How long is a piece of string?

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mrwoppit

New Member
Posts
103
Location
Didcot, Oxfordshire
Hi All,

I need to renew the oil seals, wheel bearings and brakes (shoes, cylinders & drums) on the rear of my 88".

I have all the parts (I think) but have no idea of either how tricky a job this is or how long it will take to do.

While I realise that timing of any job and the perception of how complex it is depends on many uncertain factors, any rough suggestion of how long the job will take and its comparative complexity would be much appreciated.
Think keen amateur with little experience but much enthusiasm :)

Thanks in advance all.
 
Id guess a weekend, obviously depends on skill etc, but for sure once youve worked out how to do one side the other will be done in half the time
 
In college on the ramps with a technician with 25 yrs experience stood by me with all their tools etc... 2 hours + or - 1hr.

On my drive using my limited set of rubbish tools with a Haynes manual, all morning and possibly afternoon. It all depends on if something goes wrong which for me on those jobs was seized wheel cylinder nuts and brake pipes, putting the wheel hub assembly back together incorrectly (rushing because of failing light!) and working out how best to put the shoes and springs back on.

So I would start at first light Sat morning and don't expect to be finished until teat time but if all goes well you'll be home and dry for lunch :D
 
Thanks for the replies.
Hmm... brake pipes... might be worth having some spares as I've yet to remove a pipe on my landy that hasn't twisted and broken.
Damn good point that!

In fact, I might just get myself a coil of pipe, some connectors and a flaring tool. Might make life a lot easier.

Is copper brake pipe worth going for? Seems to be cheap, easily available and should be easier to bend and flare, but is it a little too delicate for Landy purposes?

No one has mentioned complexity yet. Is this a difficult job?
I have the Haynes Manual and the LR green book to help me out. I never trust the Haynes difficulty rating, but that doesn't seem to think it's too complex.

I know my way round a spanner and I've tackled various other jobs on the Landy, but for some reason this one has me concerned as to whether I'll just end up making things worse.

Thanks all!
 
mrwoppit said:
Thanks for the replies.
Hmm... brake pipes... might be worth having some spares as I've yet to remove a pipe on my landy that hasn't twisted and broken.
Damn good point that!

In fact, I might just get myself a coil of pipe, some connectors and a flaring tool. Might make life a lot easier.

Is copper brake pipe worth going for? Seems to be cheap, easily available and should be easier to bend and flare, but is it a little too delicate for Landy purposes?

No one has mentioned complexity yet. Is this a difficult job?
I have the Haynes Manual and the LR green book to help me out. I never trust the Haynes difficulty rating, but that doesn't seem to think it's too complex.

I know my way round a spanner and I've tackled various other jobs on the Landy, but for some reason this one has me concerned as to whether I'll just end up making things worse.

Thanks all!
Click to expand...

They both have there advantage,and place on a vehicle
 
None of those jobs are difficult but there's always scope for snapping off a bolt or whatever.

Download the LR workshop manuals (google land rover manuals pdf) they're better than haynes by a long chalk.

Cunifer brake pipe every time, doesn' rust, is less brittle and a million times easier to work with.

Take a few good pictures of where all the springs and bits and bobs go in the brakes. It's dead easy to mix up where the springs should go afterwards!
 
Even the land rover manual is rubbish where the brake spring positions are concerned. Make notes and drawings and take photos too! It's not a hard job and a couple of hours a side should do it if you have the right tools and nothing breaks. The first problem is often the drum - it'll probably be ridged and won't come off over the shoes. Try releasing the bleed screw and tap the drum fore and aft. There may be a threaded hole in the drum that you can put a bolt through to push the drum off.
A hub nut spanner helps as does the right size spanners for the brake cylinders. You'll need a long punch and a big hammer to get the bearing races out of the hub. Don't lose the wheel cylinder nuts, they rarely come with new ones. Don't forget the drive flange gasket - a smear of Hylomar helps here, I've found.
 
Thanks all. Excellent advice as ever and much appreciated.
Looks like the wife may have scuppered the plans to do the work this weekend, but when I get a pass I'll be sure to take the advice and plenty of pictures of the springs, etc. to aid the rebuild :D
 
Well, last Thursday saw me ready to get going on this bright and early (11am, damned family getting in the way of the landy ;) ).
I ended up with an assistant (7 years old) who turned out to be a god send in terms of cleaning things up as I figured things out.
By 4pm it was all done bar a test drive, despite having to take it apart and rebuild several times due to silly errors.
So, all in all, not a tricky job at all and I'm very glad I did it.
The major downside is that I now feel I can tackle pretty much anything which I can see getting me into a world of trouble in the not too distant future ;)

Thanks for the advice and encouragement all, very much appreciated as ever.
​
 
mrwoppit said:
Well, last Thursday saw me ready to get going on this bright and early (11am, damned family getting in the way of the landy ;) ).
I ended up with an assistant (7 years old) who turned out to be a god send in terms of cleaning things up as I figured things out.
By 4pm it was all done bar a test drive, despite having to take it apart and rebuild several times due to silly errors.
So, all in all, not a tricky job at all and I'm very glad I did it.
The major downside is that I now feel I can tackle pretty much anything which I can see getting me into a world of trouble in the not too distant future ;)

Thanks for the advice and encouragement all, very much appreciated as ever.
​
Click to expand...

Nice work :) assistants are always useful for cleaning stuff! Just waiting for my nephew to be a bit older...

It's how it starts... I started by attempting to replace the suspension when i first got mine... that gave me the convidence to then do anything, so, 2 engine swaps (inc. upgrade) rebuilt axles, re-wired the whole thing, fettled new bits for it, it just goes on and on.

I'm now on the look out for a cheap old G/B to strip and re-build in the work shop :eek: - still have no idea what i'm doing, but, it all works and it passes an MOT each year :D

Oh and FYI - copper brake pipe on the Landy works fine. Not had any problems with mine in the last few years :)
 
One week and 70 miles later and it's looking like a good fix.
No oil seeping from the axles, brakes work, new copper brake pipes (made up and flared myself) and fittings are holding up.
Stupidly pleased with myself :D

Wipac Crystal H4 headlights turned up today...
Think it's time to bite the bullet and tackle my incomprehensible wiring once more, though I've heard that for 55w halogens I may not need a relay as the drain is similar to the originals, so may just be a "straight forward" swap.
Not sure anything on the Landy is straight forward, especially when it comes to the electrics, but we'll see this weekend I guess :D
 
If the wiring colours are original its a doddle - if its been messed around its a nightmare!

55W ones should be ok with original wiring I'd have thought. Let us know how you get on. I'm torn between putting some Halogens on or refitting the stoopid spotlights I had before - they look daft but make dodging deer and sheep at night at lot easier...
 
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