[Safari Snorkel]

Cheapest I have found so far Famous Four at £124.50

IMHO they are the best looking snorkel for a 90 but are very vulnerable in tight greenlanes where trees tend to get in the way and cause damage. In a land without trees however... I would have one tomorrow!

That would be me then be a bit after tomorrow by the time it arrives though, about December is more likely

I would have said the Safari was a lot bigger than 2.5" bore but I'll have to go and measure one, if the plastic is thick the internal bore might only be about that, not sure how thick they are.

[Swivels Oil or Grease?]

Have many people modified the Td5 wheel bearing arrangement to do away with the preload shim and replace it with the same system of nuts/locknuts as LR used for 50 years before? I know Chelsea Tractor did - after several failiours.

One of mine is! rear right wheel, the others have still got shims

I have an ongoing problem with squeaky brakes on one rear wheel. I still think it is something to do with the wheel bearings as it sometimes appears when cornering indicating a small amount of play in the bearing. As part of the "fiddling process" (before I gave up) this wheel was converted back to double nuts/lockwashers as found on older vehicles, as I couldn't be bothered to be @r5ing around with stupid selectable shims, with the old arrangement you know when it's tight because you can feel it! Didn't cure the squeak though but it is an easy mod to make, just pull the shim out and throw it and the stake nut away, then fit the washers and nuts as used on older vehicles, stub axle thread is the same.

[Swivels Oil or Grease?]

So far I have not seen a black ball with corrosion problems, whereas the problem with the chrome balls is that the plating goes after a few years, giving a rough surface which tears up the seal and causes major leaks - put a new seal in and it can be leaking in about a week (guess how I know that... "economy" repair a couple of years ago on the old 90 which then had to be done again )

In routine servicing, people here generally reckon that the grease in swivels is what is responsible for contamination of the front axle oil, on greased vehicles the front diff oil very often comes out looking really gungy and it is almost certainly migration of the grease into the oil. Put EP 90 in both and it isn't a problem of course

[Safari Snorkel]

Ah I see!

I'll put my tow rope in the back then

[Safari Snorkel]

Wot the f are you lot on about, running over tow ropes tied to snorkels? there is obviously a story behind this that I haven't heard!!! What is the attachment to the wing then? the bracket that goes onto the windscreen frame is a lot stronger than the other ones I have seen.

Tony I don't really like the appearance of the Southdown one, it was a monstrous price last time I looked and it also means chopping a hole in the top of the wing which I don't want to do either - and I'm not 100% convinced it will fit with the Brownchurch roofrack struts anyway? There are no trees to run in to here so the fact that the Safari sticks out a bit more is not a problem

Just out of interest what is the diameter of the drainpipe on the Southdown? just wondering if there is anything in it as far as restriction on the air intake goes as with intercooler/pump tweaks planned for the future I want lots of air

So there are no good deals on offer then? Kind of hoped somebody was going to say "oh yes they are £50 cheaper than anywhere else at XXX"

I might be able to get one from Bearmach at a good price as we do a lot of business with them through work (good prices on everything else, got a T-max hand winch on order at a lot less than the retail price...), will try that, any other supplier suggestions gratefully received... have also sent an email to Safari to see if they want a distributor here

[Swivels Oil or Grease?]

AFAIK the genuine swivels are now only the black coated ones, no silver chromed ones available any more (s/s part number I think) so they must do for all...

[Safari Snorkel]

I was looking at a Safari snorkel today, trying to seal the Rebel one I have was on the "to do" list but I think I might bin it and get a Safari one, the arrangement inside the wing is much, much better and does away with the stupid bits of joined together plastic that LR fit (and which the Mantec/Rebel snorkels still use) also it won't go rusty like the steel ones tend to do if you get a few stone chips in them.

I hadn't done it before as I didn't think the Safari would fit with the roof rack stays (which go down to the windscreen frame "hinges") but having looked at the one at work today, in fact it sits outside that, so should fit just fine

So, any good prices on offer and where from? Is there a "UK dealer" - couldn't find anything on the Safari Oz website.

Ta

[1 ftlb, how?]

Les

You use 90lbft and then half a grunt for the extra 1

[OT: minibus P A system]

Completely non LR related....

The company I work for has just bought some new Transit minibuses to do guided tourist excursions in ... but there is no way for the driver to talk to the passengers (except turning up his voicebox to volume 11!)

What we are after is an in-car (or in-bus) PA system with a hand mic and a headset mic, that will allow the driver or guide to give a running commentary to the passengers without having to yell. However I haven't a frggn clue who makes this sort of stuff?

The obvious solution would be a plug in head unit to replace the std radiocassette with one that has a microphone facility, and broadcast the free flowing bullsh*t commentary through the standard fit radio speakers, does anybody know of such things existing/who makes them/contact details etc? Preferably a supplier located in the UK.

Any info would be appreciated as I guess I will end up having to find something and a Google search just turned up lots of people wanting to rent a bus with a PA system fitted

Thanks

[Swivels Oil or Grease?]

I have never liked grease but that is because I have emptied watery oil out of swivels in the past and 1) you can't easily change grease 2) I figure by the time grease is leaking out, lots of water might have leaked in a dodgy seal

Very odd symptoms that you have there!

I would put oil in my swivels but no drain bung and I can't be bothered with all the faffing around to pull it to bits and drill/tap drain holes

[OK WHO STOLE MY POSTS?]

Humph!

I didn't get any cookies....

[do the doors fit?]

some minor adjustments will be required to get them to fit properly.

Translation: hit it repeatedly with a 'kin big hammer

[Arghhhh spogs driving me mad]

Last year,I gave them sprouts wrapped up in old sweet wrappers - Trick & Treat in one neat package!

Nice one, I will have to remember that too Doggy doo would be another viable option

02GF74, my response to "Trick or treat" would be similar but along the lines of "No, the options available are 'F**k off or get a thick ear'!!"

[OT IT Win XP on a P3]

Just out of interest, how do you manage to install all the security updates to XP after a fresh install, with your 'net connection?

I don't is the simple answer. They seem to cause more damage than they fix - I spent ages downloading some a year or so back and when installed they F'ed the whole system up such that I had to reinstall absolutely everything from scratch so now I just take the risk that a passing hacker might spot my ickle dialup connection peering out of the far south on the odd occasions its online! I think the downloads are 80MB or something stupid last time I looked so it would cost a bluddy fortune anyway!

I think the LAN at work is supposed to be protected via the router etc - not my problem anyway

The two computers on the parts database LAN have no net connection at all, as a deliberate policy I decided to keep them "clean" because if it ain't connected to anything then nothing can get in!!

Les, thanks for the offer, but I could probably get hold of it somewhere here if I decided I needed to do an upgrade - or when we get broadband I might do it then (end of the year)

[OT IT Win XP on a P3]

Yes it is networked - its on a network with 1 other machine (running w98) for the stock database. The database is held on this machine and they can both access that with no delay, it's printing and Word that causes bother.

Oh well I guess maybe try reinstalling the whole lot and see what happens - more bluddy work

Thanks for the info

[Arghhhh spogs driving me mad]

Had to laugh ... having just sent you the email I sent earlier (hadn't read this)

I haven't had any "audible" ones tonight but that could be because I unplugged the doorbell I was in a bad mood all evening after what happened a couple of years ago (little barstewards switched the gas to my gas barbecue on and could have blown my 'kin house to smithereens had I not wisely twiddled the isolator on the gas bottle when I finished burning some meat the night before) but as it turned out it has been a quiet evening last year the little swines were running round the house banging on all the windows because I ignored them banging on the door.

I think for next year I am going to design a flamethrower just in case they come back B)

PS I think it was probably the "goth prozzie" bit that might have upset yours - I'll have to remember that insult for next year

[OT IT Win XP on a P3]

Hmmmm

Now you mention it we have printing problems as well, we have an old Deskjet 690C in the office downstairs which I rescued from a skip as "completely beyond repair" about 3 years ago, bodged by me and still going strong but it doesn't work now, prints top half of page on one sheet of paper then the bottom half on the second sheet of paper. Printer works fine with another PC also running XP though, so not a printer hardware problem. Could it be related?

That was my thinking - a P3 700 may not be bang up to date but it shouldn't be completely rubbish and I would expect it to run Office with no probs - having said that the Access database we run here for stock control seems to work OK on the same machine though, which is odd, its Word that is really painful.

I didn't do the upgrade it was our IT person so not sure if "clean" or "upgraded"... just "knackered"!

Thanks

[Hotspots]

Les if you leave them sticking out the pistons will knock them in the rest of the way

[OT IT Win XP on a P3]

We have a Pentium 3 700 MHZ at work, which has just had Windows XP put on it. It is bluddy painful! slower than a 2.25 diesel 109" with a 3 ton trailer on the back

Thinking it was memory (it only had 128MB) it was upgraded to 512MB but not much different. Is XP too much for a P3/700? - I would have thought it would run OK but it is awful... the same computer used to run Win 98 with no problems at all and just with 128MB in. Just basic stuff like opening a Word doc takes about a week

Thanks

Stephen

[Out and about on Exmoor]

Tony

Be careful with Td4s and water splashes like that, on mine and some others I know there is a breather from the turbo wastegate modulator which goes down the back of the engine and into a small inline air filter canister then vents to atmosphere from the filter. A good splash seems to get water in there v easily and I have seen a couple which have and they didn't like it much

A solution is to extend the breather pipe to somewhere more sensible, a bit of windscreen washer tubing will push on to the "open" side of the inline filter and can be routed somewhere more sensible - assuming they haven't changed the design on later vehicles. IIRC I routed mine somewhere up round the ABS modulator

However it sounds like taking the Freelander off road may present other more immediate hazards

[Ashcroft uprated CV's]

How much are these then? I just looked on Ashcrofts website but can't see them on there

[Blue Mountain]

I saw the whole Pucara at the Imp War Museum (I think?) a couple of years ago. However I can vouch for the fact that if you fly one into a stone run at 300kts is quite a good way to disassemble one v quickly - the tail fin in my picture is the biggest recognisable bit left apart from the engines which were about 400m up the hill from where it hit, most of the bits were unrecognisable and you wouldn't have any idea what sort of aircraft it was if you didn't know!

Neil, minefields are still all here but as a % of the land area almost nothing - about 0.1% or something I think. Just unfortunate that they are nearly all close to town so they spoil the amenity value of some of the nicest sand beaches etc and as they didn't keep any records of where/how many mines were sown, the demining process would be hideously expensive and involve destroying the entire landscape so they are just "there" - fenced off and out of bounds:

All these beach areas pictured below are mined and therefore completely out of bounds

Better weather when these pics were taken though

[Firestone air helper springs]

Having got the front suspension out of the way, after yesterday I now see I need to do something about the back...

Running std 90 springs with Discovery isolators fitted on the top only, unladen the ride height is about right but once I put a 33x12.50R15 spare on the back door, another spare and a Kittygripper and a pair of alloy bridges on the (heavy) roof rack, the false floor in the back to hold the other ground anchor securely, the tube and pins for the other ground anchor, the sledgehammer, spade, a large heavy toolbox full of shackles, extension line, snatch block, chain etc, and then tools and anything else I might want to carry for a day away (before even starting on passengers) it is starting to look like a saggy-ar**d old Range Rover not to mention the fact it drives like one too, on rough ground, too easy to bottom out and the 33x12.50R15s have a noisy (if non damaging) conversation with the wheelarch eyebrows....

So, what to do? The following options have been thought about

1) Stiffer rear springs - don't really want to do that as it will be rough riding when unladen and the ride now is really quite good for a 90, I don't want to spoil it

2) Longer rear springs, or spring lifters - don't really want to do that as it will be even more roly-poly on the corners (lots of weight on the roof) and also I don't have much room to play with before it won't go in the garage with 33" tyres on!

3) so what about those Firestone (and possibly other makes?) air helper springs that Simmonites etc sell?

I have vaguely thought about them in the past but never bothered, but it seems like they might offer a good compromise, but I've never seen a set. How do they work - some sort of tyre valve on them? can it be plumbed in to a compressor or at least an inflation point inside the cab? what do they fix on to or do they just sit inside the springs? where is the best price for them? and finally any good/bad points about them, what are they like for puncture resistance for instance? (thinking high speed gravel road use, lots of sharp chippings flying around...)

Any views welcome, especially good/bad 1st hand experiences please. Also if somebody has a photo of them fitted that would be good too

The important thing is that I want to retain the existing suspension firmness/height for everyday unladen use and with the 265s as the heavily laden/big wheels combination is relatively rare and so these seem like a possible solution.

Thanks

Stephen

[Blue Mountain]

Tree huggers are an extinct species here

Yes, pretty typical landscapes, though it looks better when sunny!

More pictures from Christmas 2004 and more mountain climbing from on the green forum a while ago.

[Blue Mountain]

Went on a bit of an expedition today to locate another relic of 1982, a crashed aircraft on Blue Mountain which none of us had been to before.

Firstly, proof that Land Rovers really can walk on water:

"Traction issues" - failed hillclimb...

"more traction issues"

"Even more traction issues". By the end of the day we had all decided that Gus's 'Mudstar' tyres were utterly, utterly sh*te!

Going over the top of Blue Mountain heading west towards the crash site (lots of stone runs which are not at all LR friendly means you have to take some rather tortuous routes to get where you want to in this sort of terrain)

Heading back down the other side looking for the crash site

After a bit of hunting around (correction: I and the other sensible people had a beer and lunch while some of the rest clambered around hunting ) we found the site: part of the Argentine Pucara aircraft lies where it fell. Although they knew it had gone down, the wreckage wasn't discovered until four years after the war - weathered aluminium blends in rather too well with the quartzite boulders so you can hardly see it until you are right on top of it.

The only way we like to see that particular flag round these parts

Looking back up the valley, quite a nice view when the sun came out for a bit (as usual we managed to choose a bluddy awful day for taking photos, grey overcast and orrible )

Homeward bound: a view looking the other way

Then we found the gold men on the move with their drilling rig: this is the sort of machine you need down here B) very cool bit of kit, will cross just about anything with those tracks! A good machine for the Rainforest Challenge I reckon

Down through a stream on the way back

A good day out, shame it wasn't better for photos as there are some wonderful views up around the stone runs but enjoyable anyway

One of these days we'll get up there when it's actually sunny....