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Wow... the RRC is just a fantastic vehicle, isn't it? Incredible how modern it still looks, considering it was designed in 1969. And IMO, it still sets the standard for the way stock suspension should work off-road...

That sounds like the right piece of kit! I've fitted my Defender with a rotary-type marine battery selection /isolation switch, rather like this one, and mounted it on the front of the passenger seat base, where it's out of the way, but easily accessible.

A definite misjudgment on his part, and he'd be the first to say so! I'm just putting to bed the idea that the electronics of a D2 preclude deep water crossings. They are just one of many factors that make trucks and water a bad mix. Mouldy carpets, bent conrods, corroded brakes, diffs full of...

Yes, I remember seeing a pic where some vandals passed the winch cable over the top of the truck, attached the hook to the towbar, and then spooled it in with a paperclip in the controller socket...

Quite. I'm not sure what all the fuss is about. My brother has a diesel DII, and regularly fords water that is a bit too deep, and has to dry out the computer. They're not magic boxes: if you know how they work and don't just throw up your hands in horror at them, they're only a bit more of a...

It drives me crazy that so many things here in the UK cost about as much in £'s as they do in $'s in the States, even though the exchange rate is 1.6:1. For US made goods, I can perhaps understand it, but it seems to apply to goods made in the rest of the world too. In fact, it even applies to...

No, I do understand the principle! :) But I just think the upstream weight of the driveline is a smaller hammer than people imagine, by comparison with the power and torque generated by the engine in general - because it doesn't include the weight of the wheel.

I guess I can sort of be on board with that argument, although I am not convinced the mass of the driveline is such a big force in the scheme of things, especially as it's dissipated through all 4 wheels. I know the torque on all 4 axle-shafts increases as soon as the wheel grabs, but they would...

I agree with the last part. But why would spinning the tyres lead to breaking stuff like axle shafts? The driveline is on the "safe" side of the spinning mass of the wheel if it grabs suddenly.

Nice summary, w-squared! If you read his original post, the OP was trying to understand the advantages and disadvantages of running aggressive tyres, as against fitting chains only when aggressive tyres are needed. If you're likely to need the mud/snow grip only on a very occasional basis...

This is one excellent reason for buying a bigger diameter line than you need. Another reason is that over time, there will be some fraying and deterioration of the rope, and a bigger rope will remain well within the pulling capacity of your winch. Ditto any splices etc. I've run my 7/16 Amsteel...

That's true. Cars today are way more reliable and will almost certainly last more miles (though perhaps not more years) than cars of 30, 40 50 years ago. Thirty years ago, 100,000km was the point at which one expected to do an engine overhaul, and many cars had service intervals of 5000km. It...

I'm not sure - the only tow hitches I've had on my Discoverys have been pretty standard ones. I know the things you are talking about, though. I don't like the sound of them because it seems to me there's a lot of leverage twisting your bumper. A couple of struts going forward to the chassis...

No, sorry - I didn't get around to taking pics. The guys who did the fabrication thought they knew better than the drawing I made, so the thing didn't fit properly, and nor did I have easy access to the bolts, so fitting it and taking it off was a PITA. With the skid-plate, it must be dead easy...

I like the idea of the centre cross-member being extended for rock/tree sliders. I did something similar on my 6x6 Defender, where I designed a new crosss-member with channel-section "sleeves" that fitted over the existing chassis rails, and a central skidplate over the t-case, etc.. That way, I...

http://www.aerostich.com/prevent-or-repair/tire-repair/pumps-air-compressors/engineair-power-pump.html There we are! Pretty simple little device, and now you can even buy one! (The ones I had only came with the biggest of those adapters. I guess the other adapters in the pic are m/c specific?).

I am pretty sure the union couldn't stop them. It's an Indian company - if they wanted to move production elsewhere, what's to prevent it? But South Africa isn't that productive (and therefore not that cheap) due to labour/political issues. I would have thought India would be the logical place...

For the vast majority of these needs (possibly military excluded), can you say Ford Transit? Or Mitsubishi L200? "Simplicity" costs more than volume production - that's one reason other vehicles are vastly bigger sellers than Defenders. I'm not arguing that Land Rovers are crappy trucks - just...

The reality is, the market for 4WD utility vehicles is disappearing. Why would anyone need a Defender in Europe, when a Transit van will do the same job? Emergency services don't need simple, they need the same as everyone else: the long-term economy of mass production. So the police use Isuzu...