Boris113

We have a few Skytag units fitted across various vehicles and am more than happy with them. Each of them was purchased from FCX via the D2 forum offer which is £120 including delivery and 3 months free monitoring. After the 3 months it reverts to 6.99 a month for the monitoring. It would be nice to be able to log in and see the vehicle on a map at anytime but I think you have to pay more for that and geo-fencing options. I'm insured with Adrian Flux and didn't receive any discount for having the system fitted, they also class it as an 'unknown tracker'.

Hey Sam ,Yes that's right, the front dumb irons were trimmed vertically behind the 4 holes that the bumper would bolt to so it wouldn't be possible to bolt one on now. The 2 horizontal holes that would hold JATE rings are gone also. The winch tray is welded in but a bolt-in solution would probably work with adaquete crush tubes through the front crossmember. The galvanised chassis was a different vehicle, it wasn't built for winch events but the bumper I wanted to fit requires chassis mods so they were done before galvanising. Richards forgot to take the ARB mounts off before galvanising but they will come off at some point

Apologies for the bad photos but they may help, the below pictures are the original North Offroad wings, jacking points have been trimmed and blanked then dumbirons taken back to behind the bolt holes for the bumper and a winch tray welded in. The radiator has been moved back and a TD5 intercooler used so that it sits out of the way of the winch. I have my doubts that the front-outer edge of the wings would fold back if hit hard but they have held up so far Personally I'd trim the jacking points but not go back much further so you can fit standard wings/bumper at a later date if you chose to. The third photo shows where I had the dumbirons modified by Richards Chassis on a different vehicle, this was to stop the jacking points sticking out past the winch bumper Hope that helps, Harry

The Sumo bars I've fitted to 2 different vehicles used standard Def/Disco TREs. The old Equipe ones used oversize TREs...3 years down the line I still can't find an end that fits!

So I've had a few more thoughts on this, if anyone has any suggestions it would be much appreciated Purely theoretical for now, once I get back to UK for Christmas I'll get underneath with a tape measure but have at least come up with a few options... 1. Print off the drawings of Astro-Al's radius arms which he has kindly sent me, hold in place and test for clearance between upper face of radius arm and underside of bulkhead outrigger on full bump travel. Assuming the clearance is ok then bribe a responsible adult with large enough welder to make a set...my little one isn't powerful enough and I'm not confident in my skills to fab something safety critical. 2. Turn track rod upside down. Currently the track rod sits in the same way a Defender unit does and the TRE's are lowered into \ / shaped holes in the swivel housings. Would it would be possible to fill the TRE holes in the swivel housing with weld and then mill the weld out the other way to form a / \ shape? The track rod would then be fitted from below and lifted into place. It would sit lower down by approx 2.5 inches which would put it about the same height as a standard Defender version in relation to the underside of the axle casing. Not convinced on the idea of welding to cast but it would only act as a filler material and large washers could be used to stop the castellated nut from pulling back through the swivel along with the weld. 3. Drill tapers in swivel housing from \ / to a | | shape, find rose/heim joints that screw into the ends of the existing track rod and bolt the eyes through the newly drilled swivel holes, either above or below depending on clearance with radius arms. This seems a lot more simple than option 2 and apart from 2 rose joints, retains all standard parts but how would the joints fare in an application such as this in comparison with a standard TRE? Sure thing still toying with the idea of throwing an Ashlocker into the standard LR back axle and upgrading shafts as they break, it would remove issues with homemade suspension components and trying to get insurance etc - I'll let you know if I do give up with the LC axles but am pretty hell-bent on getting them to fit if possible. Harry

Not sure whether it's the same diameter on a 200 but when I extended the 300tdi oil cooler lines, I just cut the pipes and used some central heating pipe with a couple of jubilee clips on each end as a temp fix. It worked fine for a year until the local hydraulic place made up some new ones. IIRC new pipes and crimping the old unions to them was a total of £20 so a good saving over the Steve Parker set.

Matt is correct on the above tools. The spring-loaded pins go through the wading plug hole in the bell-housing to lock the flywheel, the large (9.5mm??) pin on the right hand side is to lock your injection pump and the remaining items work as a puller for the crank pulley. A word of warning, if you roll the vehicle back until the spring loaded pin locks into the flywheel it may snap the pin. Push the vehicle back and forth and line it up roughly by eye with a torch then rock it gently to let the pin locate.

As above, I have previously purchased them from Gwyn Lewis or Devon 4x4.

The thumb release would be a useful addition if you have a trailer hitched up. I fitted a gas strut to my rear door which is great 90% of the time but now have to leave an old welly boot upturned on the jockey wheel handle to protect the door.

Thanks chaps I see the reasoning about making the container look less appealing, maybe best to remove a padlock or 2 and just get the welded box (with ceramic/ply internally) then something inconspicuous on the top to hold the door. As for inside the container welding a couple of removable bars inside would be a good plan, they can be made 'padlockable' for easy access but wouldn't draw attention to the container externally. A small alarm/tracker controlled by a switch against the door like an interior light with a text faciity to alert me and the farmer would be easy enough to sort out. The 90 boxes in the LR parts so if that can be made non-removable then nothing else can be removed without great difficulty, I have a few ideas so will get down there with some steel and the welder asap to start plotting. As for electrickery, the other 90 was stored in an open barn with a 12 bore blank firer and wired into the 3-phase supply (batteries disconnected) The owner of that shed recently called me to say he had found a slightly deaf/disorientated individual on the floor beside the vehicle... Clearly he didn't read the little warning sign lying face down on the floor that warned of electric security devices!

37" is where I would like to end up following approval from SWMBO for tyre expenditure but that is a long way down the line! If the 90 is particularly under-geared on 285/75s after LC80 axle-fitting then there is a functional 1.2 transfer box in the shed that can be fitted to adjust final drive ratios accordingly. Cynic-al, if you don't mind sending me the drawings that would be much appreciated, PM inbound in the next few mins Out of curiosity and having re-read your build thread a few times, I can't work out the top-side measurement of a Defender radius arm in relation to the underside of the bulkhead outrigger vs an RRC radius arm in relation to the equivalent chassis member - do you think on full bump travel the custom-built radius arm would hit the bulkhead outrigger on a Defender chassis? The other option to solve the issue of LC 80 series track-rod v LR radius arm clearance is to fit a high-steer kit and retain all standard LR suspension linkages. Looking at his build thread, ToyRoverlander has a rather tasty Hellfire Fabworks kit that could solve all of the problems in one go assuming the steering arms don't get in the way of a standard defender suspension set-up. Track/drag rod are easily shortened/welded so that is less of a concern for my pigeon-turd style welding compared with building radius arms which for safety reasons I would out-source to a grown-up! Time to grab the tape measure methinks Thanks all, Harry

Not strictly a Land Rover query but it's related to Land Rovers so bear with me The farmer who stores my 90 and scrap metal assorted LR parts has decided that he wants to use his grain-store for it's intended purpose and the 90 has been re-homed to a shipping container in the yard. The yard is busy during the day but is away from houses and a sledge hammer/grinder would probably not be heard during the night. The container has padlocks on both doors and the 2 closest door bars have a hefty chain around them but I would like to secure it a little more. Assuming the owner is happy I was planning to weld a tab to each door to work as a third padlock latch with a welded box over the top to shield it but curious whether anyone has a better idea? Thanks in advance, Harry

I'm really pleased with the Xeng pedal lock, as said above its much quicker to use than the previous Adrenalin version and doesn't fly around the back off road. Not too clued up on trackers but we have Skytags fitted to a few vehicles at home and they seem to be pretty good, there are probably cheaper ways to track the vehicle however.

Thanks chaps, great advice - LC 80 axles it is then It would be nice to keep LR axles and have generic parts/no insurance issues but the cost is crazy, even if done over a period of time. I can always sell the LC axles later if there is a change of plan. The axles have never received any maintenance so a minor stripdown, rebuild of the lockers with silicone/breathers and a check of the brakes will be done before fitting. Assuming there is no further work then I will throw them under so I can get shot of one truck and free up some space but the rebuilt 90 won't be on the road for a while so there's time to ponder about the radius arms. Other than that they will stay standard for now, I don't have the time or fab skills do carry out the impressive conversion that Cynic-Al has done to his set. ToyRoverlander that's interesting, I wondered why they were a little slow to engage when driving in a straight line! And yes, 35's will appear soon...maybe even 37s A friend suggested I take it up to a local alignment place to get some lasers on the axles and check that the brackets are straight, crab-steer is nice on a JCB but not so desirable on a road-going vehicle! Other than that it's just a case of an engineers report for the insurance, thats a while away yet however! Pictures of the swap to follow once I get back from West-Africa and off these bloody crutches!

My sumo bars didn't fit with the bracket in place. Harry

The difference between a pressure washer with chemicals and a steam cleaner is quite astounding, you could probably rent one from a local hire place for less than £40 for the day... It works wonders on oily engine bays also The only way I have previously managed to remove waxoyl totally was some particularly nasty thinners and a paint scraper, it's not a fun job. A twist cup on a grinder simply clogged up. HTH, Harry

Thanks Bowie, that seems to reinforce my thoughts Had a look around on Google and a lot of people seem to have done it, especially judging from old posts in this forum. The lockers are working but are slow to engage, hopefully a quick strip-down of the solenoids to check/free them up, reassemble with some sealant and extended breathers should do the trick. I've read that bigger relays in the wiring can help so will look into that. The diff ratios are a little lower but not majorly and the output shafts have already been adapted to take LR props so it's seems the logical route to go. Not too worried about CVs for now, it will only run 285 Fedimas until some bigger boots come up at the right price, if the CVs go pop then they can be upgraded in due course. All of the brackets have been done on a jig apparently, the welding looks good and the vehicle handles well on the road with no death wobbles so that reassures me of the conversion quality The only thing to sort is the track rod which normally catches on LR radius arms, the previous owner took a grinder to the underside of the radius arms to get clearance so need to look at redesigning those. Harry

I am after a little bit of advice regarding axles. The shed is now filling up with rubbish and the challenge-prepped 90 has to go, to be honest it was a silly impulse buy but time off work with Malaria and eBay clearly don't work together On the plus side, it was cheap and the nice accessories were worth more than than the vehicle's price. It sits on Toyota Land Cruiser 80 series axles that have been modified to accept standard LR suspension mounts/linkages. These axles are the later type with bigger brakes and electronic locking diffs which all work perfectly. The rebuilt 90 (which will not be sold) sits on standard disco 24spline axles with good condition internals. So the question being, should I shift the challenge 90 with the LC axles and then fit Ashlockers and strengthened internals to the rebuilt 90 over a period of time or nail the LC80 axles onto the rebuilt 90 and save approx £2K? My concerns predominantly being the reliability, strength and parts supply of the LC 80 axles of which I know very little about, are they a more reliable and stronger set-up than LR Ashcrofts axles? Any advice is much appreciated, clearly if I can save 2 grand that will be a bit of a bonus but wanted to be sure it was the right way to go about it. Thanks in advance, Harry

I used thin rubber sheet but it can still trap water behind and is tricky to hold in place sometimes. Later I used 3mm closed cell neoprene. It comes in all manner of sizes but a few rolls on 25mm width self-adhesive seemed to work well for contact areas. Additionally it works well for sealing the floor pans, transmission tunnel and seatbox down. The advantage is that it can be removed easily at a later date. As Mikey said, flashband would work nicely also. There is a guy on the Defender2 forum that has used butyl pondliner to isolate everything from chequer plate on the wings to the back faces of door hinges and says it works well. HTH

40 grit for initial stripping then 80 and eventually 200, I didn't bother with wet and dry etc because it was only Nato green being sprayed onto dented panels. The Dewalt pads last a lot longer than Titan branded versions also. I think you need quite a high CFM on your compressor to run an air version, it was too much for the little 25l compressor at home. My 240v cost less than £20 and I can't fault it Another vote for Rightlines also. 4 or 5 of us clubbed together to buy disks and it made it a lot cheaper.

I didn't have much luck stripping thick paint with them, they tended to clog and wear out fairly quick. They worked well on thin paint and the wear-rate was probably due to buying cheapo versions. The flapwheels certainly work but damage Defender bodywork. In the end I got the cheapest orbital DA sander from Screwfix and bodged the dust collector to mate up with an old Henry hoover, sanded a whole 90 back to alloy in a day and the noise didn't annoy the neighbours quite so much

For the wire wheel it is well worth getting one of those flip-down masks rather than just glasses. As the wheel wears down the pieces of wire have a habit of becoming lodged in your skin at surprisingly high speed. http://www.screwfix.com/p/face-shield-clear/6540d

There is quite a comprehensive review in this month's LRO mag, they seem to rate it highly.

As above, I have regularly taken the 90 to motorway speeds with no top support on the windscreen (this is with the early folding hinges) and it has been fine. It wobbled a bit on bumpy roads and that made the rear view mirror unusable/me worry about strain on the bulkhead top-corners so I braced it. There was an old 5-bar gate in the scrap pile so which donated a couple of lengths of tube 1 1/2" tube. I hammered the ends flat and rounded the ends then drilled/bolted them. They bolt to the top of the windscreen using the existing holes and also the top of the roll bar with M8 bolts. It's a bit of a bodge but doesn't look too bad and braces the windscreen quite nicely. The other option is to get some sunglasses and take the windscreen off, you can't beat the feeling of flies/grit hitting your face at 60mph

In my old Series 3 I simply bolted the top point of the inertia belt to the bulkhead (with spreader bars) but I doubt that would be allowed with a 90. Additionally it was quite uncomfortable because the belt pulled you down into the seat rather thank back into it. The military hoop in my 90 is far more comfortable and probably safer also. As per Mickeyw said, I think that you are best staying with the military hoop.