Yorkshire Dales in my Landcruiser 90

[diggerdave]

A handful of photos from last weekend's laning in the Dales (quite a gentle trip, especially now Cam Steps have been filled in).

My 90 now has 181000 miles on it and feels pretty much solid. It's mostly on its original bushes and nothing major has gone wrong (although the front diff has had some excess play... for 30,000-odd miles!)

As usual on these trips, one of the Land Rovers (a Disco3) in our party spent quite a bit of time with its bonnet up

 

[Shayne]

Looks good Dave great pics .

Must admit i'm still not sure the front diff was the problem with the mrs truck , changing it improved things a lot and those she gives a lift to work commented that it had been fixed so yeah it was a contributing factor for sure , but my own truck is still better with regards to drivetrain shunt .
I think i have replaced all but the wishbone bushes on mine over 4 years of ownership so if we end up keeping Helen's i will do the same to hers over time .

 

[diggerdave]

Hi Shayne. Based on what you said before, I've held off doing anything about the diff. If (it's a big IF) I find an R16 diff for sale at the right price, I'll do it. I've been lazily ringing around rebuilders (gearbox specialists up here in t'north) but no one so far wants to touch a Toyota diff, so I haven't even been able to cost up that option!

 

[Shayne]

Knowing now what i didn't know then i would start with the bushes because they don't cost much . The ones in Helen's 100k mile truck all look fine but i figure if each gives a little more than they should it adds up to a lot .
The diff i put in is undoubtedly very good it even has all the paint still on it which might be why it has taken up much of the slack . Still i'm not 100% convinced the old diff if i took it to be rebuilt would be found to be out of spec . I don't know what to do with it to be honest , Helen shouldn't need a spare and my trucks R17 . The replacement cost me £350 so i'm sort off playing with the idea of having it rebuilt so i can sell it as a reconditioned part . I have too much going on at the moment to give it much thought .

 

[AndyCook]

Good to see some cruiser action shots

Are cam steps or were cam steps, the ones on the lane up from Hawes by Dodd fell ?
Driven up them a couple times when I had a Colorado, shame if they are gone now
As I hadn't tried them with the Hilux

 

[diggerdave]

@Andy. That's the one. There was some sort of drainage work done up there a year or so ago and as part of it the steps were partly filled in to allow JCBs to get up and down. Not much of a challenge any more, although you can still take a more difficult line if you want to.

 

[diggerdave]

Cam Steps before 'n' after

 

[diggerdave]

Shayne, just thinking out loud at this point... but, would you consider selling your old diff? Was there any noise from it? Any reason to suspect major internal damage? And where are you based (probably crucial to whether this is do-able)? I'm in York.

I've got a guy lined up who has offered to take a look at mine, but he needs it off the vehicle and will do it in his spare time so it means my truck will be off the road for a while (not possible). But if I had a spare diff....

 

[Shayne]

I'm in Barry near Cardiff so a full days drive there and back . Helen reported a noise which is what ultimately convinced me to place my bets on the diff , but she can still hear the noise and now insists its something rattling in the dash my hearings crap . That's where i'm stuck i think its a good diff but i can't sell it as good without being sure

 

[Shayne]

If you were closer i might say come down so we can swap it and see but i'm off to benidorm butlins or somewhere on Saturday for a fortnight and then the Romania trip starts shortly after our return .

I use this guy for spares http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TOYOTA-LA...340954?hash=item19d5c06fda:g:A8wAAOSwLVZV1dvZ

 

[diggerdave]

Thanks for the tip Shayne: I'll contact that guy

It's a bit far to yours but cheers anyway. If I'm still stuck later in the year I've got some mates in Caerleon who I'll be visiting at some point, so maybe then?

 

[Gary820]

Good pics mate. I love getting out across the dales.

 

[clivehorridge]

Great to see 'em working enjoyable trip by the looks of it, great photos...

 

[diggerdave]

Thanks for your kind comments.

I'd love to see pictures of other people's Colorados in action on this forum!

 

[Shayne]

A wet weekend at Lincomb

 

[Pumpy]

Geat pics, we're off up the dales Aug bank holliday with N44

This one is only 40 mile from Hawes if you're looking for a challenge!

 

[diggerdave]

Great photo Shayne!

Pumpy: I know the lane, I've walked it, I've had a think, and I've decided against! I have thought about going down though. Up is definitely one for a working rear difflock... which will obviously definitely probably happen one day. Good to see it can be done, shame about the halfshaft. The first Disco made it look easy though... well, easy-ish.

 

[clivehorridge]

Great photo Shayne!

Pumpy: I know the lane, I've walked it, I've had a think, and I've decided against! I have thought about going down though. Up is definitely one for a working rear difflock... which will obviously definitely probably happen one day. Good to see it can be done, shame about the halfshaft. The first Disco made it look easy though... well, easy-ish.

I think that was down to the skill of the driver, the drivers of the 2nd and broken 3rd disco were much more "jumpy" on the clutch and throttle, IMO.

The forces on half-shafts are huge at the best of times, but a gas-happy or clutch-dumping driver can more that double that by being careless.