Thread: Covers off day at Ritters

My thanks go to Andrew (LROCV) for organizing and Ritters for hosting this fantastic event. Approx 30 D3, D4 and RRS's turned up, all decked out to suit all conditions...roads around Toorak to Canning stock route and everything in between.

Ritters split us into 3 rough groups and we were walked through 3 D3's that were in various states of repair. I pity the bill for whomever owns the white D3 minus transfer case!

Ritters put on a BBQ and a hat was passed around. All money was donated to RFDS.

So what did I learn?

Any sign of hand brake screech noises...dont use it anymore until you can get it serviced, as you may be up for $2k bill to replace the control unit (has unserviceable plastic gears that tend to strip).

Most knocks and rattles are caused by sway bar mounts and suspension bushes. The fix is often cheaper to replace a full assembly than replace a sub component.

Before a big trip, its a good idea to put a spanner on all suspension linkages and bushes to ensure they are tight. Some bolts/nuts can work loose over time causing some noises. The bolts do not need to be tightened any more, just ensure they are not say 1/4 turn loose.

Dont misfuel diesels with petrol and drive them. They dont have a drain on the main tanks so involves tank removal/cleaning at some cost, or if you choose to drive the car, expect a $12K fix of injector pumps and other associated bits.

Proper maintenance can mean the difference between trouble free motoring or suffering some serious gremlins. I suppose the same can be said for any modern car really.

Replace the main cranking battery every 5ish years. All the computers need a good 12v+ feed and if the voltage drops below this to say 11.xxx volts, the computers dont play and you will get many errors cascade through the car.

It sounds like we all have very capable vehicles and can pretty much customise them to be offroad touring tugs or leave them as Toorak tractors. Even in standard trim, the car will far exceed your expectations and driving abilities.

So again sincere thanks to the team at Ritters and Andrew for organising the event!

The covers off day at Ritter, was, as mentioned above organised by Landrover Club of Victoria. Ritter hosted the event event for free (donations were collected but that went to charity not to Ritter). The benefit to Ritter is that they get to demonstrate their knowledge and expertise, so that's good for them as it could lead to new customers.

I don't believe Ritter have service centres in any other state, so I doubt that they could justify doing the same thing elsewhere. That doesn't stop groups in other states organising a similar thing with local LR service centres though.