[harjeev]

Hi Randeep,
I dint take any pics on Monday. Actually there wasnt much to document.

For the color I have decided Army Green glossy.

Also earlier I had decided to remove the side facing seats and put front facing ones after sealing the rear door on which the spare tyre is mounted. I have post-phoned this for now too.

I just want my jeep home and anything else, which is not mechanical I may/ may not get later. Additionally these things do not take time and can be managed anytime later.

What color have you finalised

[whitemm550]

Originally Posted by vinod_nookala

Can jeep experts here comment on this? As i have seen many MM540's cabin getting hot. tips on heat insulation and sound insulation will greatly help!!

why not try a material called a s heatlon? i have used it in my MM550, with great effect.

[vinayrathore]

Originally Posted by harjeev

Hi Randeep,
I dint take any pics on Monday. Actually there wasnt much to document.

For the color I have decided Army Green glossy.

Also earlier I had decided to remove the side facing seats and put front facing ones after sealing the rear door on which the spare tyre is mounted. I have post-phoned this for now too.

I just want my jeep home and anything else, which is not mechanical I may/ may not get later. Additionally these things do not take time and can be managed anytime later.

What color have you finalised

Hey Harjeev!

Great to know that the beast is coming home soon! Its been quite sometime now.

When are you going there to bring it home?

Cheers
Vinay

[vinod_nookala]

Originally Posted by whitemm550

why not try a material called a s heatlon? i have used it in my MM550, with great effect.

Hi WhiteMM550,
Thanks for suggesting this one. I heard about this in Zee news as a sound insulation material. Does this cut heat or sound??
Mine being an old XDP engine makes lot of noise with some transmission noise. Will this be good for a open top vehicle like MM540?

How much did you pay for it?
regards
vinod

[harjeev]

Originally Posted by vinayrathore

Hey Harjeev!

Great to know that the beast is coming home soon! Its been quite sometime now.

When are you going there to bring it home?

Cheers
Vinay

Hi Vinay,
Yeah it has been a long time. If I get it on this weekend it will be 11 weeks.
Man!!! Has it been that long. Almost 3 months. If I recollect I bought it on 13th Dec 2008, that too on a saturday!!! I clearly remember because some people dont buy metal on saturdays. I was totally ignorant about jeeps back then. Its been a long and wonderful learning experience. Loved every moment of it.

Its just the paint and electrical work that's pending now.
Once I get my hands on the following needs to be done
Tyres, finalised Sandgrips 7.50x16's.
Seat covers, soft top, fog lamps, need a cigarette lighter
Many other small small things that need to be done once I get my hands on the vehicle.
Cant wait to drive it though.

[bigman]

Originally Posted by vinod_nookala

Hi WhiteMM550,
Thanks for suggesting this one. I heard about this in Zee news as a sound insulation material. Does this cut heat or sound??
Mine being an old XDP engine makes lot of noise with some transmission noise. Will this be good for a open top vehicle like MM540?

How much did you pay for it?
regards
vinod

Have a read of this thread. Heatlon is mentioned.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...r-carpets.html

[bigman]

How come you opted for sandrips ?

A few of us will be getting new tyres for our MM550's soon so your thought would be appreciated. No doubt you would have evaluated everything before coming to your decision.

[susan3004]

@Hajeev
I am waiting for the photographs eagerly. I wanted to know/see the place where power steering mechanism is mounted.
Also, which seat are you considering to make it a rear front facing instead of side? We follow a crude system of facing on e of the side facing seats to the front and remove the other ones?
How much are sandgrips costing??

[harjeev]

Originally Posted by bigman

How come you opted for sandrips ?

A few of us will be getting new tyres for our MM550's soon so your thought would be appreciated. No doubt you would have evaluated everything before coming to your decision.

Hey Satnam
I opted for the Sandgrips as

• They are a little cheaper than the other options available 1.5-2k less than others. On 5 tyres the total comes to 10k
• Only these tyres give me a height of 31" compared to 235/70/R16 which are about 28.95". In off-roading each and every inch matters
• I could have gone for 275/70/R16's but these tyres are way too expensive Michelins cost 9.5k a tyre and Yokos 7.4k a tyre.
• I do not want to loose the army rims. and 275's if mounted on army rims baloon. This I do not want
• The right tyre would have been 235/85/R16's, but these are not easily available
• Only Sandgrips give the true army look. This look is what I want in my Jeep.
• I have seen them preform in OTR and spoken to a few NIOC members who are very satisfied with them.

So I decided to go for sandgrips for now and maybe 6-8 months down the line I may get my hands on 15" alloys and mount good Mud Terrains on them which I would be using purely for slush. Aparently the range available in 15" is far better than in 16" rim size.

Originally Posted by susan3004

@Hajeev
I am waiting for the photographs eagerly. I wanted to know/see the place where power steering mechanism is mounted.
Also, which seat are you considering to make it a rear front facing instead of side? We follow a crude system of facing on e of the side facing seats to the front and remove the other ones?
How much are sandgrips costing??

Major sahib,
I will click the pics and post them on my next visit. Hopefully the next visit will be the one when I get my jeep home ;-)

I am retaining the side facing seats for now, but there are 2 seater seats available the same that are put in the gypsy, I think. I might put these, but later.

The sandgrips are costing me 4.6k a tyre & tube. +/- 50-100 Rs. These are Apollo Bullets.

[vishwaschettri]

@ Harjeev - Isn't Apollo bullet, MRF sandgrip and likes have really low mileage? What I heard here that they end up in 12~15k kms or so. More over after their half tread they are absolutely useless on slush. Though I find that bullets perform better than sandgrips on slush. On sand as the name suggests sandgrips rule.

May I suggest getting hold of second hand bullets/sandgrips. These shall cost you 1000~1200 a piece with around 1/3rd life left in them. Good for around 5k kms. These will hold you for next 6 months and 3-4 OTRs. On OTRs you will be able to perform on all trails except slush. By that time you will get a fair idea of what you want from your tires and hopefully better bank balance as well.

Just my 2 cetnts.

For slush there's always Romi and Shyam. More than happy to pull you out .

cheers
vishwas

[harjeev]

Originally Posted by vishwaschettri

@ Harjeev - Isn't Apollo bullet, MRF sandgrip and likes have really low mileage? What I heard here that they end up in 12~15k kms or so. More over after their half tread they are absolutely useless on slush. Though I find that bullets perform better than sandgrips on slush. On sand as the name suggests sandgrips rule.

I too heard the same thing. But yesterday I had a talk with Sanjeev and Karan Chawla (NIOCmember & a tyre dealer in Karol Bagh). Both told me that these tyres are good for atleast 35-40k kms. I am not sure, but Sanjeev is using them and Karan must have better experience than me!
Also to think of it Army uses Sandgrips all the time and on all terrains. If they were good only for 12-15k kms do you think that they would be changing 6-7 sets of tyres in the total ownership period (lets say they use it for 80-100k kms) of the vehicle?
Second, the R&D of the army & their use is much better and tougher than what we guys do at OTR's. So if its good for them, then I think that it should rule for us!

Originally Posted by vishwaschettri

May I suggest getting hold of second hand bullets/sandgrips. These shall cost you 1000~1200 a piece with around 1/3rd life left in them. Good for around 5k kms. These will hold you for next 6 months and 3-4 OTRs. On OTRs you will be able to perform on all trails except slush. By that time you will get a fair idea of what you want from your tires and hopefully better bank balance as well.

I had explored that option too. But I think that tyres are very important. I have seen sandgrips in Mayapuri going for 1.5-1.7k. If I buy these I will have to spend 8k approx. So the difference comes to 22k-8k=14k.
But you see that I have spent 3 times the amount of what a majority of people spend in rebuilding their vehicles. IF I buy sub standard tyres, the experience will always be sub-standard. Wont it? These tyres would already have worn out quite a bit, and I would always be sitting at tyre repair shops getting the punctures fixed.

Lets take it this way, Jeeping is all about learning from your and others experience. If I am wrong in buying new tyres then others will be learn from my experience. If I am right, then misconceptions, if any about Sandgrips, can be set right.

Originally Posted by vishwaschettri

For slush there's always Romi and Shyam. More than happy to pull you out .

Yeah Shyam & Romi are always there.
How come I haven’t see you at any of the recent OTR’s

[GoSlow]

Sir Ji... the day is coming closer! Give me a call when you get it. I am very excited to see your jeep.

Your Cousin seems to have done a good job of. will call him today for the LSD. thanks for the number!

[vishwaschettri]

@ Harjeev go ahead than. I too second your opinion that 550 looks best in sandgrips/bullets. This is the single most factor which makes it look soo butch in comparison to govt 540 running around the city. Best of luck to you and waiting to hear review of these tyres.

As for me missing from OTR's shear lazyness man. To get up at 5 in the morning and reach gurgaon. That too on a saturday morning when friday night ends at 2-3 in the night!! Let's see may be next OTR amen.

cheers
vishwas

[harjeev]

Update Guys
The delivery date of the jeep has been post phones by another week
There is still some work pending on her and I will get it by next Friday or Saturday.
The work now pending are not much, but the small small work takes a lot of time
Status of work / pending work

• The paint has been scraped off completely, The body was in a extremely good shape. No dents, body filling with patti etc.
• paint pending
• The heat insulation has been fixed on the firewall (the wall between the engine compartment and the cabin)
• I am getting the same insulation on the inside the cabin too. This will ensure better noise and heat insulation
• Power steering pending
• front LSD's will be much later, most probably I will get it done when I get my first oil change at 1000 kms
• elect work pending

I will upload the pics in the morning

p,s,
gave the advance on the Apollo Bullets and will get them in a couple of days

[bigman]

Harjeev, what areas besides the firewall are you insulating ? I was advised to keep the insulating material away from the flooring (near the transmission areas) as water etc can get underneath and lead to rusting.

Also you using anything for flooring in the rear (aluminium chequer plate etc Again the chaps in the paint shop advised against this although hey sould do if we really wanted. Again water getting in between and then hidden corrosion was given as a negative of chequer plate.