Sell defender? Keep defender? Something in between?

james6546 said:

All valid points.

I think with a bit more power and if I actually got the second tank working it would be a lot better.

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I've got an extended range tank i need to fit to mine. Looking forward to 600+ mile range I fitted a big intercooler on mine too (on £99 on ebay!) and thats helped a bit with the associated adjustment to the pump.

james6546 said:

I will invest in some time looking at expedition trailers. What impact would one have taking it in the sand in Morocco?

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i wouldnt buy one unless it comes up very cheap. Some people are wanting daft money for them. Ive taken the gay ass grizzly claw tyres that the owner before me had fitted and put matching 33 x 12.50's that i run on the csw on. That way if i have a puncture on anything i have a tyre to suit

vilguy said:

yerrrrr...when are you starting that again?

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just got another shed. so need to xfer all tools over to make it the workshop, then i be ready to rock n roll

trax said:

just got another shed. so need to xfer all tools over to make it the workshop, then i be ready to rock n roll

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you still picking up yer rooftent this weekend? to go on yer shiny camping trailer

vilguy said:

I've got an extended range tank i need to fit to mine. Looking forward to 600+ mile range I fitted a big intercooler on mine too (on £99 on ebay!) and thats helped a bit with the associated adjustment to the pump.

i wouldnt buy one unless it comes up very cheap. Some people are wanting daft money for them. Ive taken the gay ass grizzly claw tyres that the owner before me had fitted and put matching 33 x 12.50's that i run on the csw on. That way if i have a puncture on anything i have a tyre to suit

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There are a couple of sankeys on ebay at the moment. I'm tempted to get one actually.

i wouldnt pay any more than £400 for a normal widetrack.

Trailer would be an nightmare on the river gorges and mountains in Morocco mate, the trails are so tight some of them you have to reverse back and forth to get round, plus the ad hoc passing places on the mountains are barely long enough for a 110, you bring a trailer mate, Im going in front LOL

Did not see one 4x4 with a trailer in Morcco, nightmare isn't it?

Land Cruiser
110
G Wagon
Maybe a Patrol
Jeep Wrangler

Really only things used out there by Europeans, now the locals use, old W series Mercs Renault 12, 4, 11 and 21, you could get one of those.

MrNasty said:

Trailer would be an nightmare on the river gorges and mountains in Morocco mate, the trails are so tight some of them you have to reverse back and forth to get round, plus the ad hoc passing places on the mountains are barely long enough for a 110, you bring a trailer mate, Im going in front LOL

Did not see one 4x4 with a trailer in Morcco, nightmare isn't it?

Land Cruiser
110
G Wagon
Maybe a Patrol
Jeep Wrangler

Really only things used out there by Europeans, now the locals use, old W series Mercs Renault 12, 4, 11 and 21, you could get one of those.

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theres more places in the world to see than Morocco

vilguy said:

theres more places in the world to see than Morocco

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Damnit, but I want to go to Morocco! I did wonder about tight corners actually.

I still think I am going to keep it for now and as bankz says make better use of the storage and also maybe replace the worn out steering box, or at least work out how to adjust the backlash.

Anyone got any ideas on retrofitting air con? Why wouldn't I be able to duct the cold air into the heater air intake? Too many places to lose the cold air?

james6546 said:

Damnit, but I want to go to Morocco! I did wonder about tight corners actually.

I still think I am going to keep it for now and as bankz says make better use of the storage and also maybe replace the worn out steering box, or at least work out how to adjust the backlash.

Anyone got any ideas on retrofitting air con? Why wouldn't I be able to duct the cold air into the heater air intake? Too many places to lose the cold air?

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steering box - easy its a nut and allen screw on the top of the box, crack the nut open and hold it with a spanner whilst your gradually adjust the allen screw in. It doesnt take much adjustment to make a huge difference. Do it 1/8th of a turn at a time. Make sure your steering drop arm is dead ahead when you do this.

Aircon - depends on the year of your vehicle (I forget what yours is to be fair) but do a search and there is a few different options. Its not particuarly cheap though.

vilguy said:

steering box - easy its a nut and allen screw on the top of the box, crack the nut open and hold it with a spanner whilst your gradually adjust the allen screw in. It doesnt take much adjustment to make a huge difference. Do it 1/8th of a turn at a time. Make sure your steering drop arm is dead ahead when you do this.

Aircon - depends on the year of your vehicle (I forget what yours is to be fair) but do a search and there is a few different options. Its not particuarly cheap though.

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Ta, I will give that a go. The long road trip seems to have stopped the box leaking which is nice. Either that or it is empty...

I have seen the kits, but don't have a spare £2k, especially for a britpart kit . I was wondering if you could use a proper LR compressor where it normally goes, but then bits from a scrapyard for the rest, then duct it into the air box and suck it in with the normal fan. Mine is a 1998 300. I don't want that stupid shelf you normally get with aircon that gets in the way of your knees and just blows air up your shorts!

james6546 said:

Ta, I will give that a go. The long road trip seems to have stopped the box leaking which is nice. Either that or it is empty...

I have seen the kits, but don't have a spare £2k, especially for a britpart kit . I was wondering if you could use a proper LR compressor where it normally goes, but then bits from a scrapyard for the rest, then duct it into the air box and suck it in with the normal fan. Mine is a 1998 300. I don't want that stupid shelf you normally get with aircon that gets in the way of your knees and just blows air up your shorts!

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its something we will look at fitting for when we move to bulgaria. I couldnt survive there without aircon

One thing to bear in mind is if fitting the LR aircon is you loose quite a bit of leg room, especially on the passenger side! Might be worth doing a bulkhead removal gain back a couple inches.

Especially since you have van sides, your options for space creating is endless. I did see one excellent use of the roof. A chap made a drop down shelf style thing that sat in the curved part of the roof and used the entire space. Quick pull of a lever and it dropped down to allow storage for multiple items while not really taking up any space.

Lots of potential for top wheel arch storage too.

Few quick pics I found -

bankz5152 said:

One thing to bear in mind is if fitting the LR aircon is you loose quite a bit of leg room, especially on the passenger side! Might be worth doing a bulkhead removal gain back a couple inches.

Especially since you have van sides, your options for space creating is endless. I did see one excellent use of the roof. A chap made a drop down shelf style thing that sat in the curved part of the roof and used the entire space. Quick pull of a lever and it dropped down to allow storage for multiple items while not really taking up any space.

Lots of potential for top wheel arch storage too.

Few quick pics I found -

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Those looks really good. Bet they aren't cheap tho. I might have a go at making my own draw for the load area. The main problem is fridge vents.

I have gone with some tracking down the sides which works really well, and the ikea boxes fit past the other side of them and stay in place with the help of a bungee.



From my trip I have found that the big net across the top is useless. The side ones are good, but I think I am going to make something else.

I wanted it to be mostly removable because I didn't know whether I was keeping the 90 or not, but I have a good idea what I am going to do now. I'm keeping the bottom row above the wheel arches the same, other than maybe making a front for the right hand one side so you just have to bungee across the top. Then I'm going to make a high level metal framework out of angle ali and either MDF or perspex.

The MSS stuff is pretty good but sheesh expensive. I have their cubby and one of the storage units for the back. £500!

I about cried

Speak to Ken, AKA, Old'un he is having air-con fitted to his 1995 300tdi 110. I have to compromise my 110 in keeping with going to Morocco, no big lift, no big remap and variable turbo etc. Compromise, compromise all the bloody time.

vilguy said:

you still picking up yer rooftent this weekend? to go on yer shiny camping trailer

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yeah should be, let me confirm for deffo later on.

no problemo

wonder if you can rinse a rooftop aircon from a refrigerated truck or something

trax said:

wonder if you can rinse a rooftop aircon from a refrigerated truck or something

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you see some of them on caravans etc. that look pretty small.

Could move the fridge onto a wheel arch a build a box below it? Gets it out the way, vents are free + storage draw/box