Paul64

Thanks guys. I'm sorted and having winch installed later this week. By the way its not a Britpart one. Cheers, Paul

I have an interesting dilemma regarding insurance. Does anyone know of companies in the UK that will insure a DVLA UK registered Land Rover that they know is being used for business purposes abroad. Soon as you move from private to Business it opens up a whole new can of worms! Cheers, Paul

Thanks for that. Hopefully after my chat with "The Hobbit" my problem will be solved. I could have easily made a mistake on choice due to time pressure, so it is good to be put back on track by you guys in the know. Cheers, Paul

Just arrived, thanks. I will give you a call. Cheers, Paul

Did you send it to me, because nothing arrived at this end. If you are sending a PM for diplomacy reasons it has got to be bad! Rejo - don't even bother replying to this post, because I know what you are going to say and it wouldn't be pretty! Minivin had a 2nd hand husky going for the same price, but time is falling away. I lost 3 days getting the LR MOT's and DVLA registered and so well behind. I just need a magic fairy to get one on the front of my LR quick as! Cheers, Paul

Hi, I just need to get a feel about what people think about Britpart winches. I don't have a lot of time before I leave the UK and as a last option I have seen a new Britpart winch, 12000lb pull at £345. It will only be for occasional use, when Scotian gets stuck and there are no horses about! Are they any good and is this price fair for what they are? Cheers, Paul

This one gets my most stuck vote. I'll just get the horse!

The HD ones are for me Marcus. The sh**e ones are yours!

Thanks Cip but that sounds like a lot of work. I can't speak for Marcus, but I will wait for the new legislation to be passed and see what duty will be required on a 200Tdi. If it is ridiculous I will continue with a trip back to the UK for an MOT. I think this could be made more palatable if viewed as bit of an adventure with a variation of routes taking in new places in Europe to see. Camping of course to keep the budget down. I didn't win the auction for the caravan, but the purchase of a caravan in the UK to take to RO on the return leg would pay for the trip fuel and MOT.

You have a long drive ahead of you for that MOT!

Don't go thinking the Finn-Ugaric is going to help. My wife had a Finnish friend. Over a few glasses of wine they tried talking to each other in their respective languages. They soon turned back to the bottle! Aki nem tud arabusul, ne beszéljen arabusul.

Is that some sort of commercial rate Ralph? 400 notes is a lot to pay! Do you use the roads more than the rest of us?

Marcus, mine look identical, except they are red, Polybush red. They are OK but have not been on that long and certainly have not been beasted like your truck!

Sounds like it will be expensive to register in RO then. Thanks for looking Ralph. Well my LR has just passed it's MOT and I have re registered will DVLA after being registered with the military in Germany. As part of the registration process I had to hand over £185 for a years road tax! Not paid that for some years, so came as a bit of a shock to my wallet!

Looks like I may have to continue with UK registration if the 200Tdi in non euro classified. That will be one big bill otherwise!

Hi Cip, Do you have access to these engine code tables? Cheers, Paul

PM me the details and what you want for it. Photos would be good too. Cheers, Paul

Marcus, is that 1500 euro at July 2008 rates when the new RO importation tax rates apply? Cipx2 has the online calculator for new rates which brings RO in line with the EU. I'm with Mo on this one, it is just too much to spend on a conversion. Then if you have a prang how are you going to explain a recovery vehicle in RO? 4 birth second hand caravans can be sold for 3 times UK market value in RO. I know a couple of guys that go to the UK monthly on business. They buy a cheap caravan in the UK, sell it on return and make a profit on their travel expenses. I have a bid on one now on ebay. If I win it I will tow it with me next week and report back on whether it is worth the hassle. Cheers, Paul

Well I had my visit to Craddocks. If you have been there you will know that where the tyres are they have a waiting area with leather sofas. I sat the girls there with books and crayons for the long haul! I went mad! It was like a kid in a sweet shop! Anyway, I went for BFG 265/75x16. Wolf rims were over £50 a corner, which I think is crazy money. They had some scuffed and rusty Disco steels. Managed to knock then down from £15 to £10 a corner. I don't give a sh** what I look like, so they are fine by me. They gave me the option of the white lettering inside or outside and I went for...............................inside of course. They even dulled down the white for me. Wait for the BEST BIT!!! When he asked me the question about the lettering there were 7 or 8 customers near the counter. They all went quiet and looked at me waiting for my response! I could have cut the atmosphere with a knife, but it was smiles all round when I said inside! AJL - Exeter to Bucharest in 28 hours. I couldn't even do that in my Volvo V70! I take my hat off to you!

Thanks Chris for the message. I was up late trawling the net for bargains, so not out the door yet! My girls are coming with me to Craddocks, but had the audacity to tell me they would prefer to go to Alton Towers! What is the world coming to. So Wolf rims seem to be getting a thumbs up here. IIRC they are on the pricey side? I will have a look on the web for them too. "Will have the wolf rims up for grabs in the not too distant future (When i get the tyres swapped)" Thanks Jim, but unfortunately time is against me with only a few days to get everything done. Once the tyres and wheels sorted, the winch is next. Again thanks for all the info. Cheers, Paul

I'm off to Craddocks in the morning to see what they have on the shelf. I will probably get 255/85x16 if available. I will also see what they can do in the way of a wheel+tyre package. However, please PM me with what you want for your rims. By the way, 80mph in a 110! I can only dream of speeds like that. What engine and gearing have you got? I travelled along the same road 3 weeks ago with Scotian on my way to the airport. He was also having a brown trouser moment, but that was his swivel rather than his tyre! I think a parts and accessories business may be in order looking at the prices and availabilty in RO. Cheers, Paul

Noise levels reduced dramatically after greasing Mo and certainly no problems since. I just can't see how it would lock if the excess oozes out the end of the slider. nas90 - "Can be difficult to tell the difference between a UJ with play and /or transfer box or axle. Hold both sides of UJ joint and try to twist one side against the other. Any play is bad. Grease the sliding joint first, the excess grease comes out of a rubber bung on the end of the sliding part. There are 3 nipples per prop shaft I use a very cheap gun given away with machines it does not have a clip-on type nozzle and therefore easy to get on the nipple. Proper LR mechanics buy a needle attachment for the gun, you push the needle into the sprung ball of the nipple works a treat biggrin.gif I always grease before off-roading and if time after off-roading. If you have been through heavy rain / fords then grease again. If you were to grease your 90 daily you could make a prop shaft last 20 years laugh.gif Basically more the better and too much is never a bad thing!"

Would you say this is a good deal?

A full service is not an oil and filter change. If they are only doing this and claiming you are getting the full deal they are ripping you off. In my naivety I bought my Defender from a so called "specialist". It was claimed that it was fully serviced and full working order. He even got it through an MOT. When I took it to Germany it had to be road tested over there. The tester laughed at it and took it straight off the road! That was just the start of it. As all claims turned out to be false, Rejo serviced it for me. No oil was changed apart from the engine. Diffs, transfer etc, all old and plenty of metal shavings at the bottom. I paid more than I should have for my LR, but thought a specialist with a so called good reputation would have done better. Bl**dy short sighted as only saves a few quid and then risks a slagging on public forums. I just don't understand this quick buck mentality as there is so much competition out there and word of mouth spreads fast.

My Defender had a so called full service when I bought it. The grease nipple was missing fore rear prop and when replaced took 25 shots into the sliding joint. The company had two weeks to prepare the vehicle before I picked it up!