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ThreeSheds

Long Term Forum Financial Supporter
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Everything posted by ThreeSheds

  1. Lots of great advice here - thanks everyone! Looks like anything except expensive light bars are out. Also I'm not too keen on the looks of them. I think that I have come down on the side of halogen spots (I definitely need the range where I am, over the last three days I have driven over 500 miles with very few streetlights (except in the outskirts of Kinlochlewe - which was really weird!) and little in the way of cats-eyes or even white lines... I find that the normal high beams (HID in my case) are only good for about 40-50mph, if you don't know the road. I need something that will throw light out to well over 100 metres if poss. I have been looking at KC Hilites but they are a bit spendy, likewise Lightforce @BogMonster Maybe I am just being a cheapskate but I really don't want to spend more that £150 for a pair of lights. Thanks for the contributions everyone, the search continues
  2. OK so here is a problem that is WAY beyond me... I want to be able to open/close the windows when the ignition is off. Several times recently I have tried to open a window when sitting in the car with the ignition off in order to for example, take a photo, and by the time I realise that it won't open without the ignition on, I have missed the opportunity. I am thinking that the door opening circuits are energised when the car is unlocked or single-locked and was wondering if I could somehow take a feed from there to power the windows? I looked at the circuit diagrams and there are various black-boxes involved, and that frightens me... So has anybody done it? If so then how, please? p.s. Most recently I missed an opportunity to talk to a nice YL because the window wouldn't open at just the right moment, so you can see how annoying it can be!
  3. Thanks to those who recommended mixra - I have never heard of it... On order now
  4. Brief update on the windscreen/special brew farce... Even after excessive cleaning effort, the greasiness just returned, so I thought that it must be impregnated in the wipers themselves. I got a couple of nice Bosch ones from my local shop and cleaned the screen again before fitting them - now all is loverly! Notes: if it wasn't for the internet, I never would have worked out how to unclip the original ones. Also on the internet "you should replace wipe blades every six months" 😮 I usually replace mine when they tear... I would be interested to hear other's views on this.
  5. Cuppa and a comfy chair - I'll be following avidly!
  6. And another one: Lug nuts! Years ago, somebody at Land Rover came up with the idea of blinging up cooking steel wheel nuts with a stainless cover - presumably to make them look like wheel bolts as are generally used on normal cars. On the D2 I had the usual problem that the nut inside the cover rusts, rust is bigger than the original steel, so the stainless cover suffers from bloat and the wheel brace or socket won't go on. On the D2 I tried removing the cover, but that leaves a rusty barstard-sized nut (it makes me laugh that I have to do that to get through the obscenity filter... If a nut is not a normal size then is is person I'm not that keen on sized... ), so in the end I bought some solid blind lugnuts. Roll forward 15 or so model-years and the same problem exists on the D4! Blimey you would think that someone would have thought about improving it by now! Anyway, on MY D4 there are 4 blown caps already, but luckily, I can just get the socket far enough over to carefully work them... For the moment! So I bought some nice chromed steel blind lugnuts. Looking forward to fitting them when my copper grease arrives (don't worry, I won't hydraulic them with grease )
  7. Next... Mirrors & Special Brew! I noticed that my side mirrors were a bit slow folding, and sometimes didn't make it all the way... So I toddled off to the hinternet and found that there are a couple of plastic covers that go over the hinge mechanism, which appears to be made from cast monkey-metal, and corrodes badly (I thought that we had seen the last of monkey-metal, but obviously not) Anyway - I tried to remove the covers as shown in the vid, but gave up thinking that the force I was using was perhaps unreasonable and that I obviously don't have the knack on this one... So I liberally sprayed into the area with what I call my 'Special Brew' which is a mix of Duck Oil and ACF50 and worked it back and forth a few times, and declared 'the jobs a goodun' Zoom forward to my rainy commute next day when I realised that the overspray had got onto the windscreen <grrrrr> What a mess! Once many (many) years ago I was overtaking a car on the motorway when my screen went all greasy. As I drove past I realised that a rear seat passenger was spraying some kind of aerosol out of the window... It took DAYS for the screen to get back to normal. I will be more careful next time! It took almost an hour of hard rubbing with microfibre cloths and hot detergent solution to get it acceptably grease free again...
  8. Well the LED 'main beams' are a success! I haven't managed to completely remove the gap ( or take any photos - sorry! ), but I was driving last night and suddenly realised that I hadn't noticed the gaps at all! Now the only problem is that the standard main beam is only just sufficient for my usual 50-60mph - so I really would like some auxiliary lights... I'm thinking that round spots look better than mahoosive light bars on the D4, and if they weren't so expensive I would be thinking of some traditional KC Daylighters...Hmmm I wonder if I could swing that one as a Christmas pressy from me to me Rog
  9. Driving lights are moving on SO fast, and there are SO many on the market that I am rather confused as to what to get, so if anyone has had recent experience of buying/fitting long range driving lights, and like what they fitted... I wonder if you would share please? I had a search around the forum but only found posts that were a couple of years old. I am completely undecided between light bars and round types, but I am supposing that LED is the way to go... Unless you know better? I don't think I would be fitting a HUGE light bar, but no doubt others reading this thread would be interested, so please - whatever you have - let us know what you think... Cheers Roger p.s. I am interested in both road-legal and 'off-road' solutions...
  10. There was some on the hills near by, and they closed the snow-gates on a couple of roads, but I think that was just a kneejerk reaction... The main problem was ice apparently. There was no snow at all where I live The reason I was thinking about chains is that I am in the process of joining the local 4x4 Response group and chains were mentioned in the training as being a useful thing to have, among a load of other stuff
  11. I've been thinking and messing with the 'main beam' on the D4 recently... The reason I put 'main beam' in parenthesis is that what I have been messing with is actually more of an infill light. My D4 has projector HID lamps which are used for dipped beam with a shutter arrangement. When I select high beam, the shutter moves and the HID projector forms the major part of the main beam illumination. It also has H7 halogen lamps with conventional sculptured reflectors that come on as, and look like 'main beam'... However, with the HID illuminating the road ahead, it appears that the halogens are designed to illuminate the trees to either side of the road. Not only that, but they leave a distinct gap between where they shine and the HID mains. This effect is very annoying to say the least when, as I do, you spend a significant amount of the time running high beam. So I thought of ways of fixing it. The AULRO link above seems to indicate that moving the bulb is not effective, so I thought I would try LED technology.. Now, as you may or may not know, LED H7 style bulbs can be expensive and often receive a bad press since their light output is nowhere near as focused as a conventional bulb. In this case, however I felt that a less focused light source might actually help to fill in the gaps I mentions. I found some H7 style LEDs on ebay for £11.98 the pair that had no fans and were small enough to fit, so I ordered them. They had mixed reviews, but at that price I thought I would take a chance. Oh and they also are rated at 55w each and so shouldn't upset the canbus... So a week later they arrived and they look fine. I fitted them both (six minutes on the D4! I should make a video one day) and and BOOM! ...<nothing> ... Well it turns out that they are polarity sensitive and I had got both of them wrong! What are the chances of that eh? (yes I know - one in four ). Swapped them and they output a nice - rather blueish - light, with definitely less of a tree-shining-gap-producing effect. Happy me... But the gap is still there, just reduced... Hang on - it's less on the left than the right. I had forgotten that it is common for these LED H7s to be able to rotate in their housing, and looking at them, one side was at a different angle to the other. So last night I whipped them out and turned both bulbs through about 10 degress and went for a short drive... Things are a lot better with much reduced gaps and less tree-blinding. And that is where I am now. I will try rotating them a bit more tonight to see if I can get it even better, and then perhaps get some photos of the pattern with them and with the old halogens. But for the moment I just wanted to post this preamble before work today (in six minutes)... I have to pay for all this fun somehow! Rog
  12. I did think of socks, but I don't think that they would be suitable for the muddy/rocky surface under the snow that I drive on on a daily basis on my track. While they would be good for getting along the road to the track, I would have to take them off just at the uphill entrance where I would need them most. In previous years,using the old RRC, I have managed with aggressive tyres and a bit of momentum, but I don't really fancy that approach in the D4 - it's too shiny! (Last time I drove the RRC up the track in 12" snow I nearly took out the viewpoint bench! )
  13. Snow forecast for Scotland (where I live) this weekend, and I have what is arguably the best car for dealing with that - amazing traction control through terrain response, and BFG KO2 all terrain tyres which are also rated as winter tyres... However - I have a question... Has anyone on here fitted chains to to the D3 or D4? There doesn't look to be much clearance at the front, but it looks to me like the back would be ok... I am wondering whether to buy a set...
  14. Liking the one on the right - where from please?
  15. They are rather gorgeous!
  16. Compomotive PD1881. They have a touch more offset than standard which really makes a difference to how it looks from the front... Wheels were bought direct from compomotive and tyres from 4x4Tyres - both most excellent companies in my opinion...
  17. Sorry - I meant 265/65R18 BFG KO2
  18. When it gets light...
  19. And for the first post... When I got the D4 it had 265/50R20's that are imitations of the normal Scorpions of a few years ago, but I have never liked 'rubber band' tyres for multiple reasons.. So at the earliest opportunity I changed them for 265/65R18 BFG AO2's, and have noticed the following changes... There appears to be plenty of under-arch clearance so I suspect I could have gone bigger if I wanted. (I think they are about 1.5" bigger on diameter than the original tyres) The speedo still over-reads (by comparison with a particular roadside speed sign), but less so than before. The average indicated fuel consumption for the same journey before and after the tyre/wheel swap, had dropped from 34mpg to 32mpg (I am a steady driver generally). But remember that the figure I am quoting will also be affected by the change in rolling radius, so I am very pleased with this.. The car feels quite a bit softer and less twitchy - which I like since it is a big heavy four by four and I don't particularly want it to change lanes like a sports car.. (one man's twitchy is another man's responsiveness though!) Perhaps strangely it also feels more grippy, like it's digging in to the road more. I haven't done and actual testing (like stopping distances) though. Considering that 90% of my day to day driving is on narrow country lanes with poor surfaces, this feeling becomes more important than for people who spend a lot of time on motorways I would imagine. It may well be that the original tyres would be better on smooth, clean tarmac, but I seldom see that... Locally there is a grass (aka 'green ice' ) slope which was a bitch to get up a couple of weeks ago, and I can't get stuck on it now, even if I try. (I have the land owner's permission) There is a slight howl from the tyres (which in my previous experience will get worse as the tyre wears) but with the excellent sound proofing on the D4 it is not a problem at all. Lastly (and this is the one that surprised me most) Prior to the change, I thought that the alignment needed doing since it had a very slight tendency to pull to the left. Now, since the change, this no longer occurs! I can only assume that with the skinny tyres on it was running down the camber.?.?. SO: All in all I am a very happy bunny. Oh and the new tyres and Compomotive alloys look great too
  20. I occasionally have thoughts about the D4 and think 'I should post that...' but it always seems that when I get to the computer, it's too trivial to warrant a new thread. So I thought I would start a thread for all those trivial things and here it is...
  21. It certainly IS amazing - and I do have a perma-grin every time I drive it I also find it difficult not to tell everyone how good it is all the time... The photo was taken on the north-west coast of Scotland a couple of weeks ago. We went stealth camping in the car (it's over six foot in the back so ample for me and partner who are not that tall )..
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