ReadySalted
Active Member
So today I fitted my spotlights which have been in storage since I bought them about a year ago. Very happy with them, and they make main beam alot brighter at night which helps on the roads, and the lanes.
I took the disco out for a spin after I wired in the spots, and oddly my rev counter which has never worked now works. Not sure if that's just a coincidence, or whether I accidentally nudged some wires when tapping into the main beam feed under the steering wheel, but that was a nice unexpected surprise.
So by the time I got round to getting out to try the wheels out on a lane, it was getting on for sunset. I drove the half hour drive to a nice lane nearby, and it was the first longish drive with the xzl's. To be honest the on road drive didn't seem that different to my old standard alloys and ATs. I did go through a deep muddy area/ puddle quite fast (30ish), on a country lane and the disco actually started to go sideways before it got traction and straightened up. That was the only dicey experience I had, and I put that down to over zealousness on my part cos I wanted to test the tyres. I assume the skid was down to the wet tarmac which as you boys have mentioned is not the XZLs strongest area.
The greenlane itself was disappointingly easy. I did the whole thing in hi ratio, first and second gear. I think it's had some maintenance done on it at some point because there was a workforce in road sign at one end of it, and the ruts seemed to be flatter and shallower than last time I drove it. There was also a lot of areas where deeper ruts had been filed with stone. Annoying not only because it wasn't really much of a test for the tyres, but also because I couldn't compare it to the last time I drove the lane. On the other hand it is nice to know that lanes are maintained.
I think the disco will definitely need the camel cut, since on a few step-ups in the ruts, I heard the rear wing scrape the tyres. Not a nice feeling at all, so that will have to be done before the next greenlane I do. I've also noticed that when on full lock there seems to be a bit of rubbing on the front wheels too, but I've only felt it when reversing on full lock, and only on one side. I imagine the steering stops will need to be altered wherever they are, but I assume that's quite a simple task.
You can see I painted the wheels limestone which is the same colour wheels as most of the original series landy wheels. I thought this would go better with the red body than the plain white of later defenders, and I didn't fancy silver steel wheels as they're a bit too standard looking. I think the red and the limestone go nicely together.
I've added a few pics of the disco on the lane, so you can see what she looks like with steels and skinnier tyres than normal.
When I was considering getting some skinny wheels/ tyres, the only pics I could find of it were on the camel wagons, which looked good, but theres alot of ambiguity about exactly what size tyre/ wheel they had, and it varied from year to year, so was never sure at exactly what setup I was looking at. Hopefully my experience, and the piccys I have attached can help people who are trying to decide whether to do this.
Overall I'm very happy with the wheels, and so long as they carry on this way, I intend to keep them on there forever.
PS You may notice from the pics that I have a back bumper light out. It's due to a corroded bulb holder and has been like that for a few weeks since I'm too tight to spend 5 quid on a new one.
When driving home I went through a nearby villiage called Clyro, to get back onto the main road. Purely by chance, I noticed that the lights were on in the landrover garage there (about 1930 at night), so cheekily popped my head in and asked if they had the bulb holder I was after. The chap in there found one and let me have it for free. Very kind of him I thought, which saved me a couple of quid having to order one. Mechanics & MOT Testing in Clyro, Hay-on-Wye | Ashbrook Garage
I took the disco out for a spin after I wired in the spots, and oddly my rev counter which has never worked now works. Not sure if that's just a coincidence, or whether I accidentally nudged some wires when tapping into the main beam feed under the steering wheel, but that was a nice unexpected surprise.
So by the time I got round to getting out to try the wheels out on a lane, it was getting on for sunset. I drove the half hour drive to a nice lane nearby, and it was the first longish drive with the xzl's. To be honest the on road drive didn't seem that different to my old standard alloys and ATs. I did go through a deep muddy area/ puddle quite fast (30ish), on a country lane and the disco actually started to go sideways before it got traction and straightened up. That was the only dicey experience I had, and I put that down to over zealousness on my part cos I wanted to test the tyres. I assume the skid was down to the wet tarmac which as you boys have mentioned is not the XZLs strongest area.
The greenlane itself was disappointingly easy. I did the whole thing in hi ratio, first and second gear. I think it's had some maintenance done on it at some point because there was a workforce in road sign at one end of it, and the ruts seemed to be flatter and shallower than last time I drove it. There was also a lot of areas where deeper ruts had been filed with stone. Annoying not only because it wasn't really much of a test for the tyres, but also because I couldn't compare it to the last time I drove the lane. On the other hand it is nice to know that lanes are maintained.
I think the disco will definitely need the camel cut, since on a few step-ups in the ruts, I heard the rear wing scrape the tyres. Not a nice feeling at all, so that will have to be done before the next greenlane I do. I've also noticed that when on full lock there seems to be a bit of rubbing on the front wheels too, but I've only felt it when reversing on full lock, and only on one side. I imagine the steering stops will need to be altered wherever they are, but I assume that's quite a simple task.
You can see I painted the wheels limestone which is the same colour wheels as most of the original series landy wheels. I thought this would go better with the red body than the plain white of later defenders, and I didn't fancy silver steel wheels as they're a bit too standard looking. I think the red and the limestone go nicely together.
I've added a few pics of the disco on the lane, so you can see what she looks like with steels and skinnier tyres than normal.
When I was considering getting some skinny wheels/ tyres, the only pics I could find of it were on the camel wagons, which looked good, but theres alot of ambiguity about exactly what size tyre/ wheel they had, and it varied from year to year, so was never sure at exactly what setup I was looking at. Hopefully my experience, and the piccys I have attached can help people who are trying to decide whether to do this.
Overall I'm very happy with the wheels, and so long as they carry on this way, I intend to keep them on there forever.
PS You may notice from the pics that I have a back bumper light out. It's due to a corroded bulb holder and has been like that for a few weeks since I'm too tight to spend 5 quid on a new one.
When driving home I went through a nearby villiage called Clyro, to get back onto the main road. Purely by chance, I noticed that the lights were on in the landrover garage there (about 1930 at night), so cheekily popped my head in and asked if they had the bulb holder I was after. The chap in there found one and let me have it for free. Very kind of him I thought, which saved me a couple of quid having to order one. Mechanics & MOT Testing in Clyro, Hay-on-Wye | Ashbrook Garage
