streaky

Hi Simon. Thx for the response via email and also for putting this up for all to see. I won't get the chance to take any pictures untill after next week. We have the Desert Challenge starting this week which puts me out in the desert for 5 or 6 days. Rest assured I'll crawl under the truck when I get back and hopefully all will become a little clearer. I'm not so concerned about the problems in getting the actual hardware to fit..that was overcome quite easily by way of a few swings with the hammer. Granted the different tolerences that go with the Solihul products were taken into account with the same hammer. Re. Brackets. Because the initial cable supplied by X-Eng wouldn't fit, the workshop had to fabricate the brackets in order to install the cable. It may well be possible that it's these brackets which don't allow for proper adjustment? I couldn't say at this time for sure though. Maybe when I'm down at the Challenge I can find some time to see the thing for myself. Thx & regards. S.

I picked up the car yesterday afternoon. The travel on the hand brake is incredible....it has to be nearly vertical before the hand brake bites. The workshop spent two hours trying different positions of the linkage to get the right position but to no avail. Conclusion is definatly the wrong cable. Email sent to supplier...two days before the biggest Rally of the year I don't need more problems to rob me of my precious time!

From what I understand you only have to pull back the gaitor to access the pin Ron. But the console had to be removed to install the new mounting bracket that was fabricated. What I'm saying is....the instructions didn't say that the console had to come out so I didn't budget for that part of the job. I presumed that because I'd got the 200TDi cable directly from X-Eng it would fit without any unforeseen modifications. I think 45 minutes (or there abouts)might be right for a Defender...but not a Discovery. At the end of the day the brake is now fitted and i've had my rant. X-Eng is one of the best companies at taking customers comments and building on them for others benefits. I still haven't been able to get down to the workshop to see the situation for myself, once I've had a look I might be able to describe the problem in more detail. As for the winching part...my winching is usually for self recovery purposes so I have to be in the car anyway. You have a good point though....is this a weak point of the X-Brake compared to the original transmission drum brake?

This X-Brake has caused me more grief. I purchased the brake earlier this year but never got around to fitting it. When I was at Billing I went to the X-Eng stand and purchased the reccomended 200Tdi cable to complete the instalation. I made it crystal clear that my vehicle is a 300 series LHD V8 Discovery with R380 box etc. Perhaps there is are different versions of a 200 Tdi cable because the one I purchased from X-Eng will not fit without first having it modified and making extra brackets etc. I'm not 100% certain of the problem yet because I haven't seen the car, but Gordon called me yesterday to say that they needed to make extra brackets etc to support the cable and make it fit through the floor. So on top of the purchase price for the X-Brake I have had to pay my work shop an extra 125 quid to take out the center console, make a bracket, faff around with 2lb hammers on the floor seam that was interferring with the mountings etc. It doesn't say anything about this in the instructions for the 'export' version. I'd donate my left nut to science if anyone can fit one of these things to a Discovery from scratch in 45 minutes.

A good source for the dry graphite lubes is in Gun Shops. There is a product called Dry-Slide that is graphite particle suspended in a solvent. You apply the liquid and the solvent disolves leaving the graphite. It's popular with the air rifle gun fraternity. MolyKote also make a graphite paste which does the same job. S.

Thanks Mark.....I've posted a link of your comments to my workshop and then followed up with a phone call. The response from Gordon was.... "45 minutes to fit....my arse"...he's Scotish! Apparently the fit between one of the caliper fixing bolts and part of the panel work is rubbing.....a 2lb 'adjuster' will be needed to resolve the issue. Thanks again. S.

The transfer box was removed today...so I thought that this would be the best time for the workshop to fit the Brake that I purchased earlier in the year. I got a call from them this afternoon saying that they need to cut part of the floor panel to get the brake to fit. WTF! Has anyone had to do this? I've not been to see the problem yet for myself but my guy knows a fair bit about Rovers, Engineering etc so I'm inclined to believe him. Thx. S.

I saw that thanks. Ashcrofts levels of workmanship speak for themselves..... but there is no mention of any type of warranty on their site. I wanted to use them as an example in comparison to the place in Dubai that I bought my box from. No point in griping about it...I told my guys to go ahead and fix it anyway.....it just pi$$es me of when I pay more than the UK for something and yet the level of service is well below par. S.

If you spent out 700 quid on a reconditioned gearbox ...what would be the warranty and what would it cover? My re-con R380 is less than a year old, has done around 8000km in ten months. Today I'm told that they have to drop the transfer box because the gearbox output shaft seal is shagged. I said that surly this should be covered under warranty...apparently not says the workshop who supplied it . What do Ashcrofts give for warranty on a R380? I bet they don't charge 700 quid for a re-con one either! Thx. S.

Faulty 'Cold Start' sensor perhaps? Anyone know how to check one of them apart from changing it for a known good one?

I hear what you're saying Ali. I'll get through a pair of rubber mounts every year without even thinking about it. One of the reasons I changed to captive mounts is because I was getting sick of changing them. I'm not so bothered about a raining contest between what I've done compared with others though...I can only vouch for the 240,000 km's done in my truck since new...a huge percentage of those KM has been off road and at relatively high speeds. As for going out in a comp racer.....I also do course opening for some of the FIA saloon car rallies here. The course opening car is expected to complete the course in roughly the same time as the compeditors....the first car will set off ten minutes after I do...so I have to push my Disco quite hard to keep the Clerk of the course happy. This months UAE desert Challenge will put another 2500km of desert driving on the clock...in the same car that is used every day for work etc. The next bolt on for the Disco is a set of twin HT's and Reigar springs. These will make the engine mounts work even harder! Cheers. S

Here's another idea taken from an Ozzie forum. He's put the battery up against the bulkhead. This only works on right hand drive cars.....the washer bottle has been relocated. It's not the best picture in the world and I'm not sorry I pinched it from somewhere else!

Some people on here have fitted 2" lifts and not had any issues what so ever....whereas others have all sorts of problems. It seems to be vehicle dependant. I had a 2" lift on my Disco for 6 years...than all of a sudden I started getting the vibrations on the over-run. I now have a Devon 4x4 wide angle double cardon prop and it cured the problem over night. I tried a standard Disco II front prop which made things slightly better but not 100%. I saw that Scorpian had the exact same prop for sale at Billing for 100 quid more....do the maths on that and get in touch with D4x4! Be wary if fitting the caster correction radius arms. I fitted the 3 degree QT items and I think I'll be going back to the standard ones...they seem to introduce more problems than they actually cure. Hope this helps. Regards. S.

To everyone that replied to this offer I'd like to say thank you for your enthusiasm and interest. The two successfull applicants have been chosen by Malcolm and now they're just sorting out the flight tickets etc. Julian and Steve will be flying out at the end of the month for some bloody hard work and a very enjoyable tens days in the Deserts of the UAE. Thanks again guys....& to those who didn't make it.....maybe next year. Best regards. Streaky.

Hi Jules. Points taken & noted. I think my road going Discovery see's more off road action that many of the comp race cars do within the UK! It's not uncommon for me to be driving at reasonably high speeds (100Kph+)down wash board tracks for over 60km.....then into the dunes for another hour of thrashing before taking the wash board track back to the camp etc.... In search of desert diamonds we would drive foot to the floor through soft sand tracks mile after mile...slowing down means a certain stuck with a heavily laden vehicle. Every single mount on the car would get punished to distruction.... All of this will hopefully soon be very apparent to you at the end of October! Regards. S.

David Marsh has been quick to respond. He's pretty much answered all of my questions. I have a few days off now which wil be spent trying different mounting angles.....twisted through 45 degree first and then willy nilly to see if that makes any difference. It's reassuring to know that the vibrations are expected with these mounts but I feel that perhaps this should have been pointed out prior to me buying them. My 130 engine was fitted using two standard mounts each side...that was a very heavy duty option and one that I really liked. David Wrote; Hi Streaky Sorry to hear about the issues The height issue seems a little odd as we base these on a stock mount As for the rumbling this will be inevitable due to the nature of the mount which is inherently more rigid (no free lunch I am afraid) The through bolt can be tightened full the side plates will pull in no problem. We build with a little slack to aid fitting. Regarding the threads the cup piece normally fits to the chassis and the block to engine The thread differences are a strength issue as the block needs a fine thread due to it being tapped in to a relatively thin section of material. I hope this helps answer your points ok. Best wishes to the team Regards Dave Dave Marsh Managing Director Qt Services Ltd Unit 11B Miller Business Park Station Road Liskeard Cornwall UK PL14 4DA 00441579 349688 www.qtservices.co.uk

Since installing them I haven't had the oppertunity to inspect for contact points or witness marks. I've inspected them from above and they appear to be fully floating as you'd expect. Hopefully Dave will respond sometime today. It's our weekend here tomorrow & Saturday so I'll be off t'net till Sunday. Rotating them through 45 degrees is one suggestion I'm willing to try....it can't be worse that what it is now. Thx. S.

Thanks DtD. The two steel sections are quite close together but they don't touch as far as I can make out. Would you happen to know if the particular Poly-Bush is available seperately? A part number would be helpful in order to track some down. I have another set of the mounts that I was going to use for the gearbox....does the panel think that the vibrations would get even worse if I installed the second set?

I fitted a set of the QT captive engine mounts yesterday to my V8 Discovery. First impression was...wow...these are easy to fit! Due to the wobbly design they are easier to fit than the standard rubber mounts. But thats where the praise stopped. 1) They are a little bit taller than the rubber mounts so when I dropped the engine back down I noticed that it was sitting slightly higher in the bay and the fan was just touching the cowling at the top. A little bit of fettling resolved this but it was a problem that I didn't anticipate. 2) Next thing...when I driving I noticed that the whole car rumbles. Could this be due to the less amount of flexing and vibration absorbtion that the captive mounts offer? The rubber mounts seem to be more forgiving and absorb any vibration that the engine throws out. 3) I tightening the 'through-bolt' that holds the two halves together but noticed that there is still about 3mm of lateral movement across the bolt. I have used this gap to inject high temp white lithium grease. How tight should the 'through-bolt' be? 4) The mounts have two different sized theaded studs. One is course and one is fine. Which way up should these mounts be fitted? Course thread to the top or to the bottom? I put mine to the top. The mounting holes are same size at top & bottom...so why do they use two different thread sizes to secure the mounts? Any input welcomed. Thx. S. PS. I've sent the same mail to David Marsh but would be interested in non-biased opinions as well.

Believe it or not...I've had these three Denon amps for nearly twenty years now. I was running them in a 205Gti, then a VW Variant, a Jeep Wrangler and now the Discovery. The quality of sound of all three matched together is superb & I have no reason to buy new ones. Watts in ICE translates to quality of sound...not just volume. Normally I'd be okay with just two amps but the 5th channel (Mono) on one of the bridged amps is now playing up...hence I have decided to use a dedicated sub amp for the bass channel. I agree with you 100% about matching proper component speakers to amps but if can still use the equipment I have then why bother forking out for another amp or speaker combo? I've utterlised all 4 of the stock speaker locations with upgrades and have managed to locate the sub with sacrificing my load space... I was curious if anyone had better ideas than me for locating the amps. Thx. S.

There are plenty of low-profile subs on the market these days. Woofer design has been re-written over the past few years. Gone are the days when you needed an 18" JBL on the back shelf to get -40Hz bass. The secret to nice tight bass is securing the woofer in such a place that the vibrations caused by the cone don't resinate through out the car. The rear storage pockets would need some extra work to stop those vibration....plus you'd have the make them into sealed enclosures and not leave the top of the pocket open. It's a relatively easy job done with fibreglass, wire mesh etc but you'll need to find the right formula to get the correct size of bass enclosure. They would also need porting to fine tune the bass response. Hence I used a Sub-tube...all of these cabinet dimensions & porting are taken care of with a tube designed woofer. Thx. S.

Ah...I remember now. You have bolts going through the roof though....defo not for me mate! Three big amps means too many bolts going through the roof skin. Thx for the suggestion though.

Thx for the comments. I wouldn't fancy putting the amps in a false floor.....heat build up would be my biggest concern. I remember your sub location Jo but I have three rather large amps and the headlining would never withstand the weight...I could try brackets to the roof but I don't think it's a viable option. Here's what I have so far. The sub tube is pressed in hard to the rear side panel out of the way. It would sound better if it had more room to allow the bass air to re-verb properly. On the other side of the load area I have two Denon Amps but want to fit a third. They are spaced by about an inch to help dissipate heat and I have acouple of small computor fans ready to assist cooling some more. Denon amps run very hot by design hence I need good ventilation for them. I was hoping that someone else had already been down the path of fitting a decent instalation to their truck without compremising the carrying capacity of the vehicle. I don't want to fit amp racks, huge sub cabinets etc...been there & done that in my GTi days.

I like my music in the car when I'm driving....not super loud... but I adore quality. Current set up is being changed to incorperate a third amp and possibly a new sub. I have all Denon amps, Infinity speakers at the rear, JL Audio in the front doors, Sony Sub Tube. I've purchased a MAC i-Touch so should be able to do away with the 10 CD stacker. Here's where the problem starts. I need to maintain my load space area for camping gear, tools, compressor etc. The current 2 amps are located in the rear side bin pocket. The Bass tube is located in the other side. What have you done for your stereo ICE fits? I'd like to get ideas on where you've located subs & amps without taking up valuable load bay space. It's a 3 door Discovery with the rear seats removed. Thx. S.

I was sitting in line waiting to go through the local MOT test. It was Effin' hot out side, the V8 was running nicely, temp guage was normal, air -con running at #2. I turned off the ignition key for two minutes....and then the problem started. I tried to start again...ignition lights came on....turn key....no start or click from solenoid. Battery level is fine...but I tried to jump start with a power pack thing anyway. Same symptoms.....nothing. I tried to bump start......that wouldn't work. Left the car for ten-15 minutes....it started fine as if nothing had happened. Could it be the starter or the solenoid or possibly a relay? Perhaps sitting in a really hot line for an hour with the engine running has nearly cooked something in the starter/relay/solenoid chain? Ideas. I'm thinking solenoid. Thx, S.