Thread: Series 3 advice needed for new (but proud) LR Owner

Welcome to the joys of owning a series 3 [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img]

Oh, and welcome to AULRO :wink: , i'll try and answer as many of your questions as I can.

To begin with it sounds like you have the army bar treads or something similar. They are terrible on wet roads I am told. Just remember that when you change tyres, somebody restoring an ex military will want them.

Swapping rims with a 110, I don't know if there is any easy way here. Tyre sizes might be the same, but rims are different I think.

Ok, the 4x4 system. Only newer landys are permanent 4wd. The hobs are to lock the axles to the wheels. The yellow lever engages the relavent bits to make them turn and the red knob is the low range one. But if you want to go from low to high range, you need to push the low lever foward again and the yellow one down again. Yes it is a bit off, but it works. You can get hubs that don't need to be engaged all the time, but the free wheeling hubs when disengaged give less rolling resistance and less wear on the parts not being used.

Parabolics are't the bees knees, but they can do wonders to the ride of the vehicle if you can afford them. A couple of people on here have them. I doubt that the 110 shocks will fit in the Series 3 (Could be wrong though), partly because of the 2 different types of suspension.

Don't know about the steering grommets, but it can't hurt. Mine might benifit from it now that you mention it.

Gearbod deffinitely sounds like it needs some work, but that mightn't be a complete rebuild. I'm not that mechanically minded so somebody else is best to answer that one.

Inward facing rear seats are hard to some by, but are worth it. I have enough seating for 11 in my LWB, although some of those seats may be being sold soon.

Hope that is a help, others will post their thoughts as well i'm sure [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img]

From memory, the defender shocks are pin to eye, so they wont fit a series landy except maybe 109 or stage 1, but they are different lenghts so on compression on you series 3 suspension cycle they will self destruct!

From what i've been told, you can fit 110 steelys but not alloys! (but this could be complete BS [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img] )!

Look at some 235/85 or 255/85 tyres on LWB rims in whatever pattern you fancy and she's all apples! [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img]

With springs there are options but you have to decide wherter:
1) You want more comfort
2) you want off road performance
Parabolics will be a much more comfortable ride as the is much less interleaf friction, and a better ride over bumps and potholes as such, but if you want offroad performance you can modify semi epeleptic leaf springs to out perform parabolics if you want to invest the time and thought into it!

Good luck

Dave 8)

Good luck with it! 8)

Hi John,

I know this exciting feeling to have LR for the first time... [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]

Let me suggest: it will take U many months or years to have informations and knowledge which U are asking. Each of yours questions can be (and it is) discussed regularly...this is endless process [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]
If U want to have fun with your Landy, you will improve yourself (knowledge for example, character too) for years...to own Landy is about you too (or first of all maybe?), not about your Landy.
The way is important, not the object.

This is my personal opinion, I respect different ones

Regards,
adam
SIII Stage One

Hi John
Sounds like most of your questions have been sorted.
Defender steel rims do fit and the 110 type are the same as the 109,the 130 type are wider.Series 1 Disco steels are much sort after for series landies,they look good,are 7 inch wide(better tyre fittment) and give you an inch offset in track(better stability)
With the gearbox 1st/rev its worth changing the springs in the gear selector and adjusting the stops.
Incase you havent discovered it yet,the Ser3 "green bible" (factory workshop manual) is located in the "downloads" section,well worth downloading and burning onto CD.
Welcome to the interesting sometimes frustrating but rewarding world of being a "Series Pilot"
Andrew

Oh come on....someone else to fix your breakdowns :?: You're a Land Rover Owner now.... No pride in owning one unless you work on it as well..... which for a few of us is weekly ! [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif[/img] I wouldn't say it takes years of ownership to know what is required about a particular LR type, just a good run of bad luck in the first three months of ownership !!! [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif[/img]

Mine trots around on the ever popular "sunraysia" 8 spoke wide wheels with 10.5 x 31 x 15 duelers, which help in where I go as looks aren't a big thing with me. Gets a little floaty (aquaplanes) in the wet sometimes in heavy rain with them on but makes it handle sports car in the dry. 15in rims are becoming more of the "go" it seems to me with more tyre manufacturers catering to this rim size. Maybe worth a consideration than 16s. Wider wheels also cushion the ride more so than the narrower wheel combinations which might save you some money on changing spring/shock combinations later to increase comfort.

Andrew has a good idea about changing the detent springs for the gearbox however if it sounds like a leopard tank, there's a good chance first gear has some teeth missing. Reverse gear is more likely the detent spring requires replacing or the bush needs replacing. With the manuals from the download section it is an easy two day weekend fix. Normally transmissions should be smooth and quiet even if old but the transfer always makes noise and most probably from the gear sets used. Yep even mine howls like ol' yella at the moon on the highway which when the cd player becomes my instant rock concert to drown out the noise.

Let's know if ya need anything..... we're all here to help.

Hi John, now you are one of us.

The SIII is character building, it will make you a better, more patient and long suffering man. In time you will not be so easily offended by others (because your hearing may diminish).

Parabolics give a good ride, given that they cost almost as much as a Land Rover, it depends how long you want to keep yours for. I have British Springs parabolics on mine which I imported straight from the factory. They have taken the harsh edge of bumps, however if I throw the Land Rover around a corner at 60kph, it doesn't behave like a go-cart anymore. I recommend the KONI shocks with parabolics, I could only find them for the back though. The 110 shocks are too long for the SIII I think.

If you want seats, I've got galvanised seat frames for sale $25 per seat (2 seat), but I don't have cushions. (+freight from Melb.)

I had bar treads on mine and despite the fact that they look as if they have no tread, I found them stable and predictable in the wet. I remember one night travelling in pouring rain and gusty winds along the freeway and my passenger looking back and commenting on the two clouds of fine mist and two streaks of dry road behind the Landy. They just seemed to pump the water out from underneath them. Mine is a LWB and stability on a SWB may not be as predictable.

I think the 4WD and FWH issues were covered by others.

If you want to upgrade your brakes further you can fit 6cyl drums to the front, these are a wider brake shoe and were also fitted to V8 SIIIs. I've got a master cylinder and brake booster for sale if you don't already have vaccuum assisted brakes. Email me if you need more info on that because I can't recall off the top of my head whether I've got one or two spares and if they're single or double (for split braking systems) master cylinders. mskyg@optusnet.com.au

If you get steel rims (defender or series 1 discovery) the you will be able to easily interchange them between the SIII and the 110. If you get a set of disco rims with chunky off road tyres, then you can keep them aside and fit them to whichever vehicle you're going 4WDing with. Run road tyres the rest of the time to save on wear & tear.

I run truck steer tyres on my SIII and keep them inflated to 60psi. I use the vehicle daily and the tyres last 7 years. They cost about $140 ea. I've got a second set of rims with off road tyres which I fit for 4WDing trips. I tried the Offroad tyres only when I was young, but they only lasted 18 months of daily use.

I'm not sure what you mean by rubber grommets, but if you have a web link to a site that explains them, please email it to me.

Regards Michael2