wack61

So it might be OK just a learning curve I have to master.

If you are slipstreaming keep an eye on what's behind you, the one thing you don't want to be is the meat in a 88 Tonne artic sandwich. I had an example of how much damage trucks do last year on the M6 I was in my Iveco pickup towing a trailer so no outside lane M6 just before j6 northbound, middle lane doing about 20mph as there'd been a crash on the A38M so there was a long queue in the inside lane. In front of me a skip wagon probably 17T with 2 skips one on top of the other full of sawdust. I was about 15m behind him when I heard a loud bang and he started rolling back, I hit the horn but he just kept coming until my truck stopped him when I got out he'd run into the back of an artic, the rear doors of the artic trailer had crushed the cab trapping him inside Another driver blocked the outside lane so we could get him out but the doors were jammed, it took the fire brigade and a hydraulic cutter to get him out I was there for about an hour, turns out he was really lucky as he walked away but the truck was a write off. the 2 skips had slid forward snapping the lifting gear off as they went and hitting the back of the cab this was a 20mph crash, If he'd been doing 5mph more I think he'd be dead, if a car had been between them I think they would have been dead Motorways are dangerous places, it's only when you witness a low speed impact like this it brings home the amount of damage trucks can do

Thanks for that, if that amount of play is normal i'll have to get the mechanic to have another look at it, we checked the A frame bushes and they look to have been replaced fairly recently, the UJs look OK as well

I have a noticible clunk when pulling away, having looked at it on the ramp you can turn the rear prop about 1/4 of a turn before anything happens so i'm told the diff is goosed, it's a 1994 110 high capacity chassis no SALLD. There are numbers on the casing CO8HA-004-027 anybody know which axle it's likely to be so I can look for another, there's a couple on ebay but they're from a discovery and though they state 24 spline and they'll fit a defender i've looked at a 1995 defender axle and it's different. My apologies if this is a really daft question but i'm new to all this

£2650 with no engine or gearbox, sounds a lot for a garden gnome

Thanks for the tips Adrian flux seemed reasonable at £377 Fully comp so I went with that, the quote I got from my wifes insurance company was £900

Does anyone have any recommendations for pickup friendly insurers for private use, i'm having trouble with the online quote systems as they all state in stone that they must not have been modified and mine has and will be a bit more yet.

It's called Ecoat it's an electrostatic paint process, all the car manufacturers use it now, it sticks like you wouldn't believe.

I like the idea of the rust converter spray, I wonder how many cans converts a rear crossmember into a new one

Agreed, I just wonder where the passengers go when he recovers the car

Thanks for that, just ordered some on ebay

My 2p as a new (old) Defender owner I've had a new Navara in 2002 and while it was all the things mentioned above it had no charisma, no soul, it never put a smile on my face. 2 weeks ago I bought a 1994 Defender 110 Hi Cap (much to my wife's disappointment) As soon as I saw it in the flesh I wanted it, within 10 minutes of driving it I felt like I'd been transported back to 1955, it wouldn't go, stop without squealing like a scared girl, steer in a straight line and the wipers have a mind of their own. I spent all Saturday tinkering with it, I'm hooked and will definitely be keeping it I do think it needs a re-design if only so they can start selling it in the US, when I was out there in May it seemed every 3rd vehicle I saw was a pickup, even if they only got 1% of the US market it would be massive. Needs to be cheaper though I can't see them paying $45000 for one

If anyone in the North West has a prop problem I can recommend these guys, fast turnaround and a quality job, they also do a drive in service or they did when I had problems with a transit a couple of years ago, took it off, fixed and balanced it and put it back on in a couple of hours. http://www.northwestpropshafts.com/

Is S50e for spraying the outside of the chassis as well as inside, my 1994 defender has a light surface rust all over the chassis, I was thinking of buying the sandblaser kit for my karcher pressure washer giving it a squirt then treating it with waxoil, is there anything better I could be using. I was intending to wire brush it but that looks like a lot of work out in the cold

Insurers love people that have incorrect insurance, the onus is on the policy holder to provide the correct details and that includes that the driver has the correct licence, if they don't the insurance company has the perfect excuse for no payout in the event of an accident. You have to remember Insurance companies have no conscience, it's a business.

I doubt even thieves are stupid enough to sell stolen parts on ebay, too easy to trace back,I was told most are stripped in hours, containerised and sent to Eastern Europe which sounds more plausible. When mine is on the road it's going to have that many security devices it'll take 15 minutes to get them off before I can drive it