simonr

I never considered the performance in the cold! They are still promising the coldest winter for 50 years - even though it is tee shirt weather at the moment down south - so may be worth considering. Si

There is stuff you can buy for boats which emulsifies the diesel with water which has found it's way into the fuel tank. Would this be a reasonable way to achieve the same thing? Seems to me to make little odds if the water comes from rain or my hose pipe? What would be the best mixture? You have stated 25%, but is there a sliding scale with more power at one end and lower emissions at the other? Si

I like my Optimas (both yellow, unimpressed with the red top I had) - although Hawker Oddysey PC1200's are arguably a better battery for winching and in the same price bracket. Jim (SV90) @ Gigglepin should be able to help you out on these. Tony (White90) and one or two others here use some sort of agricultural battery which is a lot cheaper - and seems to perform very well. Don't know who makes them or what the model number is - but I guess they will be along to give enlightenment soon Si

Trying to get the damping coeff's out of the manufacturers is.....well good luck! My experience: Rancho 9000 - fairly good adjustable, but the rings are barely welded at all and come off too easily Rancho 3000 (non adjustable) - Use these on SV and am quite impressed for on-road use Koni - much better made than Rancho (see further down for general problem with adjustables though) DeCarbon - not bad in terms of damping. Have had one ring fall off and one rod snap (puncturing an air bag). However, they have lasted 3 years of abuse. ProComp - very well made. Damping better than DeCarbon and much better than expected OME - Have some to fit on front (pro-comp +4 on back), but not tried yet. V.good by all accounts though. Variable Damping: I initially thought this was a good idea, but have reservations now. Trouble is, adjustables only have one valve whereas non adjustables have several (up to about 16). While the adjustables give a wider total range of damping, a given setting has a narrow bandwidth of conditions in which it works well. A good quality non-adjustable will adapt itself to many different combinations of springs, speed & terrain while adjustables need adjusting for each. They work OK if you have the in-cab remote adjust kit, but it's just another thing to play with and they rarely end up set optimally for the conditions. The bottom line. I'd go (and have gone) for ProComp for length with good all round performance and OME for good handling (including hill climbing) with less travel though. Another thing to watch out for is deCarbon (and I dare say others) quoted as +2" have a 2" longer body, but only actually +1/8" extra travel! Si

I'm sure I talked to you or Keir about this at some time? On my 110, I built something fairly similar. The fine water misting jets came from a garden center and are used for plant watering. They just screw in to the side of a hose pipe. Produced a good mist - but I'm not convinced I could notice any difference in performance. Didn't have an EGT gauge or anything more quantative than how it felt though. Si

OK, here's one.... We were driving on a site in Sussex (Plastow) and in the process of trying to extract myself from a ditch, managed to tear my steering box off the chassis. I asked someone to give me a tug backwards - and they over-did it a bit and pulled me backwards in to an oak tree - which re-modeled the back of my 110 some. I got out saw the back of the 110 and in frustration - booted it as hard as I could. Mid boot - I realised I was wearing my wellies (rather than more usual heavy boots). The resulting impact fractured one of the bones in my foot. It was sore for a couple of days until I was hobbling to the pub - when it broke properly! Much more sore for a long time. Crutches, plaster & everything! Si

You could weld a 'T' bar to the inside end to stop them rotating as you tighten the nuts? Si

I agree that there is a large flow of air - but in the air box the pressure difference to atmospheric is very small. It is a vacuum which will suck oil up the pipes - not flow (unless you have a venturi). Unless your air inlet gets blocked (I once found a dried bird in the snorkel of my 110 - not such a clever place to build a nest!) I think it's highly unlikely that it would suck oil up the tubes. Having said that - I still have separate breather pipes, figuring that if one blocks / gets submerged - only one expensive bit will be affected. That manifold looks very bling though! Si

I had a brilliant day! It was nice to go to a site as a regular punter and have no responsibility for anything other than ourselves. The ground was slippy as hell and I've rarely had to do so much winching in one day. I feel a bit guilty for encouraging JamesM in his previously straight Range Rover to drive round with us - but it's good experience. Hopefully he won't hold it against me for too long! Did anyone else test the depth of the mud in the bottom of that gulley / stream bed. I was going to drive in to this puddle but first Steve G tested it with a long stick - and it just went down and down - several feet down! Winched round it instead. Thanks Steve + Howard for rigging my winch lines in that gulley - much appreciated! The chaps making burgers should carry on after 2pm. At about 12:30, we were heading for a burger - via the gulley - and it was all closed up by the time we got there . If there is a next one after Feb (same day as Forum trip) - I'll be there! Si

Although mine is on a V8 rather than a diesel, the same applies: I'm using a 4 sp box on a 3.5 engine - it should be driven by a 3.9 efi. If you use the standard kick-down linkage, all the change points are in the wrong place and it is dreadful to drive. I made a lever where, by winding a carrage up & down a screw thread, I can change the ratio of how much the kick-down cable moves for a given movement of throttle cable. It also allows the slack to be adjusted using the nuts on the end of the kick-down cable. It took a fair bit of experimentation to find a ratio and amount of slack which suits the engine & my right foot. Having the kick-down adjustable from the cab is an interesting idea - but I'm not sure how practical it's going to be. Probably better to leave it unconnected and use the manual 1,2,3 on the lever if you want a lower gear. Si

Replace the nipple! Stilsons are good for getting them out. Si

I made a tool - now lost - using a laser pointer which hung on the rim (very similar to the grown-up ones). Use a spirit level to get it horizontal. Another bit on the rear rim with a ruler attached. All just folded out of ali sheet and calibrated by hanging both off the edge of a table (which I assumed to be straight) glue ruler in place so it reads say 10cm with 0 degrees and it's easy, knowing the wheelbase to work out the angle (using pythagorus Tan angle = reading on ruler / wheelbase). Don't think it gave a substantially better result than a bit of string though. I'd love to know what the tracking is actually supposed to be set to. different books have quoted everything from 10 degree toe in (which is about what I use) to the same toe out. Si

That's good - the more the merrier! Si

I think if I were setting up my workshop again, the order in which I would buy stuff is: Pillar drill (used, Meddings probably, G&M Tools in Sussex) Decent set of drill bits (Dormer or Winzer Wurth) Bench Saw (Axminster Tools) Mig (Probably used or eBay) Grinder (Bosch or Hitachi - last one came from Homebase) Battery Drill (DeWalt eBay) Selection of nuts & bolts (Winzer Wurth) Trolley Jack (3 ton - Halfords Speed Lift not too bad) Bench grinder/linisher (Screwfix) - Learn to sharpen drill bits & save a fortune! Compressor (Screwfix or Machine Mart - nothing too big, add an extra reservoir) Air Tools (A B Tools (Market Drayton - have a stand at billing)) Lathe (something like a Myford from G&M Tools) Although this is a relatively big purchase - now I would not be without one! Plasma Cutter (www.johndavies.co.uk - good for most welding & cutting stuff) People seem very keen on air compressors - but although I do use one, it is far from my most useful tool. Might be worth considering a battery impact gun instead at this stage - far more use and protable! Si

I think that all the mags at the moment could do with trawling the forums, not to steal copy, but to gain an idea of what people are interested in and use it as a guide to what to write articles about. There are some threads which crop up time and again in different guises - things fitting portal axles to 'how do I fit an electric fan'. That way the mags could benefit themselves it terms of being more relevent to most readers while not potentially putting peoples nosed out of joint for blatent copying. Si

Done! Agree fully with this. Si

In the spirit of true democracy - i'm not going to tell you what I voted! I agree that it would possibly provide some more interesting copy for the likes of LRM (not that I'm saying you're <cough>boring<cough> chaps). Why is BigFoot after content from here - surely there are plenty of interesting threads on LRA to put in print? Chris - I'd have thought you'd be tired of having your name in lights by now? Robo wars, cuddling Phlipper Forrester & all that? I like the fact that this forum is independent of any of the mags and is unlikely to be censored by sensitive traders. I do not think any of the mags should be allowed to contribute to the funding under any circumstances. Spot the missing ? Si

I'll be there! Si

So long as the pipes go to the same places on the master cylinder - there is nothing else you could have done wrong. I would not rule out the shuttle valve because you get fluid coming out while bleeding - a little leaks past under low pressure. Try pressing hard on the pedal and getting an assistant to loosen a bleed nipple on the rear. It's hard to judge, but see if you get a similar amount of pressure and volume on the front v the rear. You can usually tell by the rate the pedal drops. It may not be stuck with one port completly closed, just partially, which reduces the flow and in turn the impulse pressure when you stomp on the pedal. Si

Have you had your battery drop-tested? Very often the alternator wires go to the starter motor and from there to the battery. Check that the stud to which they both connect is done up properly. The charge light only indicates that the alternator is generating charge - not that it's getting to the battery. As Chris says, stick a volt meter on the battery - perhaps leave it on there for a few days - and see what circumstances cause the voltage to dip (apart from starting). Try the same with the VM connected to the alternator. If the circumstances differ, then there is a bad connection between the two. Si

Could be worse! Take the end of the motor off and have a look at the brushes. I replaced the brushes in my 8274 motor twice before the motor needed replacing. Once you have the brush pack out (replacements are readily available from PJ & Dave Bowyer), measure the resistance between two of the contacts on the commutator. Most of them will show no connection, but diametrically opposite pairs should show a low resisance. If these are in the order of 0.7 ohms, the armature is fine - which will confirm it is a brush problem. Look to see if the brushes are bunged up with mud, stuck in their sleeves or have just worn to the point of making a poor connection. If either of the former, a good clean & lube with vaselene will fix. If the latter, need to fix with a squirt of PJ or Bowyer! If it turns out to be the armature, it is usually cheaper to replace the whole motor. Si

It has an end cap screwed on either end - take off and move shuttle. There is also a spring behind each end cap - remove carefully or they will probably fly off to the other side of your garage, never to be found! Failing that, they are fairly cheap to buy. I had endless problems with one until I replaced it (by the side of the road outside Marshals LR in Cambridge - so must be fairly easy).

I guess I should know about this - but don't! It would be good if it's true - from an environmental, tree hugging point of view if nothing else. If you are worried about your Handbrake - for you, it has a 2 year warranty! Si

Most likely it is the shuttle valve - might be a PRV? which shuts off the supply to front or rear if there is a pressure loss. It tends to stick and is easily activated by bleeding the brakes. It looks like a tube bolted to the engine side of drivers footwell with four pipes going in and a pair of spade terminals in the middle (supposed to make brake warning light come on - but I've never known one actually do it.) If it is at fault, you can dismantle it (in situ if you are tall) and restore the shuttle to the middle position. Welcome to the forum - by the way! Si

There is a chap who breaks LR's at shoreham cement works named Nick 01273 441 838 who is quite friendly and has little idea what anything is worth! Offer him something that sounds about right based on the size & weight & he'll go for it! Si