Dave W

I'd have thought a V shaped pan with a pickup at each end. You should be able to calculate the optimum angle for the V based on the angle you think you can get to before your truck will roll over and how much residual oil you expect to keep in the engine. Maybe with a (normally) horizontal baffle near the top. You don't actually have to keep the sump "dry" so even with a shallow V, if you don't skimp too much on the tank, when the engine is in it's worse orientations oil being pumped in will exceed that being scavenged so you'll essentially fill the sump until it reaches the scavenger pickup. Obviously it's important that you don't run out of oil in the tank before the scavenger outlet is covered regardless of the angle you are at. Are you using a combined pressure/scavenge pump or relying on the RV8 pump to provide the pressure ? If you're using the RV8 pump positioning of the tank might be a more taxing problem that the sump design as it's not exactly renowned for it's "suction" properties. Again, it's not a problem on a road motor as you just mount the tank higher than the engine and let gravity do the rest. Mount the tank at the rear of the engine though and on a steep uphill you may end up with the tank at the same height or even lower than the oil pickup. I've been pricing up a system for my motor and haven't been able to get any definitive answers on the tank positioning as most of the combined scavenge/pressure pumps seem to use the premise that the tank will gravity feed it.

13th March 2011 A trials competition for road taxed vehicles (RTV), all marques, models and experience welcome. Always an interesting and demanding trials site regardless of the weather. Further information and booking information available here... http://www.yorkshireoffroadclub.net/index.php?main_page=page&id=18&eventid=1303 All our trials are aimed at road going vehicles and we expect vehicles to be driven to the event and driven home again afterwards, preferably in the same condition as they arrived although perhaps not as clean ! In some clubs this is known as an "RTV Trial" although this, as a term, only relates to the eligibility of the vehicles and has no bearing on the possible severity of the trial. Off road trials are the cheapest and easiest form of competitive motor sport to get involved with. if at any point in a section you feel that the terrain may be damaging or is beyond you or your vehicles capability simply stop. No one will think any the worse of you for doing so, in fact knowing your own limits is a quality to be admired. There is always the next section to try and you ARE doing this for fun. New members and competitors always welcome. We offer a "buddy" system for new competitors should they want it. An experienced competitor will show you the ropes and sit in with you for a few sections while you get a feel for the event. As a novice you can also sit in with an experienced competitor on a section before you drive it yourself.

Entry list updated again, now 2 team slots available as we've had a cancellation.

I've updated the entry list... http://www.muddytruckers.co.uk/2011_entrylist.html We just need to fill that final place and having at least one reserve would be good too (if we end up with 16 entries and nobody does drop out we'll probably run with all 16 anyway). In 2009, the last time the MT ran, we raised £4000 for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. At this year's event we've managed to reduce running costs a bit further and, as a result, it's looking likely that at least £150 of the £175 entry fee will be going to charity. If we get a full entry then we'll be on target to donating a minimum of £4500 to charity at the end of the event.

Some rear axles have washers/cups spot welded to the bottom shock absorber mount. They should be removed before fitting most after market shocks as they restrict movement of the pin. In some cases it can result in ripping the top eye off the shock if you leave them on.

This is only from vague memory as it's been a year or so since I last did it.. It depends on how tight the top screws are, if they have been fully tightened then as far as I know you have to take the top dash off which is annoying but not a difficult job. The holes are slotted so if the screws are slightly loose you can just pull it forward and it will slide out.

As far as I am aware you shouldn't need any maps but having a map of the Duns area might be of use for when you are moving between the sites and probably a road map. Any maps you need of the sites will normally be supplied to you on the day or in the pack. I'll double check though. There will be a food van on site on Thursday night, Friday night I expect most teams will be stopping for something on the way up. There are plenty of places in Duns for beer and food, not sure yet exactly where the camping is going to be... one site is in easy walking distance of Duns centre, the other is a bit of a trek away. I'll see if I can find out any more detailed info but there are quite a few people camping by the sounds of it including marshals.

Not long to go now ! There is still room for a couple more teams on the entry list, if you're wavering over entering and have any concerns/questions about the event or the regs... PM me or ask away here. It'll be another 2 years before the next one.

The ones for the top are normally standard LR parts, you should already have them from the old shockers. They're not normally supplied with rear shock absorbers, you just get the two for the bottom pin.

Probably not the way you want to go but worth noting that MM works fine on VMWare Fusion if you do want to run it on a Mac.

I just used Export All... from the Overlay menus and selected .gpx as the output format, didn't really think about it as it just worked. I am using the latest version of MM on the PC, not sure if that makes a difference or not, the resulting file was only 88k so not a huge amount of data.

Long version... The apps data is store in an encrypted form, essentially to prevent access to private areas of the apps' data. It uses a hardware encryption built into the iPhone/iPad/iPod with the encryption key being unique to each app. However, Memory-Map, like many applications that share data, have implemented the document sharing function that was introduced with iOS 4. As well as backing these files up with private data they are also available for you to retrieve yourself - you can also load new maps and routes through this interface. Short Version.... Connect your iPad to your PC and launch iTunes. Select your device in the left hand list to display the device details Click on the "Apps" tab at the top At the bottom of the apps section is a file sharing area. Select 'Memory-Map" from the list of file sharing apps and you'll see a list of your saved maps on the RHS, you can select them and save them wherever you want to. Regarding the routes/overlays, I've used .gpx files on my iPhone without any problems, generated from .mmo files imported into the PC version of MM.

It needs a pipe on it to raise it up. As I said before it's only a roll over valve so if the water level gets above the top of the tank or pipe you'll get water in your fuel. It doesn't need extending to the front of the vehicle but it does need raising up one way or another. The standard LR installation has it going up into the wheel arch. If you expect to be going into water deeper than that, extend it.

Yet another update with only a few more weeks left to go, now is the time to get your entry in while there are still a couple of places left. I should be posting an updated entry list shortly... once it gets to me ! Entry forms available for download from the MT web site... http://www.muddytruckers.co.uk/ Been talking to Patrick tonight and it really does sound like this year's MT will be an excellent event, makes me glad I've entered ! I've been given a bit of an insight into what the boys have been up to and what we as competitors can expect over the 3 and a bit days. This is a "traditional" challenge event so, as always, expect the unexpected and never assume anything ! In summary though, the basic outline of the event goes something like this... Thursday night's competition will comprise of a single special task and you'll be against the clock to complete a short course. The course may or may not involve winching - Patrick wouldn't tell me if the "may" means "if you mess it up you'll need to winch" or "everyone except Jim will need to winch, Jim being a driving god and all". There will be a catering van (fish and chips) on site on Thursday evening so that should make it easier to sort out evening meals while the competition is running. Friday at Helmsley will be more of a punch and navigation event. Most of the punches will be "easy" to get to and successfully collecting a group of punches will give you access to one of the special tasks. You'll get a set of punches, return to control, get another set of punches and a token for a special task. Anyone who's competed in the Bulldog events will find the format familiar. Patrick also let slip that it would probably be worth either dusting off your Terratrip or learning how to reset the trip meter on your gps although he also said you could probably be OK with your speedo if it bears any resemblance to reality. Details of each team's starting site on Saturday and location of trailer parking for Duns will be given either at the driver's briefing on Friday morning or when you leave Helmsley. Saturday and Sunday will be spread across 4 large sites at least 2 of which have not been used before. Each site has more than enough to keep you occupied for the best part of the day so it's going to be up to you to decide how long you spend at each site before moving on. Each site offers different challenges and terrain. As usual, time management and team decisions are going to make a big difference. It's anticipated that the top teams will complete less than 80% of the available tasks and punches... gauntlet well and truly thrown down there then Simon ! From what I can gather the terrain is going to be a real mix of bog, woodland and open moorland depending on which site you are on. Each site will offer it's own mix with some being about navigation, some will involve technical winching and others will require a bit of lateral thinking. One site has been described as "awe inspiring" and "the sort of place you've only seen in movies", I was also advised to wear my wellies... not sure if that was down to the terrain or the sheep though.

There is no requirement for that for Challenge events, the regulations are badly thought out as it is without scrutineers making up their own version as they go along. It is a recommendation that the switch complies with K.8 but not a requirement and K.8 requires much more than just being able to "lean in and turn it off", it requires a switch (or more often a bowden cable) that can be operated on the outside of the vehicle, marked with a blue flash. There are some disciplines where an external method of killing the electrics (K.8) is required, comp safari, point to point and hill rally, for example (P 57.2.1) but that is not a requirement for challenge events.

The DC88, regardless of contact size, is rated at 100A to infinity, however it is also rated at 200A for nearly 6 minutes continuous use and is rated for 450A (max current at 12v on an XP motor) for over a minute continuous. The DC88 ratings given by Albright are exactly the same regardless of having the L or not. The only difference between a P rated and a PL rated is that the contacts are larger on the PL (P = Protected contacts - IP66, L = large contact tips). The PL is certainly a better option but it's not as big a deal as may be suggested in some suppliers sales speak. It gives better contact life so will increase the long term durability but I've never been able to find any data sheets that suggest it improves either the current rating or the duty cycle figures. Having said all that, for the price difference involved I'd always go for the PL

I think you've answered your own question really... Option 2 would be wrong for all sorts of reasons, not the least of which is the current draw through the solenoid. Option 3, as well as the problems caused by differing activating times will also do some really weird things to the operation of the motors, they are series wound motors so it's not as simple as just connecting them up in parallel. Option 1 is probably not a bad idea, you'd ideally use a 6v indicator on the armature (assuming 12v power) connection as power there means that both contacts are working. Connecting an indicator on either of the F1 or F2 terminals will give a different voltage depending on direction and will only test one of the contacts not both. I'd take a long hard look at why the Albrights are failing. Take one apart and have a look and see what's wrong. If the solenoid coil has burnt out then you have a wiring problem, if it's full of mud/corroded inside then you haven't sealed it properly. I've only managed to kill one Albright in the last 8 years (not counting the one I snapped the contact off which was entirely my own fault) and that was caused by water/mud getting in through the mounting screws on the back of the solenoid. There is also a real difference between an Albright HD solenoid and a cheap "pretend" albright, if you have the latter then buy a real Albright next time from a reputable supplier, if it doesn't have an Albright sticker on the body there is every chance it's not a real Albright.

No, none of those pictured are. The first one (heavy duty Durite) could probably be made more waterproof fairly easily if you took it apart and reassembled with some silicon/gasket goo/vaseline to prevent water getting in. The FIA type (second picture) would be more difficult to waterproof as it's a "sealed" design although they usually last a couple of years or more as long as they're reasonable well sheltered form the worst of the water/mud.

Another vote for the MX5, they're a fun car to drive and massively underrated/overlooked so they're comparatively cheap to pick up. If looking for something bigger I'd keep an eye out for a decent Subaru Legacy, again often overlooked but very quick and reliable.

Another update and some clarification There will be camping available for those that want to both at Baldersby and Duns. I think the camping at Baldersby is the same place as we camped last time. There's no camping available at Helmsley but there are plenty of Hotels/B&Bs for those that want to head up there on Thursday night. Most (if not all) the teams are leaving their trailers at Baldersby until Friday night when they'll pick them up for the trip to Scotland then drop them off at the trailer park there. I've updated the entry list, http://www.muddytruckers.co.uk/2011_entrylist.html as far as we know there are 3 teams in the process of sorting out entry forms so there's still a couple of team places left. If the event is oversubscribed additional teams will be put on the reserve list and a decision will be taken on wether it is practical to increase the entry with the layout of sections, punches etc... Obviously cheques will not be banked for those on the reserve list unless an entry is offered and accepted.

Probably some contamination on the DB37 pins, I've seen similar occur when I've been a bit over zealous with the protective lacquer after final assembly of the board. I started plugging an old connector into both DB ports before spraying a few years ago after tracking an intermittent fault back to this. Is the connector fully tightened home with fixing screws or just pushed in ?

I use a Mallory fuel pressure regulator on mine, it's adjustable and has a feed pipe, a return pipe and an outlet. It also has provision for vacuum adjustment although I've not used that as I prefer to have the MS adjust the fuelling. Either the 4305M or the 4307M will do the job, depending on your desired fuel rail pressure.

Wasn't me driving, I was filming it and trying to get the driver to turn it off before it did any more damage. There's no doubt in my mind that hitting the accelerator instead of the brakes would have saved it but I guess when you start sucking up the seatcover the brakes are a natural instinct. The reason I chose that clip is because the driver had enough problems getting to the ignition switch once his whole world had flipped over. With my organisers hat on I'd also like to point out that the driver was warned that that route had the potential for bad things to happen if you got it wrong and I also pointed out a much safer alternative route. Once it became clear he was going to go via that route regardless "we" decided to get the cameras out just in case...

Sounds OK to me, not sure what effect, if any it would have on an X-charge. One thing to watch out for is the mounting of your FIA switch though - remember it needs to be operable by the driver when strapped in or (if using inertia belts) when your belt has locked and you are hanging upside down. Having the switch mounted behind you centrally may put it out of easy reach. It's easy enough to reach a switch when you are sat in your driveway without a care in the world, when things are going tits up though the switch needs to fall to hand easily. In your mind, put yourself in this situation and ask yourself where your cutoff switch should be located... In my comping days, during my first rollover, the cutoff switch was off and the engine stopped before the roll cage hit the ground for the first time, at the end of the day that's the primary reason it's there.

Yes. I have a simple low current (carling) winch master switch on the dashboard that is used as a master switch for the winch controls. All the winch control switches around the vehicle are fed from this switch allowing me to disable all the controls when the winches aren't in use. It gets it's feed from the ignition so to operate any of the winches you need the ignition turned on and the switch on the dashboard turned on. I'm using the same circuit to operate the isolator solenoids so they will only be activated when the winch master switch is on. I use an FIA switch to kill the vehicle electrics and, because the winch master switch is fed via the ignition, the FIA switch also removes power from the winch master switch, opening the winch isolator solenoids.