It was great to meet you. We will have to continue the conversation when you are presented with a medal if you manage to read my dribble from end to end

Hope you have a great Christmas.

I ended up having to leave Oscar the V8 at home as I didn't have time to change the wheel. Dead glad that I left it behind too! The potholes got bigger and worse as I got further into Sussex today. So took Mona the ML down to the coast for the Christmas dog walk. Found a flooded car park, that no matter what I was driving, I would have played in But would have enjoyed it more if I had been in one of the Range Rover's, but kicked my other half out of the car to get a video anyway. I took screen shots from that video.

Can't wait to get both fatties sorted though. I currently have 275 40 20 Tyres on the wheels that are on the V8, and these are putting it bluntly, no good for L322's, but I saw a member from a club I run with the same wheels and 275 45 20's on his wheels, and they haven't suffered from any cracks. So I plan to change to the 45 profile tyres ASAP.

I am now banning myself from driving until the 27th as I for the 1st time in 2 years, After I got home, I decided to drink the Asti that was bought for me for Christmas And soon going to enjoy what little of a Christmas dinner I can eat. Then spend the 26th recovering.

I used to run 275 45's on mine, looked miles better than the standard 255 50's without sacrificing ride quality too much.

ML's looking well.

I run 275 50 20's on range sport sized Overfinch rims.. the tyres are decent value. and are rated for the Range. they are a big old boot, and do make the steering heavy, when parking. but they fill out the wheel wells great.. with no rubber outside of the arches etc. I feel standard sport tyres, on fatties, look lost at normal road height. p.s. I did a speedo check at 30mph, and 50, and 70.. with a phone app, and they are spot on. (matches the speedo perfect. ) mine have been on about 4-5 years.

Love the photos of the flooded car park, I love finding puddles to drive through in the range. My kids love it when the water splashes the screen and windows (Mrs don’t like it... but who cares). 😂 2004 Autobiography TD6 Java Black

2019 is ending on an all time low. My dog who had cancer and was given 3 weeks to live to but went on for 6 more months made it through Christmas, and today, after a long day out, she just collapsed, the cancer had taken over everything and spread really fast over the last month. So had to take her to be put down. We had her for 13 years. My house feels soo empty without her, my Jack Russell is very sad.

Something inside me last night just made me say to my partner, that we need to take the dogs out for a special day out. I am glad we did.

This situation has totally destroyed me. I rescued Tia when she was a puppy from a nasty druggy family in Hastings, and will treasure her memories forever. She was a kind, loving, compassionate dog who was kind and generous to all the dogs that I used to bring home between housing them and taking them to and from the rescue centre that I used to volunteer at.

I am going to and already miss having to climb over her in every doorway that I wanted to go through, and her barking at me every time I put the ball in the ball launcher for my Jack Russell as she didn't like chasing balls, and didn't like him playing with them either. I am glad that my Range Rover, Oscar, named after my Greyhound who died 3 years ago, didn't breakdown or get another flat tyre today while we were out.

114 mile round trip, Going through Sussex & Kent, went to Camber, Greatstone on Sea, Hamstreet for some byway driving, (These wheels and road tyres perform surprisingly well on Marshland), and only 1 hissy fit where it went into Transfer Neutral and refused to go back to normal for a while. Diagnostics came up with Noise on Transfer Box Actuator.

So Oscar was put through the same flood at Camber, twice, but was too busy to get a video of it going through. Then went on to Marshlands, and finished with a jet wash to make sure the worst of the mud and sand was cleaned off before coming home.

Today has cemented my attachment to the car even further, but as I had to use the smoky ML to take Tia to the Vets, I now am fully attached to that.

I have now pulled the fuse for the headlight washer system as the passenger headlight wiper motor seized with the wiper arm in the upright position. Just adjusted the arm to the normal position and bolted in place

But with what happened 2 days ago, I have had little to no energy or motivation to anything other than essential work, and 1 easy job that I could do sitting down. So the ML has had the headlights restored, and stereo system that used to be in my Disco 3 installed into it.

I attempted to get the cracked wheel to a company I have used in the past as the web page stated open on the 28th, so drove to Tonbridge to find a hand written sign on the door stating closed until the 2nd January. So I will be taking the wheel down to be repaired on the 2nd January.

Although I love winter driving etc... I am looking forward to spring / summer, so I can get on with working on all the cars as jobs are starting to stack up on all of them.

This one now screeches horrendously when the brakes are pressed, and despite the rear brakes having only covered around 3000 miles, they sound like they need changing again

Because of the wheel, I decided to take Mona the ML Saturday for a day out to the coast, trying it out on the muddy marshland. Low range actually makes the ML's terrible on Marshland, and although I love the ML, It doesn't even come close to the comfortability and abilities of the L322's. But enjoyed myself anyway.

However, today, I decided to get the repaired wheel back on the car and give Oscar a bath. But Oscar now has a new strange issue. There is a whining noise under the bonnet. Further investigation is needed. I checked the belt and other components that I could see, and no signs of rubbing, so thinking that maybe the alternator bearings may be going. I know that this alternator is original to the car at 132000 miles and 18 years. For now, I will keep using it as it is until something goes wrong as I know it is under warranty

I had a passer by stop and chat to me about the Range Rover, he saw me finishing fitting the rear wheel, and he commented, I see these are nothing but trouble, I responded, not in my experience, over 3 years with this one, over 18 months with the TD6, and only reason this one is jacked up is because I think I must have fitted a dented alloy or hit a pot hole, so just fitting the repaired wheel, other then that, superb and reliable. He was genuinely surprised

I love re-educating mis-informed people. I have had other people comment at how often I have the bonnets up on my cars and seem to be working on them a lot, I can honestly say, I spend more time fitting upgrades, than doing repairs, and the bonnets normally only open when I am having to carry out routine maintenance

Would you believe the insurance saga is still on going (Not the company ). I am having one final stab at getting the fault changed to non fault, then giving up, I seriously don't have the fight in me anymore, and it isn't long now until my insurance is up for renewal, which means I get to change insurance companies Going over to a traders policy by the looks of things next due to 2020's plans and the amount of vehicles I am acquiring.

But the V8 is going to be off the road (literally) for a few days, while I fit a new lens to the indicator and fit the front light guards, plus may tick some other jobs off if I get the chance. I also need to reset the electrical systems after the headlight wiper motor failing has caused EEPROM error message to come up after the fuse was removed to stop the battery from draining.

I think 2020 will be the year I am forced to get rid of 1 or both my fatties though, and upgrade, but not sure yet. Now the Turbo has been done on the TD6, I love that even more, but every time I get in this one, any thoughts of selling it vanish. But 1 person who at the moment drives 2 Range Rovers and an ML to myself, will be adding a Campervan in 5 days time to that mix. So 4 vehicles to myself. And even I have to admit that is ridiculous.

Ramble over. I am finally getting tired.

Despite currently being penniless, I decided with the forecasted weather, that I needed to pull my thumb out of my backside. As a temporary measure, I have now stuck a cracked lens to the light that had the lens pulled off. Also got to reset my ECU as it has thrown a wobbly following the headlight wiper failure and the fuse being pulled to stop the battery drain.

My other half wasn't too happy to find my V8 on the garden again

If I have time, I may spin the car round and take the suspension compressor out ready to be rebuilt next week. Not sure yet though.

ECU threw a wobbly because of the headlight wiper motor All sorted now though. Also the indicator lens is now replaced and sorted.

However insurance renewal is due next month, and I have looked at the finances, and how much it is going to cost to insure 3 4x4's and a motorhome as well as our C-Max. Oscar just isn't getting used enough. So his original 20" wheels are going back, and he is for sale for the final time. This time he has to go. I also need to free the cash up as my wonderful pet insurance company have rejected most of the claim that should have covered my poor dog being put down in December as she was rushed into the vets out of normal hours, and I have had to pay for a lot of repairs on the ML, TD6 and now the C-Max is throwing a wobbly. So sadly, Oscar really does have to go.

A real shame as not a lot wrong with it to be fair.

Well, that decision was short lived. Today was the deadline that I needed the money for, and that now means Oscar is passively for sale. not sad that it didn't sell fast enough to be honest, so Oscar stays

Mona the ML is being stored free at the moment a garage who are happily delaying working on it while they catch up on other vehicles, but that will more than likely only see me through a week lol. I now own my friends campervan, another set of bills to add to the list. But my friend is having it back in a years time. So now I have, Oscar, Tank, MoFo Max, Mona and Betty

It needs a deep clean s you can see.

Found a moment of motivation, not having a great day health wise, so mostly resting up, which is when I find the most motivation (conveniently), best excuse to not do something is when you want to but actually can't or shouldn't. Anyway, after doing a couple of jobs with the campervan and Tank, I looked at Oscar and decided, screw it, before the rain starts again, I am getting that suspension compressor out. Someone has been at it before though Wires weren't secured to the side and only 2 out of the 4 bolts were actually done up to hold it in place. I am not sure at this point in time if I will be tackling the rebuild using BagPipingAndy's kit today or not as I am having to admit defeat on a lot of things today. I was going to give myself a 2 day deadline to get this done, but as you can see in the pictures, rust has reared its ugly head in the spare wheel well, and while the compressor is out, I want to tackle that before it turns into anything more than surface corrosion.

Also hoping at the weekend to taking the blue seats out, and fitting the grey ones that I have.

I have started tackling little jobs now as MOT time is coming up pretty fast.

Must have gotten ants in my pants, Compressor got rebuilt as I was bored and now back on the car. Shocked at the difference it has made.

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Last edited by ur20v on 4th Oct 2021 2:30pm. Edited 1 time in total