Orange

Just as an aside, I have a 2002 TD5 D2 and the road tax is still the same...

Are you saying that these are for your motor, or the Range Rover?? I bought a pair of HD ones from Bearmach and also bought 4 greasable TREs to go with them. When I fitted them to my RR the front drag link was too short and left a lot of thread exposed on the TREs. Now I have them fitted to a Defender, they are fine due to the extra mounting for the steering damper on the Defender. Also bear in mind that if you are fitting them to the RR then there won't be a bracket for mounting the steering damper. You'll either have to make one, buy one, or relocate the damper to the Defender position where it is a bit more protected/out of harms way... HTH Adrian

I can't help with a Disco 1, but I had a leak from that pipe on my D2 which the LR dealer said would mean taking the tank out to replace. I guess the same would apply for the D1. Mine was done under the extended warranty that I purchased from the dealer and I was glad that I did!!! HTH Adrian

All opinions are welcome, lets keep it friendly it's often easier to discuss over the phone rather than try to get everything across in text... Wouldn't happen to have either of those lying around that you might want to pass on, would you?? I've been watching a few 8274s on ebay and they seem to be getting cheaper, but they are also quite far away, which I don't mind, but planning day trips to Derbyshire from Kent is a little difficult at the moment.... That is my thinking for the future, but for the moment I need to get up and running with one winch...

It was more about my struggles to contain 12 volts within the wires - I'm not sure the world is ready to experience my effort at 24v wiring!!!

I will ring you as soon as I can, David. I am away all weekend with the Scouts, so it'll probably be early next week. SMO - I hear that L'Oreal do a nice range of Auburn colours at the moment and Mr Lovejoy is easily fooled!! Walfy - It wouldn't have worked!! You've met her - she's far more astute than that!! Firstly she would have pointed out that the winch currently sat on the garage floor is a damn site better than the one that's on there at the moment.........i.e. none!!!! 24volts, eh?? Are you lot ready for that much smoke to be released??!!!

Pete, I already have a home for it - well, in my head I do - but need to further my fabrication skills and tame my welding bitch again before mounting it in the rear crossmember!!! That is the point. It's not that easy. If I'm getting the right end of the stick, it's all about the gearing and the EP9's doesn't lend itself to speeding up. Don't get me wrong - the EP9 is not slow when compared to other similar chinese winches, but having had to run up a hill to keep up with an HP motored 8074, I think it needs a bit more. Cheers for the links to the TDS winches. David - I would be grateful to hear how yours gets on in real life testing, if you would be so kind....

Yep - that's the answer I was expecting!! Cheers Steve - I think! Off to talk nicely to SWMBO...........I may be some time!!!

In terms of recovery points for the front - buy a steering guard with integral recovery eyes. It kills two birds with one stone. For the rear, a pair of JATE rings will be more than adequate for the type of stuff you are talking about doing. They are a one piece U shaped bar (forged) that mount through the stabiliser points for the tow bar at the rear of the chassis (lowest part of the main chassis rails behind the axle). They don't cost a lot and are very effective. Avoid the welded ones like the plague!! If you run a search for JATE Rings on here, a load of info will come up. Of course, we can't talk about bolting stuff on without mentioning that it all be fixed with suitable rated bolts. I am sure there are loads of bits of information in the Tech Archive in relation to recovery. Have a read - it'll be well worth it.

You're still beating me!!

I have had an EP9 strapped to the front of the RR and found it to be a little lacking on the speed front when competing in the winch challenges we have done. I'm now planning on putting a winch on the 90 but am finding it hard to justify the expense of the 'competitors favourite' and certainly wouldn't be able to get the cost of a hydro system past SWMBO. I know that the speed and performance of an 8274 can be drastically improved by changing the motor, but is the same possible with an EP9?? If I can get a bit more speed for a reasonable (read fair) amount of money, then I would be quite happy to stick with it for the few competitions that we do. I think I already know the answer, but would be grateful for the opinions of a few grown-ups!! TIA Adrian

Snap!! Nice friendly local company who know their stuff. £200 gets you a lot of bike. Don't believe that you are at the bottom of the market - Halfords are knocking out bikes for £80 at the moment - you are about in the middle. Not many people can affort to have thousands of pounds of bikes sat in the garage for 10 months of the year!!!

The wife and I covered this exact same debate about 18 months - 2 years ago. The best way we found to test them was to go for a few outings and try out the different models in the hire shops. It's money well spent IMO as we ended up buying a pair of GIANT bikes that are used at the Bedgebury Pinetum Cycle Centre in Kent. The bikes are hard as nails and the kit on them is very robust. You are very well placed to run a couple of trips to the New Forest... IMO disc brakes and full suspension are just gimmicks at this end of the price bracket. If you are going for disc brakes, go for hydraulic ones, but I doubt you'll find a bike with them on for less than 600 notes, probably more!! You may find some cable operated ones, but they are pretty poor even when compared to normal mountain bike style brakes. HTH Adrian

Sorry for the delayed response, Nick... You will only need to alter the bodywork/suspension if you change the tyre size dramatically. If you replace like-for-like you won't have any problems. If you change the wheels (for ones with different offsets), you may have to adjust the steering stops on the front swivel housings so that your tyres don't rub the radius arms. You may also have to fit flared arches if the tyres/wheels stick out of the arches. But.... you are only changing tyres, so it won't affect you. HTH Adrian

Being that LPG relies on electrics to keep it running, you'll end up with the same problem as a petrol fuelled engine........unless you megasquirt it. This system does away with the distributor which seems to cause most of the problems. If you mean the risk of the system getting filled with water.......it'll only get in if the gas can get out. If it's getting out you'd know about it wouldn't be going anywhere!! I never had any problems with my petrol V8 running in and around water, but I never really threw it at very deep stuff. My current avatar shows the deepest it went (bottom of headlights) and it drove out without a hitch. As long as you are sensible and know the limits of the vehicle, you won't have issues. Don't expect to be dumping it in a lake and driving it out, though!!

Nice!! One for the load bed of the 90 next, please.....

No, not this time, but I've been had by them before!! Never again!! £35 to renew the temporary cover for a courtesy car every week for 4 weeks!! I eventually (3 months later) got to claim it all back against the other insurance company involved in the claim, but it hurt the bank balance at the time... I have had the explanation of the fee: The actual insurance company charge £25 for an amendment and the broker add £10 to cover their time and admin charges!!! £10 I can cope with, but a total of £35 I'll give them a buzz in the morning and try to get an answer out of them as they haven't bothered to get back to me!! You understand, of course, I'll get SWMBO covered and she'll have one drive and never again!!

Andy, 265s will drastically reduce the turning circle - You will get fed up with it very quickly. When you think about it, the tyre may only be 30mm wider on each face, but you've got 2 inner faces to worry about on each axle, so you lose 60mm worth of lock, which is quite significant. 235s will reduce it ever-so slightly, but gives a good compromise. My RR with 235/85R16s on was a happy compromise. HTH Adrian

As there are 3rd parties involved, it is your duty to report it to your insurance company as the lorry driver will be claiming against your policy... Same principle as if she had gone into the back of you and you into the lorry. the lorry driver would claim from you and you from her...

I already have a second named driver on the 90s insurance, but it's my usual co-driver. The Ins co want a £35 admin charge to add another or replace the existing one... Tight as I am, I don't really want to do this as it's not likely that the wife will drive it after this weekend and if it's already covered by paying her insurance, why should I?!!!

Morning all. I wonder if the panel might know the answer to this one?? The wife has my Discovery insured Fully Comp with bells and whistles. With this cover comes the ability to drive other vehicles (with the owners permission) and still be covered for 3rd party damage. Is this still the case if the other vehicle (my 90) is owned within the same immediate family unit?? I have asked my insurance company and they were a little puzzled at my question - mostly because they could add her to my policy for an extra £35 - but they couldn't answer it and have gone away to find out... Any clues?? TIA Adrian

Depends on the width and aspect ratio of the tyres. General Grabber At2s are AFAIK the only ones that come in 255/55R18 which is what my Disco 2 runs. Very good tyre IMO and hardly any noisier that standard road tyres. They also helped with the handling. It used to wander all over the road with road tyres on, now it goes where I point it and sticks well, too!! BFG do an 18" tyre, but not in the size I needed, otherwise I would have gone for them... The General Grabbers were also about £5 per tyre cheaper than the road tyres I was looking at...

Having experienced (and abused) a Southdown bumper on my previous RR, I am seriously contemplating spending my money in that direction when I get that far with the new toy. Other places that spring to mind as offering excellent quality and close/tidily fitted bumpers are Devon 4x4 and Goldigger (speak with Carl Hurst on here). I've not seen the D4x4 one in the flesh so cannot comment, but the Goldigger one that I fondled at the Donnington show looked to be excellent quality and very reasonably priced compared to some other chocolate makes out there... It very much depends on the style/size of bumper you are after, though...

IMO (limited as it is where welding is concened) it can't hurt to disconnect the battery and alternator, especially if it's just a case of removing the air box to get to it. It's definitely cheaper than a new alternator a few weeks down the line... By a good earth connection for the clamp it means clean the metal up before you attach it. Don't just clamp it to the painted/rusty chassis as this will not provide a good connection. HTH Adrian

To add to Les's point about just sleeving over the old, the chances are that if the mounts are rotten, there won't be much left in the crossmember to weld to anyway...