Daan

Good to see youre now building less heavy.. One advice, before you go any further: can you fit the spare wheel in between the back stays? I know several people that can't, which may ruin your day just a bit. Daan

I you run the lower arms to the centre of the axle, bolted to the diff flange, and remove the panhard, you get better articulation. Just an idea. Daan

I have done this in the past, arranged tax over internet and immediately used my car. If you carry the email confirmation that tax is paid, it would take a very inhumane police officer to give you a ticket for that.

1990: 1998: 2008: Daan

Yes, the issue of weightsaving is that it has to be done on the entire car, as mentioned by Adrian. So, in my case, 3 kg is not a lot but you have to do this kind of effort everywhere, and than it has a result. Iirc, the QT arms were about 4kg saving each, so 8 kg total. Worth having if they were reliable which they are not unfortunately. Q for Dave White, do you know the weightsaving on the Britpart arms? With regards to the strength, I am pretty sure braking is the big one here; think about 70% of braking force at the front axle, with some 35" tyres trying to lock up on a tarmac road, and its pretty lethal. Daan

I think it is ok this way, The idea is not new, and I went for it, having seen several rangerovers and defenders competing in the dakar rally using it and finishing. There is a logic to the diameter of the holes, in that the cross sectional area stays the same throughout the length of the arm. And as you say the centre does have very little effect on bending stress. They have seen some serious abuse for over 5 years. I havent done any stress analysis, maybe filthyboy can tell us more.... Daan

That, and it is not the first time I see a picture of this failure on this forum. As long as these arms fail, people should know about it, because it is dangerous.

Poor man's bling: The first time I saw the QT ones, I ran. In my humble opinion, you cant do it in the way it is done. Its too flimsy and the bottom bead is split up in pieces which are welded in places. The picture shows that it broke, yes, exactly on the weld. You can cause a lot of havoc if the other arm breaks also, which is now increasingly likely, by a factor of 2 almost. I made my lightweight arms from oldspec rangy arms. These are 0.5 KG lighter to begin with, and after smoking a load of holes you take out another 1 kg, making the weightsaving 1.5kg per arm. I also polished the outside of the arms with a flapwheel to reduce the tendency to crack. Then had it zinc plated for added bling I personally dont bother with castor correction, although the lift is only 1-1.5 inch on my car. Daan

Yes, that was me. Now all fixed up and in pristine condition This years outings, the Tay in Scotland: And the ultimate last easter: And on that note, Happy christmas. Daan

Good to see there are honest people in the world

No, they have a 20 million yearly budget and they do gravel roads at 100mph+. The mechanics are in serviceparks which they have to reach first. So, therefore the interests are much larger, therefore pressure to be competitive is much harder, but the potential to get it horribly wrong i would say 10 x higher. Still, they manage. Its a different horse race, yes, the drivers are in a much harder situation than we are. Yes, my vehicle was road legal when I drove home it from the docks. Lara, stop going round the houses over issues that have been done to death in the past. Daan

I totally disagree with that. In WRC, they drive hundreds of miles in between stages with very heavy modified cars, and you retire if you dont get it to service under its own steam. That is how it should be done IMO. Its more that people cant be bothered with SVA than that people actually have good reasons for not wanting to drive on the road. Hell, the RFC requires 250 miles on the road, 10 days or a 750 miles hardcore offroad, then 100 miles back to the finish. And breaking down in the jungle means hitching a lift and hopefully go back later with spares to fix it. By contrast, many events in the UK, you see people retire after 1 day of competition and put it back on the trailer. Its a different attitude and you can either demand from the organizers to give in to this or you can force the competitors to act to whatever the rules say. Daan

Yes, the 300 arms have different bushes. You can fit earlyer radius arms with a washer either side of the axle end bush, this is what I did. daan

My wife bought a heated seat cover at halfords for £12 I think it was, it plugs in the cigaret heater. One word of advice though if you buy this: Dont mention it here

another option is to convert the rr diff to 24 spline and fit 90 v8 shafts. That might be a good budget solution, although I am not sure what the arb gears cost to do this. Daan

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=727104 Read this, on page 4, someone else is having a go.

The story of banning to sell carparts to normal people keeps popping up; If that is going to be the new rule, a lot of people will be out of a job very quickly. Think about Halfords closing the doors. The government will not be keen to that at all. I think that that is the reason why the IVA (or SVA) didnt work out as difficult as was originally proposed. If it did, a lot of kit car companies and professional body manufacturers could have closed the doors overnight. I think it is one of them cases were they propose something very unworkable, and after lots of arguing, something more workable is decided. Politics for you. Daan

My set up: The Rad is standard TDI, as is the intercooler, with the bottom tank custom. This pic shows the solution for the intercooler and steeringbox fighting for space, but agreed in the end.

My centre bearing: It consists of 2 plates in which the bearing is sandwiched, so it can swivel. Its a standard SKF (if I remember well)bit, and works well. Daan

You may well have a leaky wheelbearing, causing greasy shoes. I have had both symptons happening as a result.

I have 2 bits of 1 inch box section with 2 holes at the right width of the fixing holes of the roof. They clamp to the roofrails of my pug 406 estate with 2 50 mm exhaust clamps each. I also connect two straps from the roof to the car, just to be safe. The sides fit in the back, so Whenever I bash a roof to **** (it happens!), I am prepared. Daan

I cant see any reason not to, providing you do a decent job.

Interesting links from CIP, it shows diesel is more expensive before its taxed, and equal dutys come on top. In Holland, the diesel is cheaper (mainly because of the truckers), However, if you drive a car for personal use, you pay double the roadtax compared to petrol, the same for LPG. So The government is having you over either way. Something else the UK is having to contend with is the fact we are stuck on an island; You cant nip over to your neighbours to fill up cheaper. In Holland the petrol in border areas is cheaper for that reason, sponsored by the government, how bent is that? Daan

Hallo Declan, What is the steering arm off? I have looked at doing something like this, but in the end just used the defender setup. Let us know how you get on. Daan

I post a piccy later. Daan