Exmoor Beast

Sell the rights to Simon. X-iDock Will

Springs are a blinkin' nightmare. I've got Britpart HD ones on mine at the moment, the fronts have sagged and now I'm not carrying much stuff about the rears are too hard by far. If you do some Googling you'll find all the spring rates and lengths, theres a linky thing on my website listed in my sig below that covers all the LR ones and some OMEmu etc, Terrafirma ones are all online here - Terrafirma. I'll go for either LR std HD ones or the Terrafirmas when I get round to replacing them. I've just fitted some Terrafirm Big Bore Expedition Dampers to my 110 and they've made a hell of a difference controlling the wobbling offroad. Will

You don't need anything more agressive than BFG MT pattern for laning. Anything Simex patterned will dig like a frightened mole unless you are very lightfooted. I've used BFG tyres for over ten years now and never put a sidewall through on an MT, my wife did do one on an AT once but that was hitting a hedge at speed avoiding a coach (so she says). Several folk whose judgement I trust use Buckshot Mudders, worth a punt I'd say for an occasional tyre. I'd consider using an AT all the time and dropping the pressures offroad, you'll be amazed how good they are with a bit of air out of them and its always good to drive past someone who is stuck with MTs when you have ATs on Our old Discovery on 235/85x16 BFG ATs Will

I really like that. It'd be a nightmare round here though, I can't imagine the steering lock is up to much. Will

or just hack a girt lump of bonnet out like I did Will

Sorry to hear this Les, look after yourself mate Will

We used to go partying in Woolacombe years ago and park up on Marine Drive which backs onto the dunes and walk down to the beach. After one hectic nights swimming and larking around a campfire years ago I might have broken the rules a tad and drove the Range Rover down to the beach to retrieve the BBQ and some 'tired' revellers. I suspect overnight 'parking' is banned now but I don't know. I'd have thought anywhere that you can get near the beach won't be that romantic during the summer as you'll be sharing it with a bunch of chemically adjusted teenagers in VWs Will

I'd have thought soft springs are fine if the vehicle is light, you'll need fiercly good dampers though for the quick stuff or it'll all get a bit frantic so thats where I'd throw the money. Will

Relatively sane at the moment: 110 working Mini Cooper working Series 2, running but SORN'd, needs some fettling to pass an MOT, about a good weekends worth of welding and electrickery I'd say At one stage I had five Land Rovers on the go, my 110, a Series 3 SWB station wagon, a P38 4.0SE, a busted V8 Disco and a working 300TDi Disco. This was deemed to many apparently, so we sold the P38 and the S3, scrapped the V8 Disco...then bought a Freelander because I hated the derv Disco and refused to fix it anymore. I was fiercely tempted by a LPG'd V8 Discovery a few days ago, then looked at my bank account and decided to go and do the invoicing I've been putting off doing instead of wasting time on the autotrader website. Will

We did the lighting the BBQ with petrol trick a few years back, unfortunately as it was raining we had originally gone to the pub but on getting a bit peckish decided we would have the BBQ anyway but have it in father-in-laws workshop. It was all a bit interesting for a few minutes until we managed to stop the floor burning Will

Brilliant, we've all been there, I've done some really stupid things that have been quite painful in my years of Land Rover ownership. The most painful was either the hi-lift smack in the face or the removing the propshaft on a sloping busy road with two broken ribs and a brain dulled by drugs incident. Will

Why do you say that? I've caned the backside out of mine for the past ten years and its still functioning, reverse takes some persuation at times, but its done well I think. Will

my 110s gearbox has been a bit tired for some time now and this weekend the transfer box seems to have 'let go', I seem to have mislaid low range So I'm pondering what to do next. 1. Sell my kids and buy and new ashcroft gearbox/transfer box and have done it with. 2. Rebuild mine or buy some salvage ones and rebuild them and do a swap (me and a mate did our Discovery one a few years ago and it worked out at less than £100 to do all the R380 bearings/seals etc. 3. Buy an R380 and rebuild it as opposed to the LT77 I have now. 4. Something else (anyone mentioning Auto boxes will be shot). Whats the lowest 1st gear option available as standard? Will

tiz done, sort of. I first pressure washed the chassis, then used a 4" brush and a 1" brush the transfer the worst of the liquid mess from inside onto the chassis and axles. Then I blagged a couple of old sheets and used them and the newish expensive shorts I was stupid enough to be wearing to do the job to wipe the rest up. Luckily I've never got round to putting mats in the back of the 110. so it wasn't too bad. Just need to wait for Lucy to be away for a few days to put the ropes through the wash. Will

woke this morning feeling chipper, nothing to do but head out cycling with eldest son, good day ahead. Went to load the bikes in the 110 to be greeted by an odd oily smell...arrgghh...upturned can of Waxoyl! entire contents has wrapped itself around my ropes, in my toolboxes, you name it and its been waxoyled. How TF am I going to sort this, any suggestions? Will

I'm in the market for a new radio for my 110 as well. I can't remember what the last one was and I've chucked it out now so I can't check but its favourite feature as far as I was concerned was its flip front that kept the worst of the muck out of the CD slot. Anyone got a flip front radio they can recommend? Preferably something with some oomph to drown out the sound of the kids in the back. Will

Transit gear ratios: Transmission Gear ratios 1 st ...5.44 2 nd ...2.84 3 rd ...1.72 4 th ...1.22 5 th ...1.00 6 th ...0.79 Reverse 4.94 Very low 1st? Will

I drove my 110 on the road properly for the first time in ages yesterday, its only been used offroad (albeit quite a lot) for the past year so I've never got it out of third gear. My day to day motor is a Mini and I've got a bit used to having 6 gears and getting back in the 110 I kept trying to change from 4th to 6th which got me thinking....Can the newer Defender 6 speed gearbox be persuaded to sit happily behind a TDi engine? Is it something thats being considered by better people than me? Will

Sorry to hear that Kev, maybe it'd be worth mentioning anything identifiable on here before the next big sort-out event, lots of eyes may spot something... Will

As seen at Goodwood Festival of Speed last week Trust me, it looks worse in real life Will

I'll trial the LWB version then seeing as Mo obviously still isn't up to driving a proper sized Land Rover Will

If its the first I don't care I don't want to buy any of them. If its the second, make them simple, durable, great offroad without electrickery (have electrickery as an option) with very basic spec versions at a reasonable cost. New Defender is the most crucial thing LR has ever done, the new Mini is a good case in point designwise and in how it makes you feel. I always said I would never have a 'new' car but as a life long Mini fan one drive in a new Cooper was enough to have us signing on the bottom line. I'd like to see the new Defender go back to a central dash like the Series 2 (and the Mini), massive tooling savings I'd think for whole world use and It could put all the vehicle electrickery high up, away from water and in one place. The other issue I'd mention is headlights, these pocketed clever HID headlights are fine for roads but when you spend you days nudging hesitant cows up a lane for a living you'll soon get tired of forking out £100s on headlights. Will

We used to use this for justification of mileage costs: AA running costs Will

I've had BFG Muds for years as an everyday tyre, I was doing 25,000miles a year+ on them and can't recommend them highly enough. I use 255/85x16s, these are 33" tall over about 31" for 235s or 265s, which ups the gearing usefully onroad. I've used several remoulds over the years, most I have tried have been a spectacular disappointment either through wear rate or just plain ripability. My old '79 Range Rover could eat a set of Colway MTs in a matter of weeks. Our old Discovery ran on 235/85x16 BFG ATs, we had them for a couple of years then sold the tyres and wheels on for £300, now thats good value! I found the ATs staggeringly good offroad if aired down a bit, even in axle deep gloopy mud they found traction somehow. Several farmers around here use KL71s, they seem to rip fairly easily, most of them have chunks of tread missing from what I have seen, that could be from hitting hedges on the way home from the pub though Will

No idea where you got that idea from but its entirely wrong. I don't buy much from them because I'm tight-fisted and their kit is just too good for what I need. But when I have been down there I have seen heaps of stuff part manufactured, obviously they don't do everything in-house but a lot of their kit is their own design. -- Meanwhile back at the +2" subject, as Bish said +2" shouldn't upset a Discovery too much, we ran a +2" 300TDi one for a couple of years. We lifted it to fit 235/85x16 tyres. We used spacers and drop brackets to do it and it rode pretty much as standard. It used to eat rear prop doughnuts for breakfast, lunch and dinner but the front was only done once. I used to get under it regularly and re-grease the props which probably helped Will