Night Train

My S3 109 2286cc petrol safari, stripped out and unladen, would only do 10-12mpg in town on a good day and little more then 15mpg on a good run. At worst it was only doing 8mpg. When it was converted to a 3 ton 6x6 with a 3.6l Ford York diesel I was getting 25-30mpg. I had a 110 V8 and that only did 8-10 mpg at best and driven carefully but it really shifted and I suspect it wasn't a standard 3.5l engine.

I tried this one with my 6x6. I was told it had to be specifically built to take all or part of the disabled vehicle and must not be capable, nor used for, carrying any other kinds of goods, private or commercial. Also it would have to be insured as a recovery vehicle which would make me a recovery operator and that would put me as working in the motor trade and that would then have a knock on effect on the insurance I had on my other vehicles as they stipulated that I must not be working in the motor trade if I wanted to have 'Used for my business or trade' cover. I also tried mobile crane and fell foul of that as it then made it plant with limited road miles or I would have to have my crane, winches and all lifting equipment tested regularly if I wanted to use it for driving to and from my place of work or in relation to my business. Also I couldn't carry (transport) any other kinds of load or goods private or commercial. I also tried showman's vehicle, because I took it to shows - that didn't work as I had to be registered as a travelling showman. I tried road locomotive - I could have towed two trailers then but had too many other restraints, like top speed of 20 mph I think it was then. In the end I gave up and just left it as PLG with tax and MOT.

But were they E marked?

Those are excellent, I shall be using them at college for the H&S class I teach to 15 year olds.

I guess once the pedestrian is underneath, sharp edges are the least of their worries.

Ahh, I see. When I did my 6x6 I didn't have any front body work to fix lights to as it was a long narrow bonnet and radiator grille with cycle wings fitted to the swivels. I had to measure to the edge of the cab to work out how long the headlight arms needed to be to keep it legal. I was never sure about the indicators as mine were fitted to the bulkhead near the door mirrors. They were fine for height and distance from the edge but there was nothing about how far from the front of the vehicle.

I got a Marin Hawkhill in 2001 and it has been a really good bike. 21 gears, front suspension and aluminium frame and wheels. It doesn't have disc brakes as they cost too much at the time. I have changed the saddle for one that is less hard then granite and got a raised stem for the handlebars. I also put road tyres on it as most of my riding is on paved or well compacted ground. It is also quiter then knobbly tyres on the treadmill for indoor excercise. It cost £400 at the time and I figured I'd rather pay a bit more for a bike I'd use then a bit less for one I get fed up with. I was offered a test ride of half a dozen bikes in and around my price range to see which I prefered and I also got 5 years free servicing from the dealer. I would like to get a Windcheater speedy though.

That looks really good. Well done on the pass. Were there any issues about the lighting? I can't remember the measurments but the head lights and front indicators look quite far from the edges of the vehicle and quite high up.

I've seen recovery trucks push themselves along a bit when stuck by using their extending underlift. The army has been known to use their DROPS (big hook) pallet as a pusher to help them out of holes by unloading it against the ground and pushing the truck out in the process before reloading. I have also seen excavators and JCB's shift thenselves around using their back hoe bucket. So what you really need is a one legged Land Rover made with a back hoe arm off a JCB on the back. I believe they made one on a 110 chassis around 1990. However, two back hoes would be even better, one on each side.

My first 'best engine' thought was Rolls Royce Eagle but that isn't quite what was asked. I would think one contender for a really good off road 'engine' would be an all electric drive train if it could be waterproofed enough.

Really nice work there, Mark. I've just made a humungus drawer slide, the back bone to my pole trailer, goes from 2.5m to 3.5m to 4.5m long and locked with a M28 bolt!

I did my first conversion, a bobtail, in 1986 to a S2a 109 ExMOD Land Rover and I just found a photo of the cut end just before a full width tailgate went on. (Ahh, wrong forum - could a mod move this to the members vehicles forum please, Thank you.)

I did a cabriolet version of my old S3 Safari in the late 80's by cutting the front part of the roof off where the reinforcement channel is just where it goes from sloped to flat. I replaced the bolts above the windscreen with studs that only located the roof and then used those rubber bonnet catches to pull it tight together. I did the same at the mid roof join using the reinforcing channel in the roof as a gutter. The door tops were held in place using antiluces welded on instead of the bolts, I guess you could do this for the rear mountings for the hard top.

If you tried to fuel proof a chassis I'd worry about being able to completly seal it and then to ensure that no cracks appear from stress fractures. These could be a nightmare to track down and fix. Petrol is thinner then water so it will leak even if the chassis is waterproof. You could make up a chassis from scratch that is primarily a fuel tank that has outriggers and suspension mounts added but there would still be the risk of stressing the tank. There is also the risk that one day you will forget and drill a hole in it for something or try welding it. Fuel tanker semi trailers in the past used to suffer from leaks and fractures when they were chassisless and relied on the tank to handle the stresses between the fifth wheel and the trailer axles.

With an independent suspension the wheel moves up and down in an arc around the point where the track control arm or wish bone is connected to the chassis. The drive shaft would, normally, also move in a similar arc and a small amount of sliding in the cv joint would allow for that change in length. To get a large amount of up and down range the track control arm needs to be long and in some cases have been attched to the opposite side of the chassis. The longer arm means that the drive shaft will need to have a wider range of extension and this could be allowed for with a sliding joint as found on a standard prop shaft. Another area of restriction is the length of the drive shaft which is limited by the width of the diff housing and the track of the vehicle. Longer drive shafts allow a greater range of movement but mean that the diff needs ot be really narrow or the vehicle needs to be really wide. As always, compromise comes in as does some weird and wonderful design alternatives.

Hi Mark and welcome. I switched to using B100 in my car, Skoda Octavia, and the supplier says that most of it comes from unused cooking oil that has failed food hygine. They do use it in their own trucks and I have seen them pouring in 2 litre bottles of cooking oil that is out of date into their processor tank. However, I found that I was using a lower gear more often and my tank range dropped from 550-600miles down to 450miles. The emissions were loads cleaner though but at that drop in economy, I just couldn't afford to run it. It worked out at about 12% cheaper but I used 18-25% more of it. I drive 20k miles a year and it adds up. The supplier did say that every now and again he would find that one particular vehicle will perform badly even though others of the same make, model and engine are fine.

Hi Mark and welcome. I switched to using B100 in my car, Skoda Octavia, and the supplier says that most of it comes from unused cooking oil that has failed food hygine. They do use it in their own trucks and I have seen them pouring in 2 litre bottles of cooking oil that is out of date into their processor tank. However, I found that I was using a lower gear more often and my tank range dropped from 550-600miles down to 450miles. The emissions were loads cleaner though but at that drop in economy, I just couldn't afford to run it. It worked out at about 12% cheaper but I used 18-25% more of it. I drive 20k miles a year and it adds up. The supplier did say that every now and again he would find that one particular vehicle will perform badly even though others of the same make, model and engine are fine.

By a quick calculation: 285/76R16MT = 839.6mm diameter and 2637.7mm circumference 285/75R16AT = 833.9mm diameter and 2619.8mm circumference The MT turns 99.3 times for each 100 times the AT turns. E&OE as I didn't sleep last night and I am knackered.

Good fix MrFluffy. It's great having the equipment and materials to hand to achieve that, something I miss since becoming a woody person. I might have to set up a second workshop.

Don't forget, we have a video forum too.

If it were me I'd use the Defender from behind for towing very slowly. Then I'd use the two hand winches in the manner I described above to spread the load over as much of the roof as possible to reduce any risk of damage. All I'd want to do with the winches is to reduce the load on the near side wheels NOT to lift them. If I try to lift them I can risk distorting the roof. If I found there was to much load on the roof to risk winching it there then I'd set winches as low as possible and attach to the chassis just in front of the front wheel and just in front of the rear wheel to stop it slipping down the ditch. I'd anchor the winches level, ie directly across or slightly ahead, with the vehicle so that the load doesn't slacken as I tow out. I'd adjust the winches as I tow and tow slowly to reduce any jerk or snatch load on the winches. Good luck with whatever you attempt but make your own decision as to what is safe and ignore what I say I would do as I'm not there.

My guess is that the two nearside wheels are off the ground and it is sitting on its axles. I think, given the limited information, I would put a wide strop through the open door windows and over the roof with some padding to protect the roof. I would then gently hand winch the strop from a suitable tree behind the vehicle on the other side of the lane to just take some of the weight off the nearside axles before towing out backwards adjusting the pull on the winch as required.

I suppose you could try Wickes, the DIY/builders merchants. They use something very similar to seal their double glased units into wood frames. I built my Dad's conservatory with a whole bank of Wickes' wooden windows and can vouch for the effectiveness of their mastic strip.

The 3mm aluminium sheet I used for building my box trailer was riddled with 8mm bolt holes from when it used to be a building site hoarding. I used Plastic Padding Chemical Metal. Each hole was rough and feathered so I stuck a bit of duct tape on the outside to produce a flat surface and then filled the hole from the inside. Before it cured I flattened the bump in the tape on the outside with a bit of wood and then left it. After it had cured I peeled off the tape and left it at that. The trailer has been battered and bumped and abused shifting stuff but the repairs have held.

I suppose if we know where he was any one of us can get him out BUT unless I knew him I would be concerned about any litigation for any additional damage that might occur. It reminds me of the first time I went out in a Land Rover. I got stuck in a ditch, on my own and with no equipment, and had to walk 3 miles to find a friendly farm worker. He gave me a lift back in his van and got me out with a 500kg ratchet winch and a tow rope around a nearby tree.