mickeyw

All the turners I have worked with were lathey barstewards

My first thought was 'is it a Santana?' I think some of them had square eyes. Blimin fugly though....

Spot lights, as the name suggests should give a longer range narrower beam 'spot' of light. These are what I would want for dark roads in the winter, they will 'see' further than std head lights. I have a set of 8" spots that switch on/off with my main beam. Fog lights on the other hand give a wider, more local flatish beam. The idea is they should be mounted low down to shine on the road below any fog. Work lamps will give you a good rounded flood of light close by and are handy if you are driving through the woods at night. Hope this makes sense.

Martin, I have done a fair few lanes in Wales in the past, albeit not this exact region, and I've not found them to be damaging. Now Dartmoor, that's another matter - many lanes I drove there were only just wide enough for a Suzuki! My truck is pretty old, and I have to look hard to find an undamaged panel, but I still aim to avoid any more. I think I have only sustained a small number of 'laning scars' in the 15 years we've been together. Generally I would say that if a route is likely to cause that much damage we possibly ought not to be there. Scratches from hedges will polish out, and Holly bushes always sound far worse than they really are I'm sure you will be quite OK on this trip. With the travel plans of yours I have read about so far I imagine you will be practicing driving to avoid trouble rather than go looking for it. Look forward to meeting you.

Yep, been there yonks ago with my first Landy JB weld was the latest greatest fix all at the time, so had to try it. To be fair it does do a reasonable job but is pretty time consuming. You need to make sure it's sanded without low spots or it will still leak.

It happens with a side exit pipe too...

Doh! Cap heads - why did I not think of them? Used to use them all the time in my old job. Perfect solution!

Either make your own from suitable grade of steel,or failing that, use a high tensile bolt of the correct size and turn down the hexagon head to the required diameter.

My guess would be that it's for an added on manually switched reversing light. The warning light lets you know when you've left it on.

Jeez! Surrey CC is really peeing me off with their TROs that claim '4x4 damage' when the evidence looks much more like natural rain water erosion. Take the TRO'd route that runs from Abinger up into Ranmore for example. They seem to have forgotten how exceptionally wet it has been for the last 2 years. I used to be all for seasonal restrained use of green lanes. Now a temporary TRO just appears to be a foot in the door to make the order permanent. Let's see plenty of objections for this one please. GRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Please add me to the list for a double room at the Wild Pheasant.

I have pair of Defender seats in vinyl going spare, although I can see I'm the wrong end of town for you

TI Console now trades as Heystee, same people involved AFAIK. I fitted TIC parabolics to my 88" many years back (2 leaf front and 2 leaf rears)and I have to say I was disappointed. I also fitted Pro Comp gas shocks as advised. Parts were supplied through Chris Perfect Components although I'm not sure they're still in business. On-road the ride was just way too hard and unforgiving. Off road they did seem to offer more articulation, but this was probably down to the longer shocks. Expensive suspension IMO, but that's just my experience. Others seem far happier.

A 14mm ratchet ring spanner is the perfect tool for this job.

Glad it's not just my weedy arms then My experiences are more akin to Nick's and Andy's

Nick I agree with you. But just to throw a spanner into the theory, my 90 drives fine with 265/75x16 BFG MTs. I can't believe any manufacturer would fit tyres so wide (a std Disco size) that a car handled badly. Bishbosh may be you are right, I'll check through all those points again, especially the swivel pre-load. The steering accuracy is very good really, no evidence of slack at all, just the tendency to veer off one way or the other. That's why I was looking for tyre based reason. If I can't find anything conclusive I'll be sticking the 205s back on.

It'll be a 6x4, with a custom made flat bed and a Hiab right at the back to unload itself and the trailer. It will be running very heavy hence the air braking. Will be powered by a 4.6 running only LPG and fitted to an R380. Axles 2&3 will have air suspension, 1st and 3rd axles will be driven. This will be the second one the owner has had built. The first one looks pretty impressive on the road. I'll try and get some more photos as the build progresses.

Pete, I had another look at the air brake equipment on the 6 wheeler at my mate's place. The parts are all stickered up with Erentek labels, same as Jimyd linked to. These pictures ain't great but show a few of the bits.

Also that the drop arm nut has not come loose. Seems to happen to my Ninety from time to time after a good day's playing.

The idea of all tools sharing the same batteries sounds good on one hand, but it does rather tie you to one brand. You may find better spec, better deals etc buying different names. But then I s'pose you will be spending less on batteries. I can recommend the Bosch GDS18V-HT 18V Impact Wrench although it has gone up in price by nearly £100 since I bought mine. Astonishing performance though.

I have started this topic in the International section, as I think this issue is relevant to all models. Mods feel free to move this is you feel it's appropriate. I recently bought a smart set of vogue alloys as my old ones were looking rather shabby. I painted them up to match my RRC, and as they had a good set of tyres, albeit wider, I thought I'd keep them on the wheels and use them. I have been driving the Rangey with 205/80x16s of various brands for a few years now. It has always driven very smoothly, apart from the expected body roll on corners, and in a nice straight line. Now I've put the new wheels on with 235/70x15 Pirelli Scorpion STs the handling has completely changed, unfortunately for the worse. The car is now inclined to wander left or right with the slightest change of camber in the road, or any small surface imperfection. This can be rather disconcerting and doesn't make for a very relaxing drive. Cornering seems far more precise now, and I've put that down to the wider tread and shallower section scrubbing and rolling less. The tyres are approx 60% worn, the tread wear is even with no strange patterns or side wall defects apparent. My investigations so far have included checking the new wheels run true, (jacked each wheel up and spun it with a marker close to the rim). There is no vibration or wobble at any speed between 0 and 80 mph. I have checked the wheel bearings are OK too. I am running the pressures at 26 front and 34 rear as detailed for that size of tyre a the Disco owners manual. Thats' a couple of PSI less than for a 205. I can't find any reference for this size in a RRC manual. The springs and shocks, bushes and all are in good shape, I have checked for play, and as mentioned above it drives absolutely fine on 205s. I am wondering whether there could be an issue with the tracking. I have previously experienced difficulty in keeping straight when the tracking has been out. Should a change in tyres size require a change of tracking though? I would have thought not. I have checked for tight spots in the steering system too, all seems nice and smooth. Are there any known issues with this Pirelli tyre at a certain stage of life? Do RRCs simply not drive well with this size tyre? I once borrowed a mate's Disco shod with 235s and that tramlined horribly on motorway ruts but was OK on your average side road. Unfortunately I never heard whether he found the cause of that. Obviously I could just put the 205s back on, but I would like to know what's causing this bad behaviour. The car looks good with the wider tyres too. Your thoughts and suggestions will be welcome. Thanks

Nice little bitta film there Will. That's pretty much how I've done tyres in the past, a physical job, especially when it's a warm day and you have a few to do. I must say that I've never had one come off quite as easily as you. Fortunately most stiff walled cross-plys have all but disappeared. I did like the throwing the tyre on the first bead bit, sure looked an easy way. Maybe I'll try that one day just to satisfy my curiosity.

There you've hit the nail on the head. Fun and satisfaction of taking an idea and adapting/improving on it for your own use. Anyway I can't use one like the Sealey as I've nowhere to bolt it down.

I'll be making mine. A length of 30mm box, (somewhere between 900 and 1200 long (3-4ft), not decided yet) some 25 dia bar which I'll heat the ends of and batter into the shape required on the anvil. Weld the bar into the box when done and another lil short piece of round welded on to the putting-tyre-back-on end. Should still weigh less than an HFH fabrication

And make one is what I have done. Tools needed - hacksaw, drill, file and a lathe Drawings are now available if anyone else wants to make their own.