[dam after market spares]

I always use Dunsfold where possible, they only sell Genuine (when they can get it).

Or even my local Landy dealer, although best to know the part no yourself before you pick up the phone.

Right on about cheap parts - penny wise pound foolish as Gran usetersay.

[Drilling brake drums for quick dryouts.]

According to a chap at X-Eng, best place to drill is the angled front of the drum, near the braking surface. Four or six holes 1/4". Lets the water centrifuge out without weakening the drum.

Entirely with you on discs - waste of space. My drums gave 92% efficiency on the rollers at the last MOT. And no servo.

[Who makes the best parabolic springs]

Then there is the question of what dampers to use...

Ian

There is quite a long recent post by Woodey here :

http://www.lro.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3670 (sorry chaps, is that the forum that dare not speak it's name?)

on para problems, worth reading, there's also some info there on dampers.

I had ES3000s on mine, and ride was so hard it was like having no springs at all. Now I am running NOS standard dampers from Dunsfold, big improvement.

But if you go off-roading, standard probably wouldn't have enough travel, and they can overheat even in normal use, I believe, due to the increased axle travel. Having said that mine have done 8000 miles and are fine.

My paras are 8 yrs old now, came from Chris Perfect but no idea of what's good now.

[Leaf spring overhaul...]

Or perhaps wrap them in Denso tape - gunky horrible stuff that it is.

Les.

That's a thought!! Would certainly keep most of the carp out, but it would make them very stiff. I wonder if the upper leaf might fracture?

Old-time car racers used to stiffen their springs by wrapping them with whipping cord, or perhaps whipping them with wrapping cord.....

[S3 brakes arrrgh]

Morning all,

this is not my truck but a friends (as if i dont have enough to do to my own) its a 1977 series 3 88in. Its that time of year where it needs an MOT every thing is done part from i cant get a good brake peddle

If i put my foot on the brakes, the peddle will travel to the floor and there is some braking force but not enough.... on one pump i get a very good peddle and all the wheels will lock up

parts replaced are:-

new master cylinder,

new all round drum cylinders,

new shoes (and springs etc..),

new drums,

new flexible pipes (in case they were ballooning),

new copper pipes.

So the whole lot

is a non servo single pipe system ... so should be the simplest thing to sort

I have bled 10 liters of fluid through it, so there is no air in the system or old fluid, the shoes springs are on the correct way, and each drum has been adjusted in turn.

If i camp off the fronts i get an ok (ish) peddle

I have tried every thing from my post [LINK] back in Jan (been hoping the problem would go away )

So any ideas on this problem would be great as its starting to do my NUT in

thanks

Paul

I'm feeling very lucky that I never had any problem bleeding my brakes (front 11" twin, rear 10" single). I agree that if you've got a hard pedal after one pump, there's probably not an air problem. Too much travel due to adjusters, wrong shoe position, brakes not centralised? Are you doing them up solid and then backing off? In fact, adjust them up solid and then check the pedal - if it's hard, definitely not air. Are there high points on the shoes - french chalk to check. Rather you than me.

[auto box]

Well spotted, I've changed it now.

And another word to the wise, it's not as simple as 1 lb F ft = 12 lb F in either. Don't ask me how I learned that

I bought a good lb/in torque wrench, they're not that easy to find, cost me about £80, glurk, and adjusting brake bands not very often is all I intend to use it for, but I figured buying a cheapo was pointless given this is a crucial job, however there may be good ones available for less??

[auto box]

78? So it's probably a Schuler conversion? With Chrysler Torqflite 727 speed autobox and Ferguson Formula transfer box?

They tend to change out of 1st fairly rpaidly, and with a bit of a clunk too. The 727 is pretty robust, but it is sensitive to incorrect adjustment of brake bands and kick down linkage.

Give it a fuild and filter change, set the brake bands and the kick down linkage up correctly, and see what it's like. The Haynes book of half truths covers all this fairly well. One word to the wise, the torque figuires given for the brake bands are in lb F in, not the usual lb F ft. So make sure you have either a lb F in torque wrench or the correct conversion factors handy. The brake band adjuster is 1/4" square.

The brake band adjusters are usually pretty rusty - doesn't this affect the torque readings?

And then you say 'fluid change' do you mean the pathetic proportion that comes out when you undo the drain plug, or getting the whole lot out by flushing it?

[Leaf spring overhaul...]

No & Yes. Leaf springs are designed not to be lubricated. The internal friction of the spring acts as a form of damping, and reduces the work the shocks have to do. Also, road dust mixes with the lubricant into a sort of grinding paste and knackers the leaves. And the increased travel of the lubricated spring results in high wear at the end of each leaf where it bears on the leaf above, as lubricant is rapidly lost at this point, so the leaf gets thin and eventually breaks. And of course knackers the shocks.

However, having said all that, if ride quality is important to you, and you don't mind replacing the springs and shocks more frequently then Yes, lubricate them with something like a moly grease. You'd need to clean them out say, annually, and regrease, due to the dust/grinding paste thing.

On a trailer, which I assume won't be dragged thru muddy holes, you could do like they did on Rollers n'such, and put gaiters round the springs to keep the dust out, altho this is getting a bit twee for a Landy, in fact if you're a real perfectionist you could even put oil nipples in the gaiters....