[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by svsantosh

Now hoping this would +vely impact FE too.

In the overall run, not really.. But, if you do only highway runs in 5th gear, and constant speeds FE will improve.

I have experienced the same in my Jeep.

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM

XD3P engine is notorious for consuming belts, please be careful.

From the horses mouth. Interesting!

I have a question:
Did you ever change a fanbelt on either the first lot of 500DPs, or the Armada Grand, as a roadside job? And any comments on the same?

Regards
Sutripta

[svsantosh]

Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM

Dear Santosh - why did you put a bush in the steering column? It is a retrograde step and steering effort will increase. I have never encountered wear of this bearing, however, new bearing should be available. XD3P engine is notorious for consuming belts, please be careful.

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

Dear Behram Sir,

Nice to see your inputs here, thx a lot. I will ensure to get that bearing from India Garage and change it ASAP. Also, please let me know your thoughts on causes for front leaf/axle wrapping under braking in my AG 4WD. Was it noticed by you or is it indicating worn main leaf in my AG.

Originally Posted by dhanushs

In the overall run, not really.. But, if you do only highway runs in 5th gear, and constant speeds FE will improve.

I have experienced the same in my Jeep.

Okay - do you think the engine would at least be less stressed (in the long run, thru every gear?)

Originally Posted by Sutripta

From the horses mouth. Interesting!
I have a question:
Did you ever change a fanbelt on either the first lot of 500DPs, or the Armada Grand, as a roadside job? And any comments on the same?
Regards
Sutripta

its not easy i presume!

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by svsantosh

Okay - do you think the engine would at least be less stressed (in the long run, thru every gear?)

In fact, its like having slightly lower differential ratios.

[svsantosh]

Finally i got to put this baby thru her 1st offroad trail... Recee'd a new spot near home and going to njoy some more challenging obstacles in my CJ. PS - Wife was busy cooking sunday lunch so I took along junior on trail with full backup kit for a baby. Me and my 2 friends had fun feeding him and keeping him engaged along the trail...!!

[svsantosh]

forgot to add to ^ post - finally got a skid plate fit to my AG

[svsantosh]

Next mod done

always wanted to ride on 31" tyres, found a set of 750*16 sand-grips used. Njoying the feel of a low geared car, thanks to these monster dia tyres!

BEFORE



Compare! side by side! 235/70/R16 - roughly 29" Vs these 31"~ (OE 215/75/R15 are only 28"~)

[ganesh_bbr]

Wooow, he is a tall guy now. How is the highway riding behaviour now on your AG, any big difference ?

[svsantosh]

see it for yourself! you drove it last week, right? see how much different is stretching your legs to get inside now!! it IS a TALL BOY now!

[svsantosh]

Update after fitting 31" tyres.

Did a 50Km weekend trip (mix) on GQ, town roads, even a bit of trail drive!

The speedo error which is found on any car normally is totally vanished!! I used GPS and from speeds from 10-80, its 99% perfect give or take for the slow update of my droid (didnt cross 80 to check).

2 issues -

1) fender taking a hit even on potholed roads, in minor OTRs I am sure it will bend out, and on full articulation I would need a tinker

2) ITS A HOWLER!! Damn, what a stupid humming noise, thankfully I am not going to do lot of Kms in this tyres.

[svsantosh]

Guys - URGENT HELP Plz....

The stock fuel filler inlet has 3 hoses connected to it,

1) 2inch main hose to tank

2) half inch hose again from tank for overflow alert cum breather

3) ??? one extra breather hose that drops dead and routed next to the diff (not connected anywhere) but originates from the fuel filler neck.

What use is of (3)- ?

I started to address the stupid filler cap issue (leaks all the time) by buying a indica's thread type that is supposedly leak proof! then found the indica's like any normal car we know of - has one main hose and 2nd for the overflow/breather!!

What IF I just ignore to CONNECT the 3rd hose? It looks unwanted by my writing ^ at least - experts?!!

[svsantosh]

The help never came :( no worries

1) Finished the fuel inlet conversion to Indica's threaded type (I know the current bolero's are a direct bolt on, but my scrap dealer had only the indica's) and at 100Rs it was a cheap part to procure. Detailed pics tomm.



2) Much looked-for 'easy access' to the SHIFTSTER - Tcase shifter from 2wd to 4wd/low accomplished! Got a M800 fuel filler DOOR and tinkered the floor below the drivers seat with a lock to access the tcase. One has to step out of the vehicle and fiddle below the drivers seat to change the 2-4WD! I know, this still isnt a practical solution compared to changing from the drivers seat, but better than sleeping under the AG in mud roads!
Pics tomm of this !

[svsantosh]

Few updates.

1) Couple of days ago in heavy traffic, temp needle hit red! And this was around 830PM on a cool evening! Found water level had dropped in radiator and today I found the bottom of radiator had a 4inch M-Seal fix which gave away. Used car blues! Gave the radi' for full rebuild/reweld!

2) Alternator had a dirty rear - literally! Rebuilt it, and found it was perfectly fine, still, changed the oil seal (vacuum pump) since it was wrestled out! Oil leak attributed to a worn out hose, gotta find one in a hardware store today.

3) Opened up the Knuckles/Kingpins for the 1st time since I bought it and found it may never have been opened since delivery! Good quality knuckle kit and felt-kit and found 1 interesting thing - the top kingpin had a fiber/rubber BUSH, not the bearing or the brass bush, good to learn something new.

[svsantosh]

Shout for help!!

HAND BRAKE CABLE :

My mechanic just said the hand brake cable needs replacement and I said take it out and give me the old one, coz MM makes so many variations of the same part and even the authorized parts dealer gets crazy trying to match the old part! (I dont have a part#!!)

Now my mech says the 'wheel' which distributes the single cable input from the hand brake lever to dual (rear wheels) sits above the GB/Tcase and for the removal of the hand brake cable he needs to remove the GB?!

I dont know why its needed, is there a easier way to do the hand brake cable replacement?

[jyobeb]

Your mechanic is right. Another way is to have an openable cover inside the vehicle behind the gear lever!