JimAttrill

Thanks. I'll have to go to a decent nut and bolt place then for one of those. All the stuff I have is metric.

Is this why the rears tend to wear out before the fronts? I have removed all my 'mud guards' as they tend to fall apart anyway. Do you reckon this wll make pad wear greater? Although my front pads have been there for over 100k and the rears for 60k and they all look unworn so far. But I am always 'good' on pad wear, on any car.

Yes, true, that is the only way to do it... and then boing!!!! and the whole lot goes in all directions It is good training in swear words of various sorts. Oh well, you have to have a sense of humour if you do this sort of job in a Land Rover

Yes, it is an old drop arm ball pin used to get the inner thingy out. I don't understand what you are saying about a 300tdi as this tool is from and is to be used on 300tdi Defenders. Maybe the Disco is different.. And changing the drop arm! I don't know anyone who has managed to get one off Anyway, many folks can't get the bush out of the drop arm so leave it behind. This is a mistake as the bush is softer than the pin and wears faster. Of course, getting all the bits and springs and plates back into the drop arm is a story to itself

Close, but no

It stops the mozzies biting while you are struggling under the Landy trying to get one of those bluddy bolts to enter. You don't get many mozzies in the Falklands, I suppose? The official torque for the bolt is 80Nm +90deg. Doesn't sound like much, but I use a 3/4 t-bar with a pipe on the end. If the bolt comes loose you are in deep trouble. ps the torque for the 200tdi engine is something like 265Nm, and most torque wrenches don't go that high, normally only 200Nm. I reckon this is why LR changed the spec on the 300tdi to an angle instead. I must say I was lucky to get that tool for the equivalent of 7 quid from a guy who was selling off a load of (mostly useless) special tools. I notice the local LR dealers (mostly) do not use this tool as most crank bolts I have undone have not been tight at all. It can be an awful pain to fit, especially if you are working alone.

That's fine for undoing the bolt, but to do it up properly you really need one of these:

I was sent a CD by the Tyron people here which even showed the special tools you need to get the things off if you have to change a tyre. They are definitely not for bush use as tyre removal is very difficult. I enquired about them on the ZA-LRO forum a while back and was told that the things are a menace as the average tyre fitter here has no idea how to get them off or on. One guy said it had taken them 2 hours to fix a puncture They have always been available in 16". I see there is a new firm trying to sell similar bands here now. They won't have much success with the overlanders. If you want to investigate them, they posted on the www.landyonline.co.za forum.

Maybe you should fill your chassis with sea water? Reminds me of a type of boots sold many years ago that came with a 6-month sole wear warranty. A couple of my friends used to buy one pair and share them (one was on nights). Last I heard they were on their sixth pair..

I have done this job 3 times now on my Defender. The thing I don't do is remove the bolts holding the seal in place and the seal. Disturbing an old seal is asking for a leak to start. And as for their technical method of using a fishing scale, I find it best to do the whole thing by 'feel'. ie. take some shims out and see what it is like. There should be some resistance when turning the swivel, but it shouldn't be rock solid. But on the other hand, they can't write that in the manual I am down to a couple of wafer-thin shims now, so next step is to renew the bearings and the seals. (Did I say you should keep any shims you remove - you will need them!). In fact, at 225k (kms) so far, the next step will be a complete overhaul with all seals and wheel bearings to be changed. It's not a difficult job, quite fun really. Luckily my swivels are still in perfect unpitted nick.

He could have said: "because I bury all my failures."

But if it's a LR Defender gauge you are wasting your time. They read in the centre from 40c to about 105c. By the time it's moved your engine is toast. If you have a decent gauge ie VDO, then the gauge moves too much to make sense of lines. Better fit the coolant level alarm (like a bog ball valve fitted into the header tank) which goes off as soon as the level drops. Mine is also wired into the alternator light in case the fan belt drops off and into the oil light in case the oil pressure drops off. Oh, and into the EGT at 730c. So when the buzzer goes off, it can be any one of four reasons, but it isn't hard to figure out which one.

That LR in 'Ice cold in Alex' is the most famous of the lot. I saw 'Exodus' a while back, and the Brit Army was all in j33ps, which is correct for 1948. In fact that film did not have a single anacronism that I could spot. My wife thinks I am sad. I spotted post-war metal collapsible chocks used in 'A Bridge too Far' with Dakotas. Well, it keeps me happy...

Damn! Just as I was going to ask that. I find the mole-grip fetish quite interesting. Have you asked advice on this?

I note the super lawnmower has a K&N filter fitted. Wait a week and it'll be down to 5bhp and a big repair bill. I would fit my unused K&N to my lawnmower but it is an electric

Well, you know what they say about dogs licking their danglies ....

I can't afford a Dell or anything fancy like that so I have a no-name brand pooter from Taiwan aus. It has lotsa USB ports, 2 at the front and 2 at the back, though I have just found out that one thing that they economised on is the rear USB ports, which are also USB 1. If I were really worried I would fit a card I have which has about 5 ports (one internal for some reason) which are all USB 2. The only problem I get is that my memory stick moans when I plug it in that it could run faster if it were in a USB 2 port. See if I care As someone who has been in the 'pooter world since the days of the Osborne and the Apple IIE, I must say that USB is the greatest thing since sliced bread And so are memory sticks Anyone who has gone through the **** of trying to get a serial device to work under Dos will understand..

Sorry to jump in so late, but I had a similar problem with my 300tdi a couple of years ago. After draining the sedimentor and changing the filter, the engine would idle, but no more. If the throttle was depressed the engine would stall. After hours of mucking about getting covered in diesel I found that the plastic plug on the sedimentor was not tight enough and was letting in some air. I was scared to tighten the thing up in case it broke off. Since then I have not touched it, dismantling the sedimentor instead to clean it as suggested by Steve. A mate has given me a spare plastic plug and I am meaning to take it to a good nut and bolt place to find out what the thread is and replace it with a S/S item if I can.

The easiest way is to buy a good condition second hand axle complete. It is just a bolt-on job. That way you can get the diff you want as well.

Yes, it has unfortunate stickers, and it does seem a bit pricey to me, although a new TD5 Defender is about R320k now.

LR (bless their cotton socks) have just released a 110 SW with 300tdi engine, vinyl floor and seats, wolf wheels. The engine is still legal here on new models as, not being in Europe, we don't worry about any of those nasty EU3s and 4s etc. There's lots of air here, so a bit more diesel smoke is neither here nor there (yet). Price is R278k which is ~26.5k GBP

Mine say "Hi-Line". These stickers seem to have been local and (like so much else) are made of unobtainium. As they have faded I am tempted to try to get them off (never liked them much anyway) but have heard that opens another can of worms with faded paint underneath... So, if in doubt, do nothing.

I hope the RSPCA aren't on this forum

Mine's a soopa-doopa CSW with NON-colour coded spats and grille (no bling please), real carpet (no paint visible on floor, carpet under seats etc, Standard sound and heat-proofing with that foam/aluminium stuff (so no hot feet and you can hear the stereo), rev-counter (waste of time), body colour roof, rear seat you can sit on, and galvanized chassis.