Ed Poore

All received. Courier will be booked in the morning and hopefully be with you early next week now.

@Stellaghost have you seen my PM regarding panhard rod courier?

Actually doing a bit of reading on this following my initial comment it seems you can get more efficient setups doing electrical -> hydraulic rather than direct electric but it's not straight forward. It's all down to sizing of the motors etc., and usually electric -> hydraulic can win over direct electric if there are multiple motors / axis involved. The (simplified) reasoning being that each movement needs to be sized for it's peak load thus making it bigger than it might need to be in most normal operation and thus less efficient normally. However if you use hydraulics the stuff averages out over the axes so you can be more efficient in your coupling of motor to pump. This is usually when there's lots of gearing and multiple motors involved so I don't think it holds true in our simple example of a winch setup.

@David Sparkes your surmising looks to be accurate. Elaborating on the drive style / system I mentioned. In the Sandringham they have a drop box bolted to the front of the middle diff casing. Power gees in at the top, idler gear to reverse direction then gear to drive middle diff. Another idler gear to change direction again and then a shaft that goes through the diff housing and exits on the back of the casing in a prop flange. There's then a short prop to the rear axle. The benefits of this are that all the props are almost straight thus UJs are operating at nice angles and you can mount the two axles very close together whilst still maintaining good articulation. It also means you only need one prop for both rear axles. The system above, irrespective of how the drive comes out of the transfer box limits articulation because you have to keep the clearance for the prop going over the top. Equally the angles tend to be rather nasty for UJs or you have to mount the two axles far apart to keep the angles nice. There's advantages and disadvantages to both ways but I like the Sandringham for my purposes because it's not actually that big (ironically only a foot longer than a 110 or so) and actually with the compact (yet still 8x5.5ft) flatbed on the back shorter than the L322. Yet because of the twin axle and 6x6 it's still pretty decent offroad and has an official payload of 2t (although I've doubled that comfortably). With a single output from the transfer box it also means I can still use the PTO for hydraulics etc.

I did think that as well but don't agree with your uses less electricity comment. Hydraulics at best are usually about 80% efficient if you really really work at it. Electric motors these days are usually pushing 80% efficient at a minimum, they can be much more. The drives are closing in on 100% (although they'll never achieve it but they're getting damn close).

If he's got any Stage 1 bits and bobs I'd definitely be interested to relocate them to my stockpile @1969109 when you say flipped the axle was that to put the drive out the back or to offset the pinion? Was never really interested in 6 wheels before I was offered the Sandringham but having looked into various ones the Sandringham method appears almost unique and in my opinion a really elegant way of achieving a compact and capable 6x6 driveline.

Makes you wonder if they'd be better off with hydraulic... I know it doesn't work when the engine is off but keeps on pulling in all other aspects.

True but I wasn't necessarily thinking about a 606 or SL35. Having said that pretty much everything else has electronics now so not really suitable for Mike

That may be so but all 200s are getting long in the tooth nowadays so it's getting more and more difficult to maintain these.

Pretty sure that same cow (albeit a lot smaller) was there several years ago when I did a trip up there

Have enough of these and you won't care.

Speaking of which isn't there an OM606 lying wanting some use and abuse at the hands of Mike? Mind you I can say the same of a 1UZ and SL35...

I need to do the airbags on the front of mine so at the moment unable to get underneath it easily. Debating whether to get the slab poured for the 4 poster first though...

I knew they'd removed dipstick but I'm pretty sure last time I was under the Range Rover it still had the sump plugs on the bottom.

Yes but it's a messy job. The engine has two sump plugs, one which is situated above a cross member so oil tends to go everywhere. Gearbox is doable as well but if I recall it's better done with a diagnostics tool to monitor temperatures (as the level is temperature dependent). Transfer box is fairly simple if I recall. Although this was based on the 3.6, I think the 4.4 is basically the same.

Probably has some flamethrowers left over from a film he worked on.

Sounds very similar to this setup that Guido had on his camper. Australian design but imported by a friend of his into Switzerland and adapted a fair bit. Collapsed sits no higher than a reasonable roof rack does - pop into camp and undo two catches on the left hand side of the vehicle and give it a little push and it unfolds. The bed is setup on the right hand side in this picture and you have the kitchen against the rear wall. The rest of it is seating by default but you can quickly convert into beds for up to 4 or 5 people I think. I was surprised at how big the bed area was. He's also got awnings for the sides so that the area under the main bedroom can be completely enclosed in. The little room on the back is a shower room (you don't need to have the sides on it depending on where you are / what your tendencies are). They also have a little porta-potty in there. I really liked the compactness of that setup and the vast majority of the weight was down low.

It's finding the bloody time at the moment.

I have an engine crane available so that won't be an issue. If I pulled my fingers out I could put the Hiab onto the 6x6 (after the engine is running naturally).

I'm likely to be heading east in November so could probably haul it up for Mike. Been a while since I met up with him.

Drive it like you stole it fairly often . No - I'm serious - the big diesels don't like ticking over all the time, give them a good blast regularly and they'll thank you for it. Keep the air bags (suspension ones) clean from grit - they get grit trapped in the folds of the suspension bag and it does abrade eventually. As is testament to the fact that mine have just this morning developed a small leak at off-road height, . Normal driving doesn't seem to leak but enthusiastic left-hand cornering causes a little bit of air to leak. To be honest at 150k it's about the distance I'd be expecting them to need replacing in the not too distant future. If you haven't already get an IID tool - they're not the cheapest but there is very little to compare it to as a diagnostics tool and being able to change the car configuration and settings.

JB Weld like Mo did on his block? As you say it's just a temporary fix.

@darthdicky? Aren't you and @Jon W doing BAMA just before Seven Sisters. Perhaps can drop off at @Gazzar on the way past as he's not far off the M4 route.

I think you still have the generous side of the deal so far. My plan fell through when Mum forgot (despite walking over) the panhard rod. But never mind it'll get shipped shortly.

Stage one complete. Found it! Conveniently the wrapping expert for the business (Mum) just showed up so I've delegated