Tales from the shop.

[nacho man]

Guaranteed to be at least 50% worse than Barry cades tales from the two poster thread.

I work for a small firm. We have a workshop full of dusty parts, for pumps we sold years ago and are now obsolete. It's the sort of place we're anything goes, no real health and safety, we will have a go at anything.

There are lots of pretty interesting bits going off here and there to to with mechanical things so I will try and share a few every now and then when I am out of the office.

The gaffer saw the unit next to ours had purchased a two post lift.

What a good idea he thought. We should get one.

It was cheap £1400 all in. Can lift 4t apparently. It's basically two fork lift rams powered by an electric motor and a hydraulic valve to lower, we have three phase in the workshop so was wired in easily enough.

We spent ages getting it all level and plum.

They offered to fit it for £400.

It took us three days to get it up and running.

Should of got them to fit it.



It didn't fall over, which was nice.

We have no mechanics. We have one fitter who is crap. One pump engineer who is brilliant. One electrician who is cracking. One fabricator who is quite accident prone. Some office staff and 12 operatives who are in the yard/workshop when they ain't out on jobs. We're all a bunch of misfits/oap's/criminals etc etc

First job was to sort a fuel leak on the second of two discos that have done 330k and 360k, I run the 360k one as my daily and to be honest it's bob on, gearbox is a tad clunky sometimes. But what do you expect.

Only last week we had crawled underneath pissing about changing a fuel cooler or a 2008 defender that has a very hard life pulling a drill rig about.

Here is one having a lick of paint in the sun today.



Turned out the same cooler is fitted to the discovery 4's.



You could see fuel pissing out, there them quick connection thingy me bobs. It came off easy and only because we I had done one on the defender I knew they should have a rubber seal inside, this one didn't.



One cheap and nasty silver line o ring bashed it, and bish bash bosh it didn't leak.

The lines also go brittle from constant heat cycling but they seemed okay.

Then a quick look over showed this bottom bush is knackered.



But it was Friday afternoon, so it was left till next week.

To be continued.........















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[djimbob]

This thread has much shite potential, keep up the good work sir

[nacho man]

Here a few odd jobs I had pictures off from the last few months.

 

Soz Dan I had little bump in the ranger.

 

 

Oh don't look too bad.

 

 

Wooooh there.

 

The crash bar did a mega job of taking the impact. Rad and intercooler untouched.

 

 

Took a bit to strip it down and get a second hand one ordered. Currently in the spray booth awaiting paint. We bought some correct white. And was under strict instructions to only use 10% thinners.

 

The paint was way to thick and didn't come out. We put more thinners in and the finish was crap. So left it for now.

 

 

Spray both currently being used to dry wellies.

 

Next up I was off to look at a hydraulic pump. Apparently it only run last year.

 

 

Turned out they was bought ten years ago to export, but was probably rejected for being a pile of shit.

 

Wouldn't turn over. Whipped the starter out to be greeted by at least a tonne bag of sand in there.

 

 

It don't look too bad there, but there was friggin loads.

 

Anyhow pissed about for ages to get it to run. Had to cobble together some fuel hose. Then had to knock up a load of fittings to get our gauge to work.

 

 

Turned out it couldn't deliver the goods.

 

Nice day out on a farm though.

 

Next up was a job for the environment agency on the Isle of Wight.

 

12 grands worth of steel later we knocked up 3 tanks.

 

 

The fisherman wouldn't move there boats out the harbour. So the job was called off.

 

Got three fuck off tanks sat outside now.

 

 

 

 

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[nacho man]

Crew help me out with a conundrum.

Two defenders 2008. Costing a friggin fortune in upkeep. One 4k last year the other not far off.

When there loaded up to the max with a rig and some casing there about 6.5t all in. There on tachos before you ask.

Anyhow one of them blew the transfer box at 11pm last night, after recovery, the lads didn't get to his digs till 5am.

Tar came out. All 0.2ltrs off it. Yeah maybe that was the problem..





It runs now the fresh oil is in 2.4 ltrs, but it makes a racket all right. £500 odd quid for a new transfer box.



Righto.

They need to be good off road

Half decent on road

Cant be over 20-30k, hopefully take two defenders in px as well.

Need to be able to tow 2-3 tonne and carry 1 tonne.


Rang Iveco this morn to enquire about one of these



But at 65k its a no from me.

So went on a drive to look at this.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/IVECO-DAILY-4X4-55S18W-SNOW-PLOUGH-GRITTER-5-5-TONNE-RARE-VEHICLE-100VANS-COM-/401280412554?hash=item5d6e2d2b8a:g:SJkAAOSw2gxYv7oI



Was ok, but being a gritter every fitting was rotten and it looked bad underneath really for 20k, also I suspect getting parts for the 4x4 system wont be easy.

Also Iveco.

Looked at a few sprinters but I am not sure about the ride height? Same with transits.

So what can we use????

Help a brother out.

[Kiltox]

Wish I had a sound enough floor in my workshop for a 2 poster like that, they really are a bargain these days

[Tayne]

Not convinced you'll find one here....

 

 

[NorfolkNWeigh]

I wondered if there was a proper utility version of the G-Wagen, seems there's not.

What about some sort of Yank, presumably capable for towing and cheap to buy( relatively)

 

Of course, one of these would be the AS choice

[Lacquer Peel]

Sprinter 4x4s are okay off road but not ideal. The torque split is locked at something like 30/70 front to rear which means they struggle with slopes and ditches.

Fine for fields and building sites.

[hairnet]

panda cross

[nacho man]

Them ford rangers don't look too bad, we have seen some at 15-18k plus vat on 16 plates, they can tow 3.5t as well, just dont know if there upto the job of being hammered day in day out.

 

Good info about the sprinters as well, thanks.

[spike60]

As you are aware gritters will be crusty everywhere, we have a Merc wagon gritter and the body is ok but everything else isn't, especially alloy stuff.

[Tayne]

There is a utility G wagon but you're even less likely to find one here than a 70series TLC.

 

Also, wrong hand drive.

[Rod/b]

How about a 37 year old Unimog?

 

http://tnydu.biz/HeHCA

[Lacquer Peel]

There is a utility G wagon but you're even less likely to find one here than a 70series TLC.

 

Also, wrong hand drive.

http://www.mercedes-benz.com.au/content/australia/mpc/mpc_australia__website/en/home_mpc/passengercars/home/new_cars/models/g-class/G-Class_Professional.html

[DodgeRover]

Aussie Landcruiser ute.

You would have to import them used as I believe they don't meet the Euro specs on emisions so aren't sold new here

[Sheefag]

Here we go lads, £5,895.00

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Reynolds-Boughton-4x4-Renault-Dodge-50-ideal-Expedition-Overland-Camper-shootbus-/162441248000?hash=item25d240bd00:g:cpsAAOSwTM5Y0t5l#viTabs_0

 

[twosmoke300]

Would a disco 3 not be suitable ?

[twosmoke300]

Or maybe change the defender transmission oils every now and again ?

[nacho man]

Got a disco 3. Many many many failures and breakdowns.

 

Struggles pulling the rig to be honest.

 

They seem to need an awful lot of upkeep like the defenders.

[nacho man]

The defender was meant to have had a full service off all the fluids while it was away in Ireland just before xmas.

 

We paid a big bill to have it all done.

[Felly Magic]

I bet that G-Ute is about eleventy billion pounds knowing Merc, I suspect the place in Ireland did sod all, but still charged you

[Lord Sterling]

Iveco Unimog. Me and my colleague had to drive these two. Colleague drove the Unimog and I drove the LWB Van.

 

 

We're all a bunch of misfits/oap's/criminals etc...

FLOL. Sounds like the people I work with, they literally are misfits, OAPs and criminals. One of our drivers got arrested on the M40 near Oxfordshire and taken up to a court in Scotland.

[blackboilersuit]

I don't think you'll do better than the defenders in the long run TBH. 6.5ton fully up and being used by rig operators with no mechanical sympathy they will be taking a hammering. Trouble is the next step up is something like a unimog at ££££. Fewer issues yes but MEGA bucks to repair when something does go wrong which it will as its still being used by the same people.

LR parts are available everywhere and every garage can fix them so if you can't get it back to your workshop then having it fixed elsewhere won't be an issue. 

Even at £4k/year you might get a more reliable solution but I don't think you'll get a cheaper one. A mate of mine fixes vans and 4x4's for a small civils contracting firm that do a lot of work off the beaten track. They have an eye watering parts bill with the local factor as all the vehicles take an absolute hammering travelling miles on rough farm tracks loaded up every day. They've tried various solutions over the years and found throwing £1,000's in parts onto ex scrap yard vans every year to keep them going is the most cost effective solution.  

[Cavcraft]

Here a few odd jobs I had pictures off from the last few months.

 

Soz Dan I had little bump in the ranger.

 

 

Oh don't look too bad.

 

 

 

Wooooh there.

 

 

 

Was it a fault of the brakes? Could you hear the drums, Fernando?

[Asimo]

There have been no end of half-arsed, cobbled together 4wd vans and small trucks over the years, many bought by the British Army, to fill in between Landrover and proper big off road truck. None of them have been conspicious successes, perhaps because unless you were told what to buy by politicians, you bought the obvious.

 

Unimog.

 

A mate got one a year ago for his tree surgery business, and swears it is the best £15k he ever spent. Has exceeded expectations in every way. Best bit is that his blokes love using it, and consequently look after it!

 

This really is an empty market slot now that LR Defenders have gone. JCB should have a go, a 3/4 scale Fastrac could be ace.

[DodgeRover]

Those RB44s are ok but I doubt people would enjoy driving them like a defender.

Also old and questionable parts supply away from base.

[sheffcortinacentre]

Ford F series will be up to the job.

[cort16]

ecoboost

 

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2016-ford-F150-FX4-3-5-LITRE-ECOBOOST-AUTO-4X4-CREW-CAB-PICKUP-/132134724411?hash=item1ec3d7e33b:g:fKgAAOSw4YdY0nRV

[Sheefag]

Peugeot P4 anyone?

 

http://www.milweb.net/webvert/a2279

 

[cort1977]

Unimogs are great but jokes apart, an older diesel yank truck does sound like what you're looking for.   An F-250 diesel or chevy equivalent really is tough as old boots and built for off road and towing in a way that sprinters and discoverys are just not.   If you're getting a yank then you might as well get a full size, an F-150 might be OK but no diesel and not rated to tow as much.

 

Downside is LHD, size and thirst.  Parts would be cheap but might take a couple of days to find.   Plenty of people here use them as cars so there are lots around that have big miles but have not been worked hard.

 

https://houston.craigslist.org/cto/6052198020.html  GBP 12,500

 

https://houston.craigslist.org/ctd/6062810631.html GBP 28500 but just look at it!