Escape

While I'm a big fan of manually selected lockers, I think ATBs are the best compromise between price and performance, along with ease of fitting. And as said, they offer some advantages on slippery roads as well, where a full locker can only be used with proper care or it will make things worse. The upside of fitting a locker (any kind) is that it's also stronger than a standard open diff, especially a 2-pin. If budget allows, it's probably a good idea to upgrade shafts and CVs at the same time. But be gentle, and you'll probably be fine with the standard components as well. If it's not your only vehicle and/or you don't need it every day, you could wait for something to expose itself as the weakest link before replacing it. Not if you plan to go overlanding of course! When I fitted my ARBs in my Defender back in the day, I also fitted Ashcroft all round. Those lasted, but I did break a front prop and twice the ring and pinion. Mind you, that was after fitting 37" Baja Claws, on 255 muds everything was fine. I'm gonna risk Ashcroft lockers with 33" Baja's and standard shafts on the P38, simply because there are no upgrades available. I did have the diffs pegged this time.

@MikeAK I knew the top 'ball' joint was spring loaded and wanted to post that, but you beat me to it. Interesting to see the internals! As for the adjustment, that's just to compensate for manufacturing tolerances when changing the ball joints. If the halfshaft isn't noticeably out of center of the oil seal, all will be fine. Even if it isn't, worse case the seal can start weeping. Good luck with putting it all back together, usually easier than removal so you're over half way. 😉 Filip

Pretty much the same on the recent Wrangler. Could be something to do with pedestrian safety? I agree it looks terrible!

The explanation is simple: the wheels have recesses for the bolt heads, but by using spacers the wheel is shifted 36° with respect to the hub, meaning the bolts no longer line up with the recesses.

Very sorry to read this... Hope you get it sorted soon!

Hi paul, I understood it was a set of NGKs that had failed. Which surprises me, as I use NGK for most/ all plugs and glow plugs and haven't had problems yet. I did read about a batch of knock-off NGKs that gave people trouble, the article was about petrol plugs but maybe there is/was a similar problem with glow plugs. Either way, as there's not much difference in price, it can't hurt to try a different brand. I hope the old ones all come out easily. Filip

Have a look at Pomerania Trophy in Poland, different categories and if you chose right should be OK for a full sized D2. I'd like to take my p38 there sometime, but need to get it finished first...

Life of the glow plugs will depend on the use the car gets. 3 years seems short, but I've never had any trouble with NGK so use them for all plugs and various sensors etc. I think the originals for the BMW are Bosch.

Another vote for classiccarleds. I've been running their bulbs as sidelights in the Esprit and the H4 replacements in the Range Rover. So far they're lasting a lot better then some other brands I tried a couple of years ago. And they have a very wide range of products, so something for everyone.

A couple of our friends used a heater as above when they took their little Fiat Panda 4x4 on a tour through Scandinavia. In February! They paid €125, I wired it up to the car with a switch in the dash, fresh air intake and exhaust were routed through the floor (it came with all the necessary pipework) and some ducting was added to make sure it would heat the entire passenger compartment or the tent at the back of the car. It did a good job, didn't use too much diesel and was sold on after the trip for €100. 🙂

You can check it out of the car, but it's easier in the car. You need to spin it fast enough and provide 12V to the exciter pin. @elbekko had a go with a drill to test the alternator on a TR6 that was behaving strangely. We didn't get up to 12V but enough to prove it was generating charge. The problem turned out to be the amp meter in the dash. The local rebuilding place has a bench setup, basically an electric motor that drives a belt you can put on the alternator and measure the output. But it's easier to test on the engine by disconnecting the wires to the alternator and measuring. Could be a bad earth, not passing enough current to start from idle so you need revs to self-excite and get the voltage up.

I'm thinking more like nazis in Antartica, as it mentions the summer solstice.

Totally agree with that line of thought! When @FridgeFreezer let me borrow his X-type a few years ago I was very pleasantly surprised. Even looked at a V6 as a sensible car, but taxes are just too high in Bhellgium.

Expensive at first sight, but when you consider it's the same engine/drivetrain as the XR4, it's actually a lot of car for the money. And very practical!

I agree with the advice 'don't', or at least think long and hard. But my standard TD5 managed OK despite the gearing and the braking was good as well. Main problem I found was 1st low being not so low anymore, so engine braking often wasn't enough and you needed to use the brakes as well. And in gloopy stuff the width of the tyres made it a lot harder to keep going, especially as you'll often find yourself outside the main ruts dug by standard(ish) vehicles.

I wouldn't, more features is just more to go wrong and if it's not standard it's often a lot more difficult to troubleshoot and fix if/when things go wrong. Just my humble opinion of course. 😉

I had 37x13x17 on my 90 when I did Ladoga. To get those to fit it had a 4" spring lift, so with your 2" lift plus 2" blocks you should have the necessary clearance, but it will still need some trimming at the rear wheel arches. And extended bumpstops. I also changed the A-frame mounting point on the rear axle, to move the rolling center upwards and keep the tyres from rubbing the spring perches. Wheel spacers were needed to keep the turning circle somewhat reasonable. To get the suspension to work, you'd want cranked radius and trailing arms, an adjustable Panhard rod front and A-frame ball joint rear and a wide angle or double cardan propshaft at the front. As well as longer brake lines of course. If you plan to put any power on those tyres, you'll need stronger axle internals as well. I went with Ashcroft all round, and then started breaking props and diffs... The added loads also meant I was changing wheel and swivel bearings and certain suspension bushes on a regular basis. Don't get me wrong, I loved the looks and how she performed off road, but it was clear I was pushing it and that came at a serious cost. Not sure I'd do it again (but then I'm building a P38 on 33"s that's likely to give me just as much of a challenge to get right). Ask yourself what I hope to gain from the bigger tyres and if it's worth it. The downside of running the biggest tyres in the group is that most stuff becomes easy if not boring. And if you do get stuck, nobody will be able to reach you. 😉 Filip I couldn't resist looking back at the photos, those were the days...

As above, standlamp/standlicht means the position or parking lights, typically position 1 of a lighting switch, includes the small lamps at the front, taillights, number plate lights and instrument illumination. 'kruislicht' is also an old term used for dipped beam, i.e. the lights intended for normal running, similar nomenclature to cruising speed. At least in Flanders. I'm not familiar with the different military lights, so it could be a form of convoy lights if the vehicle is equipped with those.

As @Bowie69 says, there are 4-posters that don't bolt down, but have a wheel at each corner with nothing more than a brake. No frame at the base, maybe the sliders at the posts are designed to take more than just a vertical load but I doubt it, given the price of these lifts (often marketed as movable parking lifts). I remember when putting up our lifts there were very detailed instructions for bolting down the 2-posters, but not so much for the 4-posters. It's just to keep the legs from spreading and to keep everything in place when driving onto the lift. So an H-frame or even better a triangulated box will do just fine. It wouldn't even have to be that thick as most of the force will be outward so the frame will be loaded in tension. Flat bar should suffice, taking up little space.

There's a beautiful one called Milly at Brooklands. Apparently used to move some planes around the site as well.

I went to see a s/h 2013 Puma yesterday for a customer. Asking price is €40k, with little room for negotiation. Some options and kit fitted, but it drove poorly, probably due to the ECU remap that seemed to have killed all low down grunt. For what he wants/need, I think I'm gonna recommend a Grenadier (there, back on topic! 🙂 ).

The TD5 could be specced with all of those as well, just not as standard. Which probably suited part of the customers (like myself at the time) and kept prices down.

Actually yes, I've had to replace 2 taillight units on moderns because some of the LEDs weren't working anymore. I don't know if the LEDs themselves failed or the elektrickery to switch them on, all sealed so throw away and replace. Painfully expensive, especially compared to the price of a bulb or even LED replacement.

I'm still not convinced adding all that complexity will make things more reliable. As for adding weight, you need a bigger cable if it has to carry all the current, so it wont be much lighter than separate wires. But it will introduce a single point of failure. Sensing for a blown bulb can be done at the switch, no need for much extra wiring. It was done like that in 80s by Merc and Lotus (for the fan fail warning light, not the lights) to name 2. Sure, if you want all kinda gizmos like lights staying on or blinking merry xmas you might be better off with a taillight ECU. Not if you just want them to work and be able to fix or bodge them if/when needed. So fine for the new LR Defender as a lifestyle vehicle, not so much for the Grenadier that was hyped to be rugged and field repairable. I don't like talking to a black box and hoping it does what I expect it, though I accept that's probably what most people prefer these days. Me, I like to know what I'm doing. Or at least pretend to. 😉

While I agree to most of this, I just can't let this pass. What's wrong with just a switch and possibly a relay?? I don't need or want a computer to control my taillights! And if the switch should fail, I'll simply bypass it and carry on. As I have done on my Excel, broken headlight switch fixed with a Leatherman and piece of copper wire on the side of the road. I've looked at a similar bypass on my project P38 (in case I should ever drown the BECM), but that's not so straightforward. But possible, just because there is a dedicated wire for everything. I don't even want to think what it would take in something more recent...