BogMonster

Nah, I'd just nick one its easier Its frigging annoying me now I know what it is as is the indicator trip which has started "cracking" loudly on turning left (even without indicating) took it off and it seems to be sticking (though it is fine when you turn it with your fingers), put it all back on after moving it a bit and it lasted all of 1/2 hour now it is doing it again I suppose I am far too fussy about noises, that's my trouble but you don't get irritations like this on Toyotas...

Noooooo Ammeters support "smoke theory" voltmeters don't Ammeters measure the amount of smoke travelling through the wires, and indicate this to the operator by the amount of smoke they emit when something shorts out, thus providing an immediate and obvious scented visual warning to the driver that something is amiss - far more attention grabbing than some boring voltmeter needle wafting back and forth

What do you mean " " ? would be more like it ;) Oh well - I'm not paying so I'll hope the new one lasts longer!

There was a bobtailed P38 in one of the mags recently which looked quite sexy

Just got around to looking at the steering on my 90, it's had a "knock" for a while, you can feel it over rough ground and also with the engine off if you rock the wheel from side to side. I assumed it was the UJs but the bottom bearing in the column is completely shot, about 1/8" movement in the bearing and so the shaft clonks backwards and forwards under load Anybody ever seen this fail before? I'm sure I haven't - even on our old farm vehicles with manual (i.e. non power) steering where far more load goes through the column - I'd never expect something like that to go, especially not on an 18 month old vehicle. Apparently you have to replace the entire column too, as the bearings aren't available. At the moment I don't really care - warranty pays! - but I hope this isn't going to need doing again in another couple of years when I'm out of warranty as I bet the column costs a bluddy fortune....?

As a std vehicle has a 65A alternator I would say you should fit a 65A or maybe 100A ammeter - if you start the vehicle with a flat battery it will go to full output on the alternator, and I should think if you whack everything on it would probably be close to that anyway: 2 x 60W headlights on main beam = 10A 4 x 5W sidelights + number plt light - ~ 2A Heated rear screen - 20A? Both wipers probably 10A Cigarette lighter - 20A? Heater fan Radio Instrument lights Interior lights etc etc etc Also the meter needs to be in the right place - i.e. not with the starter motor current going through it! I personally think a voltmeter is a lot more useful than an ammeter - and if you whack everything on like that on a 300Tdi (my old 90 had a V-meter fitted) you could see the voltage drop right back.

While we're on a nautical theme here are some pics from the sea day... Oooer I think we're being followed Point that thing somewhere else!!! HMS Cardiff at 0.00000001mpg anybody got a surfboard?! come to think of it water-skiing might have been better B) might have been a bit choppy round the back though

The red one Mine isn't quite in the first photo, just off to the left. However it is in another one I took from a different angle: My humble hovel - much prefer the old place: that's where I'm headed for Christmas

Nah - spoils the fun if you are ready for everything Bish - no comment

Is that an eight legged sunset?

Either: 3 flights a fortnight from RAF Brize Norton on the Airbridge - 18 hours stopping for a splash & dash at Ascension Island for 90 min or so. Arriving here Mon-Fri-Wed-Mon-Fri-Wed in that pattern, or whenever the RAF and/or the contractor feel like it (which is far more common) the last one was 3 days late!!! or: Civilian flight operated by LanChile from Santiago-Puerto Montt-Punta Arenas-Mount Pleasant and back again every Saturday. Easy connections to lots of places from Santiago; from UK you would fly to Madrid, change, fly to Santiago, overnight there and leave at sparrows fart on a Saturday morning arriving here mid afternoon. Return flight gets back to Santiago about 11pm, overnight and on to wherever else the next day. Lan route is much cheaper unless you qualify for a "duty" fare i.e. live here - the RAF tourist rate is somewhat extortionate! Nothing much in and out of Stanley in the way of international flights except the British Antarctic Survey planes which shuttle back and forth to Rothera with passengers and freight during the summer when BAS are counting icebergs falling off the end of the Antarctic. The runway in here isn't big enough for anything else - but the Dash 7 is a big four engined beast which can still land in something the size of a car park, it's impressive to watch something that size land in the same space as a small Cessna There's not really any passenger ship service as such, though you could join the RMS St Helena which goes back and forth from Cape Town, Walvis Bay, somewhere or other else in Namibia, St Helena and Ascension, then get on the 747 there and fly down. Or you could stow away on a fishing boat in Walvis Bay and get here like that - should be cheap

Can't complain at that then! :) Somewhat drier and less salty climate probably helps I guess - but even if they only last 6 or 7 years, why spent £500 on a stainless one? Maybe different on a V8 - petrol engines tend to eat exhausts rather more quickly - but the one on my V8 Discovery is 3.5 years old and apart from a possible problem brewing with the cats (she just feels a bit stifled sometimes, as if they are blocking up) it's got life left in it yet.

That feeling is normal, as long as the tyres aren't scrubbing excessively, should feel sort of like you have hauled a couple of notches on the handbrake on full lock. I guess Range Rover viscouses (should that be viscii?) do the same thing, though I've never looked at one.

I have seen (on a 200Tdi Disco not a V8 RR but the same fault is still possible) a perforated pipe (due to corrosion) in the tank unit where it comes out the top of the tank, could be that causing a leak, either pressure or return could do it I guess. Just needed a new tank pickup. Accessible through the hole in the floor, if there is one. The pickup sits in a depression in the top of the tank and all sorts of cr*p builds up around it which if it is salty can cause corrosion. This is assuming the pickup is steel like a Tdi one and not plastic, in which case rust is unlikely

With two Olympus turbines (same engines as Concorde, more or less) I would think the fuel consumption makes a V8 look quite frugal! They are an impressive sight (and sound) at full pelt, I went on a "sea day" a couple of years back and was on one of the RFA ships watching a Type 42 exercising - went past us at 30 knots about 100 yards off the port side, v v v impressive! The wake behind the ship at full speed comes up higher than the helideck... not sure what happens if they then slow down too fast though, I guess the blokes standing on the lower deck below the helipad get a bit wet

Do consider yourself the "I am going to get stuck brigade" then Bish? Ducking/putting on coat in one swift and seamless motion

OK so I'm cheating a bit here This "D90" is HMS Southampton... currently visiting this part of the world Good call sign! B)

Monroe Adventurers - got them from Bearmach, good price too (though we deal with them at work so get trade prices - not sure what they retail them at but they were F cheap!!) The fronts are noticeably stiffer than the std (good condition) LR ones I took off, the rears are a bit stiffer but not too much. Just spot on - really chuffed with them and achieved exactly what I wanted. Also, and this is quite important for here, they have proper metal stone guards on the pistons not some rubbish plastic boot - using the vehicle on gravel roads with lots of stones pinging around at speed underneath, you really don't want exposed pistons!

I've got one - but its no use with the Bikini style winch mount as the pin fouls the mount and even if it didn't, you couldn't get the pin out anyway. Otherwise I would put it on. Agreed though - they do make a decent alternative - though they also bend in the middle if the towing vehicle gives it too much breakfast so are not 100%! I seem to think that Foley SV do a similar design but heavier duty replacement front bumper in the style of the military one with a central towing point, but I just looked on their website and I can't see it so maybe they have stopped doing it. I also found this while searching, looks interesting though a few £££

PMSL! Very true

I wasn't intending to get stuck that much either Yes they would be fine for general use - just need to be aware of the limitations rather than finding them out by doing something like that ^^^ The main reason I don't use them on the front is because I have a tow rope with "very" reinforced large eyes which can happily be put over a Defender bumper without any danger of cutting through the rope, so I use that for forward pulls - it's virtually impossible to tear a whole bumper off and at worst if you bend the end round, the rope would just ping off without any large bits of metal attached. There are recovery points on the Milemarker bikini mount but I don't think they are strong enough either, so I have never used them. Also using the above rope means that you don't have to worry about whether anybody else's vehicle has recovery points on the front because most folks do have a bumper!

Hmmm a few minutes of digging A typical situation in which JATE rings would be F all use! I had to double line the winch because I couldn't get to the hook (which was hooked on to where a JATE ring would have been if I had them fitted). Mind you it isn't that often I bog it up to the spotlights ... honest I had to dig down about 6 inches to find the winch fairlead - and that is with the winch on a high mount above the bumper...

I decided to try the bigger ones first, so have put the 1.5" on. Bluddy excellent! No prop problems, and the other thing I was worried about - topping out the shockers - isn't happening either, I went for a rather-too-fast charge down a very rough track for about 1 mile or so, to get a photo I shall post up later before the subject matter disappeared, and no problems at all - in fact I reckon it is now probably the most comfortable 90 I have ever driven over rough ground - combination of retaining the std (relatively soft) springing, adding gas shocks to keep it under control, plus a lift at both end to stop saying "hello" to the bump stops - and you can charge along at an indecent speed without hitting top or bottom of the travel. Highly chuffed B) Roll on Christmas

The military ones are probably the best I think, the others are just knocked up out of a bit of steel. Is it high tensile or mild steel? If the latter (most likely) ... how strong is that going to be? I have got a couple but I've never fitted them. Always been a bit wary of anything that is held on by 1 x M10 bolt... but the main reason is that when you're buried to the bumper in peat you can't see them anyway! The stuff about using them for lifting sounds impressive - a bit like the Discovery advert where the vehicle was hung from its tow hitch - but in reality its only a 500kg load on each ring (~2 tons spread over 4 rings) and even taking into account perhaps a 5x safety factor, they could go ping at as little as 2.5 tons and still meet the safety specs, which is not really what you want for recovery. I suspect the actual breaking strain would be somewhat higher than that (as Red90 indicated), but never having used them I haven't broken one either! Likewise with the tow hitch advert - if the hitch had broken at a load of only 2 tons it shouldn't have been on the vehicle!!! I have come to the view that JATE rings are an inexpensive and easy way to fit a reasonable recovery point where none exists, but no match for a properly made one.

Thanks Si I didn't really ask the question I was trying to ask (it was stupid o'clock when I did the original post!) What I meant to say was "at what height do prop vibrations start to become noticeable" - general feeling is 2" or so on the front, but what about the back... I think the rear prop is a bit longer so possibly slightly less sensitive to height changes than the front?? I have some measuring to do today of suspension deflection between the "empty state" and the "fully armed and ready to scramble state" which will affect the decision - I'm getting ready for my annual Christmas excursion to the land beyond the seas where be dragons and I don't really want to find I have an irritating wobble when I'm away from home and only have limited facilities to change anything around Interesting idea with the washers - what do you call a "tractor washer"? - presumably a washer off a tractor! - but what would it's original function have been? You must get some ferocious prop vibrations when you crank your air suspension up to +15"?!