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Ah, I was hoping it would be an easy job I know what you mean - just wasn't sure whether you would use the bolts with the tank guard or the ones with the bumper. I assume fitting the tank guard means there's more to hold - so would you need longer bolts or are the ones with the bumper long enough? As you say, the ones with the bumper are meaty, so you wouldn't want to go "down" a size, and if they are different sizes with captive nuts on the bracket, then you're stuck with the bumper bolts anyway. What was putting me off was that the centre bracket on the rear cross member was ever so slightly out when the bumper was offered up to it so it was a *really* tight fit for the last bolt. Having said that, I've literally just ordered a Dixon Bate towing jaw which will fit nicely on the bumper, using the mounting plate as a backplate. So unless I can remember which was the last bolt and fit it by doing one first, then the other three, I'll be back to sqaure one anyway, and probably should have got the tank guard at the same time

Let us know how you get on with it. I've not got a tank guard yet, but is on the long list of things to get. Looking at that guy's website, he already had the guard on before the rear bumper and he says he used the bolts which came with the guard, but I'd be interested to know how you do yours. Cheers.

This might help http://homepage.ntlworld.com/stage1v8/Tech...lRearBumper.htm He also fitted a Southdown tank guard. He mentions captive nuts. "The large bracket gets bolted to the tow bar mounting in the centre of the rear cross member with the long bolts and captive nut plate." I have that bumper too, the faceplate is the same but I can't remember the thin strip bracket and the bolts looking like they do in the photo - sorry - my memory is awful.

I use MM a lot. The whole of GB (1:50k) is just over 3 gig and it's not slow, even running on an ancient brick of a vaio in the Disco. I prefer 1:25k myself, but tend to take out explorer maps with me if I need more detail than what's on the screen. It's very useful for Salisbury Plain as it's easy to lose your bearings there. At the weekend I got a Road Angel 7000 which, I think, is the only satnav which supports MM. I can export sections of the map that I choose (less than 400 meg for each section - limitation of the RA). The RA supports up to 2gig cards so you could get most of the country on there (at 1:50k) if you wanted to. I got the whole of the south east and south west (say everything south of oxford) onto what was left of the 1gig card it came with. There are a few limitations, but for simple navigation and recording of the route (to sync with the PC later for closer inspection and saving), it's a great bit of kit. I've since found out that these limitations are fewer if you use a PDA. 1:25k maps from MM are expensive. They don't advertise it, but the whole of the uk is available for £2.5k. They offer "Selections" which lets you buy 2500, 5000 or 10000 sqkm which you select from a map of the UK. The cheapest I've found the 10000sqkm package (without aerial pics) is just over 200 quid. So still not a cheap option. But if you're ever feeling flush I guess it's a "nice to have" . I actually use it most on the home PC, looking for good routes, planning outings etc. It's very useful for that as you can plan your route - colour the line, then it's easier to follow on the screen when you're in the car. Having said all that, it's really the only software I've used, so I can't compare it to anything else. I'm pretty happy with it though. A few more features on the RA version to give similar control to the PC would be the icing on the cake.

I go out without another vehicle, if that's what you mean by "alone". As far as I can see, the worst thing that can happen is that I have a an hour or two's trek (or catch bus/train/taxi if I'm further out), then I have to convince another mate with a 4x4 to come and help me out. If you're not prepared to leave your motor / pay for train fare / pay for farmer to get you out / risk letting stalled landie get washed down river, then don't do it. But each situation needs to be evaluated on it's own merits. When I started green laning, I wouldn't take any risks at all. I now know I can get myself out of certain situations, so I'm not so worried. However, if after getting out and checking the ground / ford myself, I'm still not sure, I'll just go a different way. Never risk more than you can afford to lose. If I'm out with other vehicles, it's a lot easier to make those decisions if you have a decent back-up plan for recovery. As far as going on my own in a vehicle, I know I'd be ok on most of the lanes I've travelled. Of course the risks are higher - if you rolled it (extreme example) and you got stuck, you'd be screwed until you called someone to come and help - assuming you were conscious. Whereas, another person in the vehicle spreads the risk a bit. At the end of the day, there's no law against going out on your own. They are part of the highway network. As long as you're not being stupid, you take your own risks - just like you do every day on normal roads.

thanks for your inputs guys. I'll check out some different lift kits as you suggest. One I looked at was a britpart kit. OME stuff is a bit expensive, but seems to be rated. Just need to build up the courage to (a) spend the cash and (B) start taking my land rover apart If I don't do it, I'll never learn though. One other thing I've just thought of... with a 2" lift, can I put a bigger set of wheels on without any cutting? I don't really want to cut the body/bumpers/rocksliders. I'm on 235/70s at the moment and I know you can go slightly bigger than that with stock ride height, but would the 2" allow anything bigger, or will the bodywork start causing problems? Thanks for your help.

Saw the other query on suspension and didn't want to hi-jack the thread, so I started my own My disco has a hd front bumber with winch, and rear HD bumper, so it's pulling a bit of extra weight. At the moment, it's on standard springs and shocks and I was thinking of giving it a lift and at the same time, give it some heavy duty springs as the front does look a little low at the moment. I've seen a number of lift kits available. Looking at +2" with shocks, springs, spring clips, dislocation cones, retaining straps and brake line extensions. They are about 350 quid or there abouts. It's something I'd like to do at some point over the next few months. What I'm wondering is, with my limited mechanical knowledge, is this possible to do without removing the whole axle - which I really don't think I'm capable of, nor have enough equipment to cope with. My experience to date has been fitting the bumpers, rocksliders, underbody protection, winch etc. But nothing properly mechanical like this. I was wondering if I was to jack up each corner in turn with the hi-lift and put stands under the chassis, then use a trolley jack to take the weight of the axle on the side I was working on, could I do it a corner at a time? It's almost like causing full articulation at each corner - when the suspension isn't doing all the much, so it shouldn't be too difficult - in my mind Or am I really better off paying someone to do it? Cheers.

Thanks BogMonster - you learn something new about Land Rovers all the time. Hopefully, I won't need to test it out again! I'll take it a bit easier next time

Out on the plain today and went over a bump - actually a bump at the side of the road as I was crossing it on a lane. Probably went a bit to hard at it as the bang was something awful. Anyway, no damage, as far as I can tell. But as soon as I "landed" the hazard lights started and wouldn't switch off. The hazard switch wouldn't make any difference (other than affect the rhythm slightly). I switched off once and they kept flashing without the engine on. Started the car again and they stopped. Everything else working ok, central locking etc. I assume the alarm works (not tested it) and I know the immobiliser works like normal too. Does the Disco have one of those things where if it thinks it's in an accident, it switches the flashers on? Or did it screw up a relay temporarily? Is there anything I need to check? Other than that, great day on the plain! Nice weather.

Hi all, I've searched the forum for roof racks as I'm interested in one too - came across this thread. Not sure about Safety Devices as the racks aren't on their website anymore and I can't find them at all. I'd also heard about Greenlane 4x4 - saw their ad in a magazine, but their website doesn't seem to work. I'd prefer a contoured rack myself - is there one on the market today? Do they all require roof bar removal? Cheers.

I'm near Reading, and I know of the lanes you're talking about around Wiltshire. It's a nice area. There are lots around Marlborough and Devises - best thing to do is get an OS Explorer map and find the lanes on there. Then go out and explore and make sure there aren't any TROs in place and they are still marked as byways. Further towards me there's Bucklebury Common (south of M4, west of Reading) which is nice and I've recently done the Test Way near the Berks/Wilts border which runs up to Coombe Gibbet (South of Kintbury). There's a short guide on my website - I think there's a link on my profile to it. There's also some pics on there about Salisbury Plain which I did for the first time a few weeks ago - great fun. At Coombe Gibbet, there's also a section which leads down to part of the Wayfarers Walk which I've not done yet. If you get the maps, you'll see what I'm talking about There are some very long sections of the Ridgeway which would make a nice day out, although I think parts of them are restricted depending on the time of year. Something like Mar-Sep only? I've not done them yet either! As far as just getting out there goes, some lanes are easy and some aren't so easy. One of the many golden rules is to stop when you think there's a chance you might get stuck beyond all hope! It's not worth it - especially if you can't self-recover and you're out on your own. Low cost accessories like trackmats and a spade though could make the difference between walking home and driving. Have fun though!

I'll keep an eye out - the disco in your profile yes? Mine's a blue V8, with pistonheads logo on the wheel cover. Hope the rain eases off a little.

Nah, I'll be there Saturday though. Although not sure what time yet. I like Pux's idea of a night run. We've done some "night laning" locally which is always more of a challenge - especially when you come to a big ford youy've not been to before and you can't see how deep it is - cue passengers hanging out of the window holding maglites above the water to see If it's as pleasant an experience as I've heard, I'll make it a regular trip. It's only about 45mins to an hour away from me. Can't believe I've left it so long to visit! Thanks for your replies guys. Looking forward to it.

I assume there are signs to tell you this though? I don't want to wander into no-man's land

Thanks. I'll stick to the BOATs then. Going alone, so don't want to risk too much mud and get stuck! I've heard there are some great views of the countryside so hope to get some good pictures. I can see on the maps that there are some reasonably long BOATs around the outside of the Plain itself which I might explore too. I'm testing out my memory-map software and gps this weekend for the first time, so I should be able to locate them easily enough. Got the explorer maps too. Cheers.

So I can see the byways marked on Salisbury Plain, and assume that these are the OK areas to go on (when the flags aren't flying). But I read somewhere on the net, can't find it now, that you can also go on any man made track or road? Is this correct? Looking at the Plain on google earth, there are a lot of roads and tracks across the Plain which aren't mapped. So what are the rules? What do you guys do? And are there any particularly good areas to go on the Plain? Cheers!

Like you, my aim was for a bit of fun laning, so the winch was for emergencies and nothing too heavy. As much as I'd like an ARB, I couldn't justify it on a budget, so I got a rebel 4x4 front bumper. It was very easy to fit, but does stick out a bit more than I'd like it to, and doesn't reqquire cutting the grill. It's not caused me any problems but I think I might need to lift the car a bit if I go a bit more extreme. It's also pretty heavy, so over time, and I'm sure it's common generally, standard springs might sag a bit. It does however incorporate recovery and jacking points. Picture of mine here before I fitted the winch, which you have to buy as part of the package. They also assume you use the existing bolts, but I went to LR and got 6 new ones and nuts (old bumper uses just four). You can add the extra bolts using larger washers and existing holes in the chassis. Since then I've also mounted a bumper light bar designed for a defender, on top of the bumper which spans across infront of the winch where I've mounted driving lights. I'll get a pic up later if I can. Not sure how different steering guards interact with the bumper, as the guard mounts onto the same points as the bumper on the chassis. The one I got was a little tricky to fit because of this but I just put everything together quite loosely and tightened up each bit gradually so it all locked in place. It's a pretty tough combination overall, but the bumper does tilt a slightly upwards when jacking from the front but I think that's because the bolts are slightly smaller than the holes in the chassis so it moves a tad. (Anyone else have this quirk???) Also have the discoparts rear bumper which I'm quite pleased with. Also easy to fit, but incorporating the rear lights was a pain when the original bolts were rusted through.

thanks guys. I'll take a look. I'd heard that OEM kit is the best option for these things. I'll get some grease and make sure the leads are correct (might be causing the gap). Not had any problems so far, despite some fairly deep water. I just want to protect my investment!!! Cheers.

Hi all, went out for a play last night around Arborfield with a few mates and went through a few fords too. Currently, my disco has no snorkel and is standard height (well, a little lower at the front as the winch seems to weigh it down ) I was thinking afterwards (yes, afterwards!), what do you reckon the best way is to prepare the petrol engine for some fording? Not talking about serious wading here, just whatever you can do to help prevent water causing any problems. Even in shallow water, I know it's possible to have some bad luck. First things which spring to mind are to grease plugs and dizzy cap and spray electrics (coil) with WD40. But I'm fairly new to this, so what else could I do to help protect it? (Lifting and snorkel aside). I noticed that the leads to the plugs dont seem to cover much of the plugs themselves. There's a gap where the lead stops, before the engine block and I can see the plug. Is this normal? I know with a V8, half the battle is lost to water already. But what do you guys do? Cheers!

Just to wrap this one up. Got underneath last night to try to locate the source of the sound and by pushing a spanner up against one of the manifold pipes leading to the midsection, the noise stopped! I'm certain it's now louder than before, so I pmight have pushed too hard with the spanner Most relieved anyway - thanks BogMonster for pointing me in the right direction! Cheers.

Thanks a lot Bogmonster! I'll get underneath and have a good listen and will check out the cat too - thanks for the tip. It's not a hugely alarming noise, yust someone quietly gargling with bolts. And, like I said very intermittent. Usually when the revs drop as I put it into D or R and crawling along on idle. But that could just be the frequency at which something else is rattling, so yup, I will take a closer look. I'm getting the feeling that owning a landy is something you never master. I've learned loads so far, but there always seems to be something else! Cheers.

Hi to all! Been lurking around a bit, as I have done with a few of the LR forums, and after wasting time with one, thought this looked quite a good place to hang out! Got a 96 Disco V8, usual mods for green laning etc as there are quite a few round where I live (berks). This is a bit of an adventure for me. Not done too much car work previously, but I've done all the mods myself and even an oil and filter change for the first time on Saturday - without spilling too much oil either! Which is where my current dilemma begins. Checking out the car generally on Saturday, I noticed a rattle, like a bag full of nuts and bolts at idle coming from under the car. I haven't got underneath to have a listen yet. It's not all the time, just intermittent and goes away when you prod the throttle. Seems to happen more when in gear (it's an auto box btw), but also happens in N. I'm suspecting worst case scenario - possibly the flex plate? Which I believe is a 'box out job. Now, I'm definitely not competent to have a go at this, so has anyone ever had this done - and what did it cost? Or what else could it be? Transfer box? Could it be related to a bit of a knock/jolt when all warmed up and selected D (or R) - or is that normally just worn U/Js? Would appreciate any thoughts. Cheers