Davidss commented on my post on the Diesel pipe shenanigans last Saturday on the uk-lro mailing list – pointing out he could remember when I couldn’t figure out how to change the rear wiper blade on the P38A (set it moving and pop the tailgate when it reaches the centre!)
I’m actually quite proud of where I’ve got to since then: last night I stripped one of the hubs on the Dakar and replaced the oil seal and bearings. I’ll hopefully get to the other side before the weekend is out. It all got a bit hairy on reassembly when the brakes wouldn’t fit. That one definitely came under the heading of “I’d have had no idea where to start a few years ago”.
The Haynes Bumper Book of Jokes is a bit vague. It says – in the absence of a dial gauge to measure end-float – to tighten the first hub nut until there’s no detectable end-float, and back it off until you can just barely detect movement.
On the third refit of the calliper, I discovered that “whack the first nut on with an air gun, and back it off until the wheel turns freely” is a more accurate description of to get everything in the right place. Anything less and the New! Shiny! disk fouls on the calliper.
I’m still debating doing the front one, or leaving that for the garage. The front one seems rather more complex.
Yes, I’ve learned an awful lot since that fateful day in September 2000 when the addiction started. Thanks to everyone who helped!
There’s a HUGE element of confidence in much of this stuff. Having the second vehicle is a huge bonus: I can play with one to my heart’s content, knowing the other one will get me to work in the morning if necessary. It’s very easy to read the stories of stripped threads, heating siezed nuts to red hot to free them, and take the shiny new socket set back to Halfords and never attempt it.
I have to confess I don’t particularly enjoy being sat on the ground up to my wrists in EP90 doing this stuff. I enjoy being able to do it. I enjoy being able to fix things in an emergency. But most of the maintenance work is just that – work! I do it to learn, and to save on garage bills.
But there is only one way to do this stuff, and that involves a socket set, a trolley jack, and, oh, probably about another £1,000 I’ve spent on tools since I first got the Range Rover. I’ve saved that several times over in garage bills, though, so I’m a happy man!