T5 will be fine as a support truck for camp and beginning/end of stage. If you get stuck in stage as happened to the camel, Belgians and mouse. The T5 isn't going to be able to go in and help. most important though we need a build thread and event tread! mike

Yours sounds like classic death wobble, I would check/replace panhard bushes and track rod ends. Mike

I've still got some 100% deet in the workshop. I've never seen mosquito 🦟 as big as the ones in the swamps around lake Ladoga. Any bit of you not covered with deet or clothes (and some that is covered) will suffer dearly. Mike

The little yellow peli-case on the roof in that picture is our life box. It lived down the back of the cubby box so it could be grabbed in a hurry. We also had a big peli-case in the back that had dry clothes and sleeping bags in. The tent was bungeed to the headlining. You need to carry your camping gear so when the back of the truck is flooded you'll be glad that it stays dry. We carried. Recovery gear, Water (enough to drink and refill the radiator)/food for several days (as the Belgian collective found out), Camping gear and clothes, A basic tool kit with a couple of special tools, Some spares, belts, wheel bearings, UJ's etc (stuff to get it rolling or can be done in stage) a tube that can go in a holed tyre is useful, Waffles/hi lift, Deet (in a waterproof tub, it melts plastic), First aid kit, Two fire extinguishers, A basher, Spade, Bow saw, Waterproof's, Nav gear (itronix laptop way out of date now), Radio. Our support had all above plus extras, dry boots and cooking gear. Wearing boots that dry quickly is more important than waterproof. Mike

You definitely need the biggest tyres your allowed in class but don't go even a millimetre over. We did the first stage on 265/75x16 (knicked off our support truck) due to the 255/85x16's being 5mm to tall. The other truck with us in tourist was on 33's but was a 110 and had a hell of a time in stage 1. They did so much damage they decided to pull out and only do the beach/dune stages. We borrowed their wheels for the rest of the event. Oh and get really good at taking tyres off an on rims, on one stage we punched 3 tyres off rims, scoop the mud out put them back on and carry on. We had no trailer and drove from stage to camp to stage. In Russia we got pulled once out in the sticks but just kept saying "English I don't understand" till they got bored. However friends got a small fine. Never had a problem other than police curiosity elsewhere in Europe. It's a great event being able to speak Russian would be a plus as although a lot is in English the other have to get someone. This was our truck at the end of stage one. On route with the flying spanners including @FridgeFreezer (proto), @Daan (tr2) and us / Charlie camel (tourist). Mike

We did the equivalent of this class back in 2009. We used a relatively standard 90, 200tdi, M8000 winch and rear locker. They say not timed but it was. We ended up in amongst TR1 on most stages. Be prepared to bend everything. Great event though. Mike

I have some experience of removing moisture. We bag entire boats with industrial dehumidifiers inside. The current record at work is 270 litres out of a 33ft wooden power boat (there was no standing water, carpets or owners gear in it). We used to use house hold dehumidifiers but needed 6, they worked well but emptying them was a pain hence the switch to 2 industrial. You need both heat and air movement to be effective and the collected water needs to be removed regularly. Best you can do in a landy is get it dry (as above) then keep it dry with the crystal and trap type. Mike

There is a defender td5 ish inner wing style bottle that has the fitting for the headlight pump. Defender bottle and modified discovery bumper jets above. I bought the bottle at sodbury because it hadn't been drilled for the standard pumps. Edit found a picture on the internet. Mike

Just before it got dark we managed to get some more membrane and two more roof sheets on. I've punched a hole in the tarp to allow it to drain down the centre of the original roof, hopefully clear of the holes. Fingers crossed the shed will stay dry till I can do the rest. Mike

Another truss up, this required holes to be cut in the original shed roof to allow clearance. Mike

Here's hoping you make a full recovery, well you have to because we neeeeeeeeeeeeeed to see that lightweight finished. Mike

With Christmas done and my brother-in-law staying for a couple of weeks, I might as well put him to good use. Yesterday between showers we got the dry storage roof frame up. Today we got the membrane and roof panels on the back half. Hopefully tomorrow I can cut a bit of the existing roof and squeeze the next truss and panels up. Mike

I must finish the workshop, I must finish the workshop......then get it set up and useable. Mike

Sliding window are great and hideous for the same reasons. They rattle and don't shut on the seals very well (even if they do they pull away at about 50mph). They leak when parked at certain angle's. Are a pain at drive thru/ ticket booths. However the front window just cracked open demists the screen better than the heater and the air flow you can create in the summer is sublime. I love them but I'm nuttier than most. Mike