Budgie

I think I'd start with a an oil change in both boxes and make sure you have ATF or MTF in the gearbox and not EP90. The R380 can't take EP90 for long as it's too thick for the internal pump to handle. You should have EP90 in the transfer box and the oils in both should be clean and at teh correct level.

Again, I'm with Diff about the caster correction. With a +3" lift the steering is nasty and wanders all over the place, I ended up with corrected radius arms. This sorted the steering but caused problems with the front propshaft cos' they alter the angle of the diff and you end up with the U/J on the diff end of the propshaft nearly straight and the one of the transfer box end nearly binding, this sets up a nice vibration! A double cadan front prop from a TD5 Disco sorted it out though. You can get caster sorrection radius arm bushes that do the same job ( Devon 4x4 sell them) but I've heard that they don't last very long, although I've never tried them so can say from experience. IIRC Tomcat used to make corrected swivel housings, which keeps the axle at the same angle it is now and avoids the propshaft problems, but I've not seen them around for a while. With the ARB's, you can use the solid alloy spacers you get for tow hitches, the hole spacing is just about right and they are a good overall size for the job.

You can get both the drop arm (Paddocks do them from £26 + vat) and the balljoint kit for about £5.75 +vat. The splines on the bottom of the steering box are tapered so the drop arm may only go tight once the securing nut is tight. Check the splines on the shaft & the drop arm to make sure there isn't any ware, the securing nut may have been loose at some time. When you removed the drop arm, did it come off easy or did you have to use a puller and was the nut tight and secured with the locking washer?

Those pressures seem very high to me. The correct pressures for 235x70R16 tyres are about: Front = 1.9 bar or 27 psi Rear = 2.4 bar or 34 psi. If you're having to run at nearly 30% higher pressure than standard to get the handling then there maybe something wrong with the tyres themselves. What make of tyres have you got fitted? Are they remoulds? Does each axle have the same make & tread type on both wheels? How much tread is left on them? Any signs of cracks in the sidewalls or tread?

I think I would leave the rear tyre pressures as they are and increase the front to about 28-30 psi. Check that all the bolts holding the rear axle are tight, sometimes even half a turn can make a difference. Check the rear axle A-frame ball joint and the bushes from the A-frame onto the chassis. It could be that the rear springs are not of the correct rating for your useage. If you can't find anything else wrong then try a pair of H/D springs on the rear to see what it feels like, they are only about £20 each.

Nic, I've got a DiscoParts bumper and the four bolts you see, securing the D-ring, screw into a bracket that wraps around the rear chassis crossmember. The bracket is secured with two long bolts that use the main tow hitch bolt holes in the crossmember. The bumper is also secured using the original bumper bolt holes but have a plate to strengthen this position.

The one in Marks photo is a Discoparts H/D bumper that is also held onto the chassis in the centre by a bracket that wraps round the rear chassis crossmember and is secured using the bolt holes for the tow hitch. Is this what you bent or was it standard one? I can't seem to get the link to the photo to work.

The hard (bumpy) bit I'd agree with when the vehicle is unloaded Jules, but the skitty back end? Not in my experience of driving my Disco with twin rear shocks. In fact I removed the rear ARB and it sticks to the road like glue round corners and there is no noticable lean either.

It's a Defender A-bar that bolts to the top of the bumper. A slightly better shot for you.

I fitted Wizard's kit about 8 months ago and, to be honest, you don't need the ARB's with twin shocks on the rear. It's quite stiff enough! I did a tutorial on the Mud Club Workshop section if you want a look. If it's for load carrying then it would be worth looking at higher rated springs as the twin rear shocks only divide the dampening, putting less stress on each shocker, they don't add to your load carrying capacity.

Looking good. On my BRB bumper the Hi-lift points are under the bumper so I managed to get the reg' plate on the front of the bumper.

Try speaking to Bronco, they don't list them on the site but I'm sure they sell them.

I'm running 33x12.5R15's with standard offset Defender 8-spokes and a set of Pro-spacers from Scrap-iron. I've been able to keep the original turing circle, had not issues with wheel bearings but I do have wheelarch flares fitted so there's no problems with the bodywork either. I went of the Pro-spacers cos' they are TUV approved and have the location lugs on them, unlike alot of other, cheaper, spacers you'll see!

If it's only the AFM that's causing the problem then can you not just extend the connecting pipe between AFM & the plenum which would allow more flexablilty in where the AFM was situated? I can't see there would be any problems in turing the plenum through 180 degrees. It would mean finding some way of getting the thottle cable to run right round the engine onto, what would be, the front of the plenum, you may have to extend the wiring for some of the sensors and the fuel pipe upto the cold start injector. But theres nothing really problematic as far as I can see.

The benifit of the H/D rings is that the standard ones are made of mild steel, including the bolts. The ring on these is mild steel, only thicker than there others, but the blots are high tensile so less likely to snap in the future. I've got a set of these but not fitted them yet so can't say how goot or bad they are.

Paddock's do a H/D turret retaining ring if you're interested Geoff. http://www.paddockspares.com/pp/OFF_ROAD/H...ing_(each).html

Somehow I think it'll take more than polish with this one.................. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk-zJJa2XW0...ch=land%20rover

In that case then just change the seal, re-pack the wheel bearings, make sure the breather is clear and maybe fit a new set of brake pads if the set that are on there have been contaminated with EP90. That should be you.

Typsey, just to confirm, is it the swivel seal or the hub seal that's leaking now?

Yep, but it's always good practice to re-pack the wheel bearings with grease before you put everything back together again.

If it's related then it'll be because the breather pipe on top of the axle case is blocked. As everything warms up in the axle, the air inside the casing will expand and, if the breather is blocked, the pressure could push oil past a weak hub seal. So it may not be anything they have done, it could just be that the pressure was being released through the seal on the other side until they put a new hub seal on it.

The front diff drive flange seal should be FRC8220 and the rear (with the 3 bolt flange) is FTC5258. Click HERE for a link to Paddock spares to make sure. As for the lights, the righthand bumper lights are AMR6510 and the left ones are AMR6509. Again these are available through Paddocks and come in at £14.95 + vat if you can't get them locally.

I thought that as well until I was driving along one of the single track roads on the island and a seagull didn't get airbourne fast enough and got a Safari grill up the @ss!! You should have seen the look I got from him! Anyway, I have to admit, I went for the Scrapiron grill but it's just a laser cut copy of the original and doesn't have the scorpion on it. I only went for this because, at the time, I couldn't find anyone doing spares for the Safari Snorkel so if Reads90 has found an outlet in Oz then bring it on.

It's to do with the leaverage Andy. The wheel on the D44 carrier is basicly in the same place as the original, only a 2-3" higher. The D44 carrier also sits flush to the rear door all the way up and is of a stronger build. NicTheOrange90's mod raises the wheel quite a bit above that of the original and, more importantly, extends the location of the spare wheel rearwards. Add to this the extra weight of the larger tyre and this rearward extention will have the effect of putting the top securing bolts, through the door frame, under stress from a pivoting motion especialy when offroad. As an example, if you look at the side view of NicTheOranges90's one and compare it to the gap on mine with a 33x12.5R15 tyre on the D44 carrier you'll see what I mean. I hope that, sort of, explains it. NicTheOrange90, Please don't get me wrong here, I'm not 'dissing' your work. I think it's a great use of the materials available to come to a solution. All I'm doing here is trying to answer Andy's question. You'll be pleased with the D44 carrier though, it's a good bit of kit!

I fitted a cruise control kit to my manual 300 TDi Disco about 5 years ago. The kit came from Conrad Anderson and cost around £150, although I can't see the model I have on their site now so I assume it's been replaced. It's connected to the tacho cable on the rear of the alternator for the engine speed, although there were about 3 different ways to get the pulses the unit needs to maintain a set speed. It has a cut-off connected to the brakelight switch on the foot brake and you can get an extra micro switch that looks after the clutch. It also drops out if the speed changes by 15% in either direction from the set speed. It's only real drawback is that the actuator works off the vacuum pipe to the servo, via a T-piece, and takes a while to kick in, but other than that it's a godsend on the trecks from Inverness to Billing!