Masochistic Early Midlife Crisis - Old Land Rover Content

Dismantled the driver side front hub this morning after picking up a couple of bits from a Land Rover specialist down the road.

Inner and outer bearings replaced - the outer one was worn to the point of collapse - lots of sharp metal shards. New bearings installed and everything back together. Road test proved fine and I jacked it up afterwards to check for play and there was none. The job was a simple nuts and bolts job but had the added complication of having to remove the brake caliper to do the job and subsequent brake bleed.

Total cost £35 and a couple of hours.

There is a knock from the steering at certain times so have investigated today. Turns out the upper steering UJ is a bit knackered. Cheap at £12. More annoying is the rust blister on the bulkhead corner that has turned into a hole. In true Land Rover style, I've gaffer taped it for the moment until I can fill it.

Looking good. I’m going to visit Prospeed when the time comes.

The wheels primarily.

Been adding stuff in anticipation of a three day laning trip.  The tyre is a remould with almost identical pattern to my BFGs but at nearly half the price. It’s mounted on a spare alloy I had lying around. 




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I bought a new CB rig for a planned multi-Legacy trip around Europe that never got off the ground in the end, sadly. I think truckers still use them, not sure if they come under the same usage rules as mobiles do though, as all you really need to do is press a button? 

That's looking pretty good Mark, you wouldn't think it was a 90's example.

It looks pretty good, even if I do say so myself. There are a few bits that need attention. Driver seat box end needs replacing and the paint is tatty up close. The thing is, as a Land Rover, it really doesn’t matter.

The nature of the conversation is different. Two way radio conversations are brief, to the point, short in length. Phone conversations, where both parties can talkbat the same time, are more like a normal conversation but I seem to recall that studies have shown that the fact that the other party isn't there, like in a proper face to face conversation, adds to the amount of concentration taken away from other tasks. It was something like that anyway.

I've seen the argument, over and over again, on Arsebook pages, that the police shouldn't be allowed to use radios whilst driving if Johnny Public can't use his phone. 

Yes it’s one of those daft loopholes that should be closed. I have no problem with CB radios being used by the emergency services or off road.

The car looks good. We'll have to find some lanes to try out around here when the time comes!

I've just looked that up and it seems 4x4s are banned?

It’s bad news (or good, depending on which way you look at it) when the only working car in the household is a TVR!

Went to collect the take away last night and the Land Rover got halfway up the hill to the main road before juddering violently under load. It thought it was going to shake itself to bits. I returned home at a crawl and dashed inside the house for the keys to the MX-5 which refused to start due to its battery being flat. TVR is is then.

We were meeting friends for lunch today so I got up early to have a look. The symptoms were typical of major universal joint failure and indeed, that is what is was. I am more than a little irritated as I replaced both propshafts in February and they were only greased a few weeks ago. A call will be made to the supplier tomorrow.

Well, credit where it’s due, Paddocks are sending out a new one without argument. They did lose points making me pay half for express shipping as they were going to send it on the standard service which was too slow for me. They don’t want the old one back either which is a bonus.