RichardAllen

Eightpot, Am I right in thinking your plan is to run your existing and new tanks in parallel with a motorised valve to switch between them ? Regards Richard

I did a course at Whitecliff in the Forest of Dean. Brilliant site and superb tuition. I don't know if they do pay and play, but very much worth giving them a call. http://www.whitecliff4x4.co.uk/ TEL: 01594 834666 or 07720734192 EMAIL: info@whitecliff4x4.co.uk I will be booking up for their whole day recovery techniques course in a month or two

Quick chat with th eBay man and he is sending me the right one free, which is kind since the error was mostly mine. If it turns up and is the right item, I will post on here, as particularly good service deserves recognition.

Jime, Thanks. I did not recognise the significance of the "-", which now you point it out is pretty obvious. I shall get onto the eBay guys soonest. Regards Richard

Following another thread on here, I am in the process of mputting a TD5 tank under the rear of a 300TDi 90. I have managed to get the tank up into the space, though nothing is yet connected. However, the cradle that came with it off eBay looks too long, so I am wondering if they sent me a 90 tank with a 110 cradle. My Microcat is not that clear, but the drawing does not look much like the cradle I have. Does anyone know for sure if there are two different TD5 fuel tank cradles, one for a 90 and one for a 110 ??

Good to hear that BOAB are helpful. They are not far from me and I had in mind to see them. At the moment I am trying to put an extra fuel tank in a 90 with loads of help from here (http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=26848) so water will be the next task. Although, with a little bit of decent weather, we may get to do the well experiment this weekend.

Bob, Good to know someone is thinking my way. The Nature-Pure filter needs a fair bit of pressure min 25psi I think, so I bought a marine pump off eBay (Sure-flo ?) to push water from the tank through the filter. This is a fairly powerful little pump, so my intention is to plumb it all up with brass hoselok type fittings so I can have the inlet to the pump from the tank, or a hose going down to a stream. Likewise I can have the the outlet from the pump going to water filter, shower or the tank. In this way I can use the pump to pull water up from a stream etc to refill the tank. I have not yet built this, and will shortly be carrying out an experiment with my neighbour's well to see how far the pump can draw water up. I think they quote 2m lift and 10 distance from source to pump. I will report back. Have you had any neat thoughts about bottled water storage ?

I am looking at a 110 300TDi expedition vehicle for varied terrain including potentially Scandinavia, Africa, hot and cold parts of Asia, for 2 adults and 2 children. For drinking water, my plan was to rely chiefly on a Nature-Pure filter using water pumped from a 60 litre on-board tank filled from taps etc, with water bottles as a backup. This mainly due to the hassle and expense I envisage in storing and replacing the number of bottles needed for drinking water for a family of four. My Dad, who is a retired army officer who used to provide water systems in the field for troops, reckons relying on bottled water is the better option to the point where he would probably not put in a filter at all, and would just use the water tank for washing. I am very interested in experience of anyone out there on the availability of bottled water in the wilder regions and the quality of water obtained. I am also interested in how people mange to store their bottles conveniently. (I saw some pics of a chap who built a kind of cocktail; cabinet between two back seats of a Disco. Very neat. I will be , with probably a fridge between two back seats) All help received with the usual gratitude.

Being giving some thought to the posts here, fopr my 300TDi 90. My approach is a Y piece in the filler, a TD5 tank under the rear and a 300TDi in-tank transfer pump from auxiliary tank to main tank. I am not going down the cleverer route of motorised change over valves yet. I put Jim's Y piece instructions them onto a 3D CAD and got the following: The idea is a short pipe from the neck to the join of the Y so that it is easy, on filling, to direct the pump nozzle into one tank or the other. However, the pipe should be long enough so that when the first tank gets full, fuel flows over the Y join into the second tank before backing up into the pump nozzle. The auxiliary tank in-tank pump outlet connects to the swaged end of the U pipe. Thus fuel transfer goes into the main tank along the same route as when filling up. If, while transferring fuel from auxiliary to main, the main tank fills up, fuel just flows over the Y join, back into the auxiliary. This way you cannot overfill the main tank while transferring. I have not built this yet so any comments, especially improvement suggestions welcome. (In putting the CAD model together, I found that there are some mathematical niceties about cutting the Y pieces correctly so that you end up at the join with a pipe the right size. PM me if interested, but I won't be able to respond for a day or two.)

Has anyone found a source for a filler pipe Y piece, or got a good (easy) way to make one ?

Thanks Chris. BOAB are also quite near me so a visit to them it is.

I used long ties to start with, but found this gadget really easiy (esp-ecially for three quid) for pushing a way through the loom, especially from the back of the main fusebox, up behind the stereo and through to the dash (300TDi 90), without having to take the whole dash/fascia/everything apart.

I am doing a fair bit of wiring on my 90, especially round the fusebox and dash and after far too long I got a cable puller from AWP: http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-...php#slitharness It is really useful for all sorts of things where you need need to thread pipe or cable from one place to another on the vehicle, not just through sleeving. One end is a stiff spring for threading through sleeving, difficult gaps etc. The other end is a loop to which whatever is being pulled is fixed. For cable, I have found a temporary crimped ring terminal and a mini cable-tie work well. The brass ends are interchangeable, so you can either thread the puller through and bring the pipe/wire after it, or you can thread the puller through one way, swap the ends and then pull the cable/pipe back through. I also find it useful for measuring cable runs. Highly recommended. Needless to say I have no connection with AWP other than as a very satisfied customer.

Just the one I was after. Thanks Richard

I seem to remember reading a diary online somewhere of a couple who went from UK to North Cape in Norway and then down to Cape Town in South Africa over about 6 or 7 months with two daughters aged around 1 and 3. Does this ring any bells with anyone ? If so, URL please.

I am looking at putting in a 40l/60l/80l water tank which fits across the front of the load bay up against the bulkhead. Since the bulkhead falls away instead of being simply vertical, it would be useful if the tank were wedge-shaped in cross-section to fill the space at the bottom of the bulkhead which would otherwise be lost with a rectangular cross-section tank. I am not concerned about ease of filling etc, as it will be part of a whole plumbed in pumped system I have in mind. However, having the weight of water fairly low down in the centre of the vehicle is a concern. I am also keen on the tank being baffled to reduce the weight transfer of water sloshing about off-road. I seem to remember someone on here was looking at something similar, but don't know whether he/she ever found a supplier. Can anyone enlighten me ? PS I am looking for quite a large tank as I have a wife and two daughters. My previous posts concerning the need for electric calculations to support a hair-dryer proved very informative.

I have done: First, Tomtom integrated box 700, 910 etc - great for wife's car, very easy to use map ugrades can be dear expensive, no good for greenlaning Next, iPAQ PDA with Tomtom and Memory Map + Mouse GPS. Tomtom are no longer doing upgrades for PDA so you cannot get latest stuff like map sharing. Memory map gives all of UK at 1:50,000 on a 4GB SD card, but expensive and their map update policy is lamentable. I found it very difficult to use memory map on the PDA for laning as the screen is so small. Mouse GPS not so goo on Defender windscreen or dash, but works brilliantly velcro'd to sunroof. I still have this as a backup After seeing stuff on here I now have a TC1100 tablet 10" screen with mouse GPS. This runs Memory map at 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 (23GBytes !). This is the absolutes canines for laning, with plenty of detail easy to see. I also have a Tomtom like application called PC Navigator. It is excellent. It is very similar to TomTom with one or two differences. Much better on motorway exit instructions, a bit worse on inuitive operaion. The TC1100 is the only popular tablet I could find with a 10" screen. I found bigger screens too large to fit on the dash. They are now discontinued, but loads on eBay (get a credit card,Paypal account and be a little more wary than usual). Mine was about £200. Astonishing bit of kit. I am pretty happy with this setup, though not yet clear how reliable a TC1100 is. I am a computer nerd by trade and have been a professional navigator. In summary, simple get you from A to B - Tomtom integrated box Get you there + decent maps for laning - try the TC1100 route (it also has allLand Rover manuals and parts catalogue on it, as part of expedition preparation).

PC2150 is the same width and length as the PC1700, give or take a little, but is 2 inches higher. Looks like a PC1700 will be my next engine battery then. Thanks

I saw a similar picture in LRO with a pair of Odyssey PC2150's (I think) and I could not get that to add up either. I have one PC2150 in alongside a much smaller lead/acid. There is plenty more room, but height seems to be the problem if I want to put in a second PC2150.

Mike, Which model Defender did you put the box into ?

I have been struggling with this having an original lead/acid and an additional Odyssey which are different in every dimension, fitted into a battery box with various different levels in the base. The short term fix is a pair of fabricated buffers to stop fore/aft battery movement and a strap to stop side to side and vertical movement. The long term fix is a new flat base to the battery box. Before hacking the box about, does anyone know why a 300 TDi battery box does not have a flat base ? Since flat is easier to make, I am concerned that there is some Land Rover design thinking I need to take into account (battery spillage, ventilation etc ?)

Donation made....

I am trying to get my head around these roof tents, especially having seen most of the leading ones available in UK at Billing and been massively underwhelmed. If I want to sleep 2 adults and 2 children, off the ground, I seem to be in for about 100kg+ of tent and £1500+ of money. This is not sane. And I am not that bothered about being able to put it up in 2 minutes. But I would like to get off the ground if possible. Grassy meadow campsites in UK are fine for ground tents + thermarest, but stony rocky ones in the US were very uncomfortable. My experience with air-beds/camp beds has been poor (though ex-army camp beds are bearable) 4 person ground tents are clearly far cheaper (lots more made) and lighter (no base board, lighter weight material(?), no ladder). If I can come up with a base board / roof rack arrangement, it may be possible to put up a tunnel format tent while standing on the ground, (being 6ft 2) Has anyone successfully put a 4 person tunnel format ground tent on a 110's roof ? And then slept in it comfortably ?

Anyone else planning to go just for Friday ? I will be the rather bemused looking bod in a tweed shooting jacket pushing a pram containing a very excitable blonde toddler called Lucie (navigator, winch person, occasional forum contributor). Do say hello, even if it just to congratulate me on getting out a bit more.

I missed something there, the cutout and battery clips are available from Goodwinch for an extra £25. That will be the one to go for then, or go for the Durite from VWP