[Green Lanes]

Just signed at 610

[women vs men]

thats true,you can just drive after them now!!!!

I have to smile as the shoe is on the other foot for me. My husband knows better than to interfer or offer well meant advice when I'm playing with my 90, I find that suggesting he goes indoors and plays on one of his six computers generally does the trick - geek!!!

As for driving after other women, my landys to slow to keep up with the young fit ones!

[Jacking Points/Axle Stands]

Well, I did it! My first foray underneath my 90 (well almost underneath).

My jack worked really well and was so easy to fathom (as was the front bumper jacking point - thanks Western). My jack had a racheted handle which made life easier and seemed very sturdy, although I will look into getting something a bit more meaty for future jobs and a pair of axel stands I think.

I did need help to loosen the wheel nuts initially, but everything else was plain sailing. However... I did make the mistake of putting the spare wheel nuts on top of the number plate light housing as I took them off assuming they'd be easy to find when I put the punctured wheel back on the rear door. Once changed I decided to simply throw the puntured wheel in the back... and forgot to collect the wheel nuts from on top of the light housing - DOH! Amazingly only one fell off on the journey to the tyre garage!

All-in-all I feel far more confident now about attempting whatever comes next - so a very big thank you to all of you for such really useful advice.

Andy.

[Jacking Points/Axle Stands]

also undo the wheelnuts 1 full turn before jacking up the tyre from the ground. take your time & do not go under the vehicle while it's jacked up.

Will do - in fact getting the wheel nuts off is my biggest concern, being a bit of a girl... literally ;-) I shall have a can of WD40 to hand!

Andy (or Andrea to my mum)!

[Jacking Points/Axle Stands]

no probs Andy, under the front bumper you should find 2 rectangular rubber bungs & in the rear crossmember you'll see 2 more circular holes these are the standard 90/110 jack points, on the front take out these rubber bung/s for which side you want to lift. then next step is -----------

then slide the jack round fitting into the hole & set it up to lift, just lift the tyre so it's clear of the ground & allows you to remove/fit the wheel/tyre assembly. also do not leave the vehicle unattended while the jack is holding the weight.

Western,

Thanks so much, that's exactly the information and reassurance I needed. I now feel supremely confident in attempting my first bit of land rover maintenance, albeit a simple tyre change... one step at a time eh!

Cheers,

Andy

[Jacking Points/Axle Stands]

Jacking points with trolley jack or bottle jack -

1) any part of the main chassis rails

2) any chassis outrigger

3 ) any chassis crossmember

4) front bumper

5) diffs (if need to get the wheels off the ground and dont need to work on the suspension, use a bit of wood on the jack to protect the diff)

6) underneath the radius arms/trailing arms on the axles (if you need to tip the car slightly, e.g. when you are changing halfshafts and dont want all the oil to fall out)

Lewis

I'm a newbie so please bear with me...

I need to change a tyre on my land rover 90, which I've only had for a fortnight (it's my first) and the things I've read make me nervous about just using the simple jack that came with it, it's bog standard. Do you think the original jack will be sufficient for a simple tyre change?

My next question is where should I jack it up using this? As it's not a bottle or trolley jack do the same places apply as per Lewis' post above?

Sorry for sounding so girlie, but I just have no idea where to start and couldn't find anything in the workshop manual about jacking points.

Any advice appreciated, thanks.

Andy

[New Member - With a question already!]

If you ever need another good mechanic, then head over to Markyate in Herts, there's a garage run by a bloke called Dale, always found him to be good and he knows his landies....in fact they do all the box fitting/removing for Ashcroft transmisisons too

Thanks Smo, another one for my little black book!

Andy :-)

[New Member - With a question already!]

Andy,

When I lived in Luton I used 'AutoLand' in Houghton Regis. Always had good service from them. Think the guys names there were Andy & Bill - http://www.4x4service.co.uk/

cheers

Gavin

Gavin

After getting an £800 quote from my local garage to replace the whole steering box and fuel lift pump, I trundled over to Houghton Regis. These guys are fabulous, they diagnosed a worn uj and the spines/splines? on the drop are having worn and have suggested checking the damper, all of which they are going to sort/look at next week (I'm still not bold enough to try myself and I don't have the tools... yet).

Thanks a lot for recommending them, a really good call!

Andy.

[New Member - With a question already!]

There are a few things you can do to improve the steering - first of all you need to get down on the floor at the front end and watch while someone steers from side to side (while stationary )

If you see any play in any of the rubber bushes or ball joints (there are quite a few), get them replaced, and you will find this makes a big improvement. Also check there isn't any play in the hubs around the big chrome balls.

You can also adjust the steering box to remove some of the play - there's a big nut on the top - I think there are directions in the workshop manual, but a search of the forum should come up with the goods if not.

It's not rack and pinion steering, so there will always be a bit of play in the wheel before anything happens, but you should be able to reduce this down to an inch or two.

Thanks to both Mike4444244 and Eightpot, I shall have a look underneath as suggested to see if anything seems obviously warn. I'm having a local mechanic looking at it tomorrow and will be furnishing him with the suggestions I've received from this forum - which I'm sure will delight him!!

I don't know any local owners, but someone else' view would be good - I shall employ this method if the mechanic doesn't come up trumps (or get too peeved with me telling him what to look for).

Thanks

Andy

[New Member - With a question already!]

Welcome to the forum, no doubt like me you will soon be checking this place more regualry than you think.

Nice looking 90, when i started i didnt have much mechincal knowledge / experience but no have the confidence and help through the forum and work shop manuals to have a go at most things

Hi siearl

Thanks for the vote of confidence, I like getting my hands dirty, I'm just not terribly good at it! But better weather and a set of ramps should help remedy this.

Andy

[New Member - With a question already!]

Hi Andy, It is so nice to see an unmolested Ninety! Mine looked very similar to yours Three years ago when i got it,same non opening rear side windows too. Your truck has had a respray/panels changed at some time as the cappings in 1985 were still Galv and not painted and the doors had cappings on them too.

Ooh yours is pretty too! I'm just off to google to find out what the cappings actually are... sorry complete newbie to LR's, but I'll get there

Andy

[New Member - With a question already!]

Andy,

When I lived in Luton I used 'AutoLand' in Houghton Regis. Always had good service from them. Think the guys names there were Andy & Bill - http://www.4x4service.co.uk/

cheers

Gavin

Thanks Gavin, I will certainly give them a try - a referal is always a good thing.

Andy

[New Member - With a question already!]

by the way it's a 90 or Ninety not a Defender [that didn't come until 1990 ]

Learning all the time - thanks.

[New Member - With a question already!]

Hi there

I've just bought my very first Land Rover (sooo exciting)! A 1985 Defender 90 with not too much rust... I knew it would't be the smoothest ride ever, having owned a few classics in the past, but I have to say the play on the steering was almost scary. I've read some of the other topics suggesting culprits for this, but being a complete novice when it comes to anything other than points, plugs and bushes, I'm really hoping someone can suggest a reputable mechanic in my area or thereabouts (Bedfordshire).

Any help/advice appreciated. In the meantime I've attached some pics of my new love :-)

Andy.