Has it really come to this?

[steve b]

My comment was really about the useful-ness of a bolt on cover on an ARB'd rover case , I still can't see much benefit as most bust halfshafts break in the sun gear with a fracture that ends up flared and thus stuck, and usually only persuaded out , or loosened with no1 tool action , and a magnet on a stick will pull it the rest of the way ,is'nt there an X-magnet? , and I still think Ally will be weaker on impact with rocks. The ARB rep covers are nodular iron and mucho tougher imho

...but of course its for each of us to try our own way of doing things, and may that opportunity be there for many years to come, I'd hate to live in a world where we have no independent 'incarnations'

cheers

Steveb

[western]

Indeedy

And we have done some careful calibrated & highly monitored testing too

his involves a Big Boy PotNoodle to get in the mood, and Steves BFH No 1 and a "bad day"

Then the testing can begin :

http://s982.photobucket.com/albums/ae303/Kam-Diffs-UK/?action=view&current=21042010002.flv

http://s982.photobucket.com/albums/ae303/Kam-Diffs-UK/?action=view&current=21042010001.flv

At the end of this the Pan is in remarkable condition, obvioulsy it will be cleaned before being sent to a customer

Nige

Love the 'go on son hit' comment in the 2nd video.

[Lara]

Although it is taking a beating very well, I Would like to see what happens if the hammer would be beating in the centre of the main diff pan as long and as hard as it was in the initial test! It seems to have averted it's accuracy to hitting the stronger sides after the first few more damaging impacts! However as initially said, fairly impressive anyway! Especially as it's made of that "weak" Ally stuff

Lara

[Hybrid_From_Hell]

FWIW Steve was completely knackered and dripping after the clouting

He wasn't messing about, and was belting it as hard as he could, which prob affected his aim

the LR Pan imploded on 1st clout, steel or not they are stuiply thin, and then LR on the wolfs

go and make the diff pans on the axles 6mm thick .....

Nige

[Lara]

It 's surprising how quickly your arm and hand starts to hurt when beating something as hard as that with a good size hammer!!

That's why air hammers were invented for blacksmiths and why you don't find many skinny "manual" smiths

Lara

[Mark]

My comment was really about the useful-ness of a bolt on cover on an ARB'd rover case , I still can't see much benefit as most bust halfshafts break in the sun gear with a fracture that ends up flared and thus stuck, and usually only persuaded out , or loosened with no1 tool action , and a magnet on a stick will pull it the rest of the way ,is'nt there an X-magnet? , and I still think Ally will be weaker on impact with rocks. The ARB rep covers are nodular iron and mucho tougher imho

...but of course its for each of us to try our own way of doing things, and may that opportunity be there for many years to come, I'd hate to live in a world where we have no independent 'incarnations'

cheers

Steveb

Before this weekend steve, I would have agreed with you. However, having spent the day battling an ARB that did not want to stay enganged or disengaged, the ability to open the diff cover and poke it without dismantling the whole axle would have been really useful.

We discovered the fault within 5 minutes of starting the event, so having established that the issue was in fact diff related we chose to live with it rather than strip the axle down. Taking the pan off, and dealling with the offending seal (or bodging it one way or another) would have been really useful....

I have to admit, I am not sure I would pay the price, but it doesn't seem unfair given the manufacturing processes involved.

I also think that Fridge's point was that it is being sold on it's aesthetic properties, rather than it's protection ablitites. Fashion seems to be a very strange thing, and I would never claim to understand it, but I am afraid I agree with Fridge that it really has come to something when you can buy cast red diff protection as a fashion accessory....

Mark

[Lara]

Some people buy a complete Defender as a fashion accessory

Lara

[FridgeFreezer]

As Mark said, my reason for posting was not the product or the engineering behind it (you either like it & buy it, or you don't), but the fact that a company such as Devon are openly marketing stuff based on how cool it makes you look. It's the sort of thing one might have expected that sort of bull from Scrapiron back in the day

[Steve Hiatt]

I thought most bolt ons were bought as fashion accessories? FF, you need to spend a little less time in Russia and and more time in a Tesco car park. The pseudo snorkel market must be far larger than just selling to people who actually go off road?

[Hybrid_From_Hell]

Like the 90 I saw today filing up

Had a leccy winch on the front, green mould on the cable, and the wire held in with the delivery twist wire.

I too was filling up with the 90 V8

The chap wandered over and asked about the 90, when I asked about his he said "Its the wifes"

When I asked if it was ever used off road ? he said "God No,... its my wifes No 3 baby "

"And the front winch" I asked ?

"She wanted one as the other mums at school had them , its not even wired up - its been there nearly

3 years" he laughed.

I didn't ......he walked off with a huff

Fridge, get with the times dude - your nearly as out of touch as me

Nige

[steve b]

Before this weekend steve, I would have agreed with you. However, having spent the day battling an ARB that did not want to stay enganged or disengaged, the ability to open the diff cover and poke it without dismantling the whole axle would have been really useful.

We discovered the fault within 5 minutes of starting the event, so having established that the issue was in fact diff related we chose to live with it rather than strip the axle down. Taking the pan off, and dealling with the offending seal (or bodging it one way or another) would have been really useful....

I have to admit, I am not sure I would pay the price, but it doesn't seem unfair given the manufacturing processes involved.

I also think that Fridge's point was that it is being sold on it's aesthetic properties, rather than it's protection ablitites. Fashion seems to be a very strange thing, and I would never claim to understand it, but I am afraid I agree with Fridge that it really has come to something when you can buy cast red diff protection as a fashion accessory....

Mark

fair point Mark , Looking at the D44 pic it does look as though its wide enough to allow for fiddling with the locker bits and bobs, @ Lara ...fashion.. not my strong point - ask PeterG

cheers

Steveb

[Top90]

Well, they do look nice.

But then so do a lot of other things that people bolt onto their Defenders that are quite often not needed or used.

I get the feeling a good old fashioned diff protector would do most of us non-extreme types. But there will always be those with plenty of cash that like a bit of bling. So the price looks OK. Having seen what people spend on their trucks I'm sure these will find buyers.

At least being Devon 4x4 you know the quality will be good.

[B reg 90]

I've been trying to ignore this thread for days..... However one bad monday at work and I can't resist...

What is the point of this thread? It serves no use apart from voice dubious opinion that seem to focus on taking the tiddle out of some folk for fitting a red diff pan, rather than sweating blood in the garage to make thier own.

I thought that this forum was supposed to be focused on useful land rover based info. I understood it was specifically NOT for random waffling like this post. A technical debate about why would you want a removable diff cover would fit this. A random rant 'no, no, no, no, no, no' about a specific company and the colour of the product is just boring and irritating. It also makes the forum seem elitist and a clique.

Personally I think threads like this are one of the reasons why this forum is going down hill.

Just my opinion.

Adrian

P.s. I fitted a sewer cap to my LR axles myself. However if I were doing the job again I would most definately consider a removable diff pan so that I could check the diff.