Boydie

You're not wrong, the other factor is the price of the boots, AUD$535.00 each ! As I'll need a set of 6 (2 spares are mandatory for most desert crossing permits) thats a not so cool AUD $3,210.00 fitted and balanced, I'm hoping to be able to sell the standard Continental tyres to reduce the pocket pain.

Come to Australia for a holiday and buy one here, very few Australian Discos have any rust problems, the average price for a Discovery 300Tdi 1997-1999 would be about AUD$3000. Buy one, drive it on a touring holiday enjoy it and then ship it back to the UK.

It (the Amarok) only has one problem and thats off road ground clearance. Bilstein do a stronger front uprated coil over strut and rear shocks with Dobinsons coils and rear leaf springs that will give the truck a 75mm (3") lift as well as coping with the anticipated increased front and rear 350kg static weight increases, that along with the standard 20" rims with BFG "KO2" all terrain 285/75-R20 tyres should lift it up above most country track hazards with a fully laden 350mm (14") ground clearance and 215mm (8.5") under the rear differential housing. There is a very neat aftermarket front grille available locally that does away with the horrid "chrome" VW badge and gives greater airflow - thats a definite !

That's a new one on me, and it certainly doesn't apply here in Australia, anything under 8 tonnes GVM can be driven at the maximum advised road speed limits - 110 kph or 70 mph -- if its over 8 tonnes its 100kph or 60 mph, apart from the Northern Territory which does not have a speed limit, but thats on the cards to change to comply with other states. Many years ago when I was between engineering projects and driving road trains (prime mover and up to 4 double deck cattle trailers for an old mate in the NT I would be happy to "cruise" down the Tanami Track to Alice Springs at 140+ kph with up to 600 tonnes total GVM - but breaking distance to a complete halt was down to around 4 kilometers and 24 gear changes , the rig could do it in a lot less than that but once you came to a halt you would need to go around every axle checking that the heat from the brakes had not melted the axle bearing grease. The other thing was Murphy's law, if you had a flat - and you could expect at least one per trip, it would always be in the inside tyre (four tyres per axle, 4 axles per trailer). When changing it you could guarantee at least one cow would extract revenge by depositing sloppy carp all over you, so the only way was to strip down to underpants - much to the amusement of any passing tourist traffic - and use the cattle wash water after to hose off before getting dressed again. My revenge in turn was to try to memorise the cow responsible and make sure it got a good jab with the electric cattle prod !

There seems to be considerable differences between UK and Australian models. The top of the line (Ultimate) Amarok here in Australia the engine has twin turbos, alloy heads, a much larger oil sump than the Porsche Audi and Touareg and yes, it's been detuned to your stated 225 hp (165 Kw) but easily revised up to the Porsche Cayenne specs if you want to burn the additional diesel. The Amarok "Ultimate" comes as standard with stupid 19" or 20" alloy rims but my dealer was quite happy to agree to supply the car with 17" "ALDO" style rims off any standard unit on his showroom floor and supply a second matching spare rim - (I need six rims, 2 spares for outback travel). Thanks for the tip regarding the pulleys, I'll check them out and if need be I will replace them. Manual gearboxes are great but trust me, on soft sand dunes and auto is the way to go, with a manual the moment you clutch in to change up, or down a gear you're bogged, with an auto the changes are too fast and seamless so gear changes aren't an issue. The Oz version has electric power assisted steering in what is a virtually sealed for life system, - as is the auto box -- the belts only power the alternator and water pump and a second belt for the Australian standard air conditioning. Like you my only concern has been the lack of a low range selector but I'm told that with the huge torque available (550 Nm) it's simply not needed as the first and second gears are deliberately very low (lower than any other vehicles this 8 speed ZF box is supplied to), when I took one for a test drive most of the time it took off from a standing start on a flatish road in 3rd gear so I guess that the two lower gears are for serious inclines only or for when the rear is fully loaded. I'll ask about the reverse gear inhibitor and if necessary get it rectified. One of the design features that swung me to the Amarok is that is has a full separate rail chassis, the majority of other dual cab utilities, Isuzu, Ford, Nissan,Toyota have a pressed metal monocoque body with a auxiliary rear tray chassis. The experience in Oz is that if you are towing any real sized trailer over constant corrugations and you are near to the total gross mass weight - and especially if you have a leaf spring/air bag combination suspension the rear chassis cracks just after the cab requiring some serious welding repairs. This problem is virtually unknown with vehicles that have a separate full chassis as the undulations are transmitted the length of the chassis rails - not just to the monocoque connections to the rear chassis rails. Even so, I'll be looking for a coil spring rear suspension conversion. they give a far superior and smoother ride.

Due to spinal neurological issues as a result of the motor vehicle accident I had last February 13th I'm having to look to move on from my beloved Disco. Its simply a comfort thing as well as a desire to have more bang engine power wise for my buck - as it were, so I've placed an order for a VW Amarok Dual Cab Utility with the V6 3 litre engine - the one Porsche designed with the eight speed auto/paddle shift gearbox. The on road cost over here in Australia is AUD$74,500 but with all the required off road and desert touring add-ons i want fitted to it, for example a Safari Snorkel, ARB bullbar, Warne 12000 lb winch, ARB Canopy c/w roof-top tent, internal air pump, 140 litre fresh water tank, redArc dual battery system, 74 litre freezer/fridge and food storage drawers, ARB 135 litre fuel tank, Kaymar steel rear bumper bar with spare wheel and gas bottle carrier, OME 3" lift kit (see below comments on the rear suspension) and decent Bridgestone Dueller Desert off road tyres (it comes cmes with Continental road tyres ) etc.etc. the final cost will be a tad over AUD$100,000. The comfort level in the Amarok is unbelievable with the seats being heated and cooled Nappa Leather seats, they look and feel as if they belong in a Lamborghini -- but they will require sheep-skin wool covers to cope with our summer heat --- but to compensate they do have 14 position settings - with two memory settings per front seat. It has only two design faults in my experience, one is the alternator is at the lowest possible location on the engine, - well below the depth of most creek crossing water levels so I'm expecting several charging unit failures and consequently on the top of the spares list will be two rectifier and diode packs, fortunately they come in a single easily replaceable unit (once you get the alternator off the engine). The second is that despite it being built in 2017 (delivery is due March 2017) it has an antique rear suspension design with leaf springs !!!! I'm looking for a company that does a coil spring conversion with a 3" lift. The Porsche designed turbo diesel engine power is huge, 165 kW with an overboost facility taking it up to 180 kW for 15 seconds with a very flat 550Nm of torque from 1800 rpm, well over 110 Nm over the Toyota 4.2 litre V8 and this is fed through the VW/Audi designed 8 speed clutchless "auto". The rear axle has an electric lockable differential and the front works on the electronic system of the disc brake being applied to the free wheel to force drive the the driving wheel (again a LR innovation), unfortunately currently there isn't a front axle LSD or lockable differential for the Amarok as the ring gear is welded to the carrier but this will I'm sure be only temporary and some aftermarket company will come up with a fully replaceable electric locker and I'll have one fitted. It also has Down Hill Assist - again copied from Land Rover of course - which in conjunction with the low speed engine torque and auto box gives it a possible descent angle of 50* and climb angle of 45* I won't be selling the Disco, it has a few issues that need attention that I'll do and then retire it for the occasional weekend out into the bush. Maybe one day I might get a deserving grand child who will take it over and have as much enjoyment out of it as Julie and I have had, either way it stays in the family !

Evans waterless coolant will cost you a lot of money for very little benefit, its ONLY advantage is zero pressure at normal running temperature simply because it does not expand until it reaches well over 200*C. Bleed your car correctly and you won't have any more issues, I drive in ambient temperatures well over 40*C and my coolant temp never goes over 95*C - normal 90^C When ever I've emptied the radiator - like you 4 row heavy duty - I fill the entire system with demineralised water with 30% glycol coolant mix, bleed the air out correctly and I have yet to have a problem or need to top it up more than 500ml in a year..

I bet you didn't stop to fit the wading plugs either

Get a new head. There is a so called "evolution" head which has larger improved water journals. The one I purchased many years ago even came with the valves fitted, it was a genuine LR part however and cheaper (as in at least 1/2 the price I paid) ones can be obtained. I've said it many times but just why there are three triangular waterways in the block between 1-2; 2-3; and 3-4 is beyond me especially as there are no corresponding waterways in the cylinder head and yet the gasket has the same bloody cutouts ! All you get is air bubbles trapped at these three locations and this causes corrosion in the face of the head. If you ever take your engine out get them welded up (by a gun welder using TIG) and then have the block skimmed, I did this to mine and I've never had another blown head gasket, my current head gasket has done well over 145,000 kilometres. As for the three cutouts in the gasket, I made up a wad punch to the triangular shape and cut three pieces out of the old gasket and fitted them into the spaces on the new gasket with a smear of red silicone gasket sealant.

Drill out the broken bolt. Use a set drill size if possible, say 3/8" - Fill the cavity with grease and fit a punch into the hole, it needs to be a tight fit, use a lump hammer and drive the punch into the drilled hole, the grease will hydraulically force the peg out revealing the 15mm bolt. Drill and use a helicoil to give you a tread for future use. If you need to heat up the flange do so, but only to allow the outside to expand to release the plug, as Snagger said you will damage the leaking seal but so what.

Quite right not all vehicles have mud flaps, here in NSW Australia the law is that if more than 30% of the REAR tyres can be viewed from the rear of the vehicle then mud flaps are required to reduce that exposed portion down to 30%. This is taken as being viewed from ground level. Looking at that MX5/Miata I would hazard a guess that only 20-25% of the tyre can be seen from the rear ergo in NSW it would not require mud flaps.

Much to the contrary belief but the top of the Disco radiator is just above the cylinder block, very little coolant actually passes into and out of the cylinder head. If you park your car on a flat level piece of concrete and get out a three foot long builders level and tape measure you will see that I'm right. That said if you do have a water leak and the water temperature sensor is NOT in the water, but is in air it WILL read low and will continue to do so until your engine expires. The solution to this is an invaluable piece of kit called a low water alarm. This has a probe that will operate a screeching alarm if the water level falls and the probe isn't fully immersed, mine is installed in the radiator filler plug. You can buy them at most auto stores on on EBay and they take about an hour to fit and wire up. From memory mine cost me about AUD$75.00 which is a lot cheaper than the cost of a seized engine rebuild.

Does you car have air conditioning ? If it does then the two sensors located in the elbow after the thermostat are for the A/C. One turns the condenser fans on to assist cooling if the water temp gets to 105*C the second sensor turns the A/C compressor off if the temp continues to rise and gets to 110*C. My Disco (manual) never goes above 90*C and after driving up extremely steep hills on 40*C ambient dayd resorting to dropping back into second gear with 14.5 psi boost. On the downhill runs it drops back to around 80*C. If you replace the thermostat, (a good move in my opinion), a trick is to get rid of the silly little toggle thingmegig in the vent hole and drill out the vent to 1/8" or 3mm and remember to have it at the TOP of the thermostat. Remember to use the correct ratio of antifreeze coolant to water and you should have very few, ios any future problems. If your alloy thermostat housings show any signs of corrosive pitting on the jointing surfaces smear a small amount of high temperature silicone gasket sealant on them before installing the thermostat.

Bloody tyres, they are the ONLY item that uses a combination of metric (the width say, 235= 9") and Imperial 16 = the rim diameter in inches

Try Bridgestone Desert Duellers, Light Truck rated 235/R70- 16

Bridgestone Desert Duellers; Light Truck rated 8 ply side walls. LT235/70R16 Style - 697. The ones on my Disco are my third set, I've managed to get well over 85,000 kilometres or 50,000 miles from each previous set of six (I carry two spares) of which well over 45% would be driving off road on corrugated outback tracks. I once had a set of Coopers AAT Discoverers but the treads literally melted in over 50*C outback temperatures and were down to the tread marks after only 9000 kilometres, Coopers refused to replace them and I've never encouraged anyone to buy them since, quite frankly their warranty and after sales service is poo !!! I've only ever had two punctures with the Bridgestones both of which were caused by spinifex needles penetrating the tyre through the valleys between the tyre tread lands, at the time I would have been running them on around 12 psi driving over very soft sand dunes in the Gibson Desert in WA and both punctures happened on the same cross country trip but some two weeks apart, both were eventually located and plugged. If any of you dont think that spinifex grass spikes can penetrate rubber, or flesh try sitting on a clump ! As you can see from the attached photo the trick is to follow camel tracks over the dunes as they always tend to select the easiest route, you can just make out the tracks to the front near side on my trusty 300Tdi.

Ashcroft's web site has a great table that will give you answers to all the issues you've mentioned.

hummmm the bottom (and top) rubbers supplied by Tuff Dog with their foam filled nitro shocks are the exact copy of the original LR units so I guess I'll keep the cups and see how I go, as I said I've never had an issue with the bottom rubber buffers, I did have one set of rear shock top bushes give way to corrugations but that was, in my opinion, due to the fact I'd replaced the standard rubbers with nolathane units and they simply split apart.

On another site I was reading a discussion on whether or not the cups on the rear axle shock absorber base should be retained or if they should be ground off. One reference I read - OME installation instructions said to remove them as they limited movement and could cause the threaded bolt on the bottom of the shock to snap off. I still have mine fitted to the rear axle and I've never had any pins from any of the Bilsteins I've used previously snap off and I've now fitted foam filled Tuff Dog +300 kg constant rated shocks and springs so I'm kind of curious as to whether I should remove them or retain them Any comments and views ????

I didn't set out to lift my Disco but what I needed to do was install a suspension system, -- springs and shocks -- that compensated for the additional weight in the front of:- An ARB steel bull bar, 1200 lb winch and an additional HD battery At the rear, an ARB steel bumper, 135 litre fuel tank, 100 litre water tank, fridge/freezer, food storage drawers, additional spare wheel and tyre tools spares etc. I settled for "Tuff Dog" suspension and their +300 kilo constant rated springs and their foam filled shocks. The combination of which raised the car around 35 mm from standard. I still retain the standard Disco alloy rims as they are strong and cheap to replace second hand from my local wrecker. No bodywork alterations were required nor have I had to adjust the steering stops.

I did mine with a scale from a fishing tackle shop - I also did away with the ABS but thats a different story.

What model, engine ?? apart from obviously diesel is it a 200Tdi, 300Tdi, TD5 ? or even newer V6 ?

On the supply banjo connection to the FIP there is (or should be) a micro mesh filter gauze, this often becomes blocked denying fuel to the FIP, check it and if its blocked clear it with compressed air and slap your wrist for not changing the fuel filter more regularly. If the gauze has been removed you could be up for an exchange FIP.

I dont know what its called in the UK but here for hard court areas we use "Stabilised earth" its a moist sand fine gravel mix with about 3-5% mixed in builders cement, Excavate for about a 4-6" deep bed, a simple timber formwork s all that is required, a membrane should NOT be used. Spread the stabilised earth, level it and then compact it down using a roller or "wacker" -, use as little water as possible, if any just a fine spray. The SE will coagulate into a very hard surface, if needed finish off with a fine rake over the top surface, (no deeper than 1/2") sprinkle very lightly with plain builders cement and roll and or wack the top surface again. Allow it to dry naturally. After around 24 - 48 hours you will have a hard compacted surface area capable of taking a heavy truck - and its very easily repairable, just fill in any hollows with moist fines, sand and cement and allow to naturally dry.

There are oats and there are oats, you can pay a good price and get them before they go through the horse or pay less and get them in a nice blue bag after they have gone through it.