The Duchess is now steering better than ever, but the wise old mechanic said that the next place to look would be the Radius Arm Bushes if I wasn't happy. This has got me wondering if there's more improvement to be had. Is there a way to tell how good/bad the bushes are from a visual inspection?
Then if they are suspect, does anyone happen to have one of these?
http://www.lrseries.com/shop/product/listing/7650/3809/LRT-60-004-BUSH-FITTING-TOOL.html
that maybe I could borrow?
If not, would it be something we could buy/share as a group?
Lpgc wrote:
realised I may have some time toward the end of this month.
Oh, you do, do you?
(just kidding, they're both running great - thanks!)
So, you probably don't want this one either?
:D
Although, to be fair, it's a much nicer example
OK, it's not ebay and it's not a P38 but... I'd love this!
https://tinyurl.com/y8tyqkhm
even if it won't do Gilbert's blood pressure any good ;)
Bloody Hell! I'm massively impressed and not a little jealous.
hehe, and fix the satnav, cd player and cruise control....
Although, if either of the first two turn out to be expensive I think it's time for an Android tablet/headunit.
Victory!
Just done about 500 miles down to Salisbury and back and she's much less of a handful. Hitting surface changes on a slip road used to be a white knuckle ride, no longer :)
We even got 3.3 miles per litre on the motorway run back (although that wasn't a refill from the same pump).
Well you've had a bit of a mission! If mine doesn't start steering straight very soon you might be unlucky enough to get a visit ;)
Yes, there's a bit of tension building!
It's not really big bumps, it's asymmetric bumps. If you hit a speed hump straight on, no problem. If you hit one at an angle the wheel will tank slap left and right 3-5 times in about a second. There's also a lot of vagueness in the steering, especially when on cambers. It adds up to making a wide car feel even wider on narrow roads.
She needed a rear hub as well :)
Bah. The Duchess is still in dry dock :( They had a merry time with the ball joints, although they're on the way back in now. The guy doing them knocked off because he'd had enough and they're waiting on an oil seal for the rear axle. Apparently it was leaking so they may as well do it while they're there. Monday night - fingers crossed!
I'm hoping it won't take them too long to do one side of the front, and put new drag link, track rod, panhard bushes and roll bar links in when building it back up. At least they'll be able to hack away at a lot of the old stuff without worrying about putting it back later. The next step is obviously tracking it all up afterwards, I daren't send them the RAVE pages as they get grumpy when soft-handed office types try to tell them their job - but I can get the "specialist" to track it for £50 if necessary. I reckon Smiler would call that a bargain ;)
Oh, they've got presses and a load of experience. I was just surprised when the "Land Rover Specialist" had to turn down the job. Apparently he has recently moved location and lost access to diagnostics and Land Rover tools. I'm not sure what he story is there :(
If the locals have the bits, happy days. They're far too old and wiley to give a fixed price, but they're not gougers either. Basically the two old boys (in their 70s) use their brains and the young lads get to do the heavy lifting.
Hah! that makes total sense :)
The next question is: Have my local garage over-promised or do they have the special axle spacing tool thingy. Watch this space (but don't bother tuning in until Thursday)
Folks, am I right to assume that if you're changing the lower balljoint one one side you'd also do the upper balljoint at the same time?
They're pretty much the gold standard...
12 ton ram doesn't do it? Hell, no wonder we spent hours on Marty's!
Something like a Nanocom. Honestly, they're worth the cash.
Gilbertd wrote:
Welcome, although you might notice a few differences here from the other place. There's no admin to argue with (or ban you when you do) and we refer to the parts of the car as they are meant to be so you'll need to learn English. So it isn't a hood, it's a bonnet, it has wings not fenders and tyres are spelt correctly.
It'll be a hell of a trip if you want to join us on a summer camp though. But you'd be more than welcome (as long as you buy everyone a pint).......
Don't worry about Gilbert, I think his pet cat was run over by a Cadillac or something. Everyone knows a Fender is a type of guitar....
Well, that was a long time ago... but not long enough to forget how shit Defenders really are :)