Member Since: 06 Mar 2014
Location: Surrey
Posts: 1172
Wireless Phone Charger
Whilst the D4 has been with us for years, the fact that it's now 'mine' is quite exciting and to celebrate I've treated myself to a few trinkets, one of which is a wireless mobile phone charging pad. This is a kit supplied by Powerful UK comprising an off-the-shelf charging pad and two 3D printed parts that together form a tray that fits in the top of the cubby box:
Click image to enlarge
They offer different versions of the kit and this one is specifically for use with the 'late' fridge that I have fitted.
It's quite a nice kit but I think it's fair to say that it's not 100%. The fit of the parts in the top of the cubby wasn't that great and resulted in my sanding down the side edges in an attempt to make them sit flat in the recess:
Click image to enlarge
It's still not perfect, but better than out of the box. I was concerned about weakening the whole thing if I took too much off.
Because the charge pad is a generic one, it too, is not ideal, particularly the cable. Quite near to the pad is a thickened section that includes a charging LED. Unfortunately, the cable between the two parts isn't long enough to have it above and visible, nor short enough for it to not foul the rear edge of the tray. I opted for sticking it to the underside with some Black Tack and will see how it goes. I also did the same with the cable itself to try and keep it contained:
Click image to enlarge
The fitting instruction video suggests that the cable is threaded under the lid hinge to the power socket on the rear of the centre console. I wasn't keen on that idea though, and opted to keep it all within the cubby lid. It does mean that the excess cable needs to be coiled up but that was resolved with a stick-on cable tie mount. All fully removable if it doesn't work out:
Click image to enlarge
(Didn't have any black cable ties to hand )
Once in place, it works very well and my phone sits neatly on the pad. The tray is hinged in the middle so that it's still possible to access the fridge. Overall, I'd give it an 8 out of 10.Darren
"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia
Member Since: 06 Mar 2014
Location: Surrey
Posts: 1172
Door Sill Protection
Another minor addition is some protection in the form of thick, sticky back vinyl to the door thresholds:
Click image to enlarge
Click image to enlarge
These come in the form of a pre-cut kit from Powerful UK and seem pretty good for the money. However, I did trim the ends to remove spaces for faintly ridiculous 'Supercharged' badges
I did something similar to my old D3 years ago and it seemed to hold up well, so I've got high hopes for these.Darren
"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia
Last edited by LandRoverAnorak on 21st Jul 2024 8:40 pm. Edited 1 time in total
23rd Mar 2024 3:58 pm
LandRoverAnorak
Member Since: 06 Mar 2014
Location: Surrey
Posts: 1172
Ooh look, a shiny thing!
Click image to enlarge
I may even fit it if it ever stops raining.
The plan is to fit a Dixon Bate adjustable set up to this. I just need to work out which flavour of DB will give me the height that I want for a NATO hitch.Darren
"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia
Member Since: 06 Mar 2014
Location: Surrey
Posts: 1172
'Dixon Bate' Tow Bar
Hello folks,
It's been a while. I've been pootling around in my 'new' D4 for the last couple of months but the combination of lack of time and the perpetually awful weather has stopped me doing anything meaningful to it. Until today
Back in 2016 I fitted a new tow bar to tow the trailer and caravan of the day and it's been absolutely fine. However, I now find that I need to use a NATO hitch so something altogether different is required. As pictured above, I've invested in a Motorradical 'recovery hitch' from A.P.B Trading and paired it with a Dixon Bate-style adjustable tow bar. This, in turn, will allow me to fit a NATO hitch on a slider. Yes, I know that none of this is type-approved but I'm comfortable with my choices.
The recovery hitch is a substantial bit of kit that mounts to both the standard tow bar mount below the crossmember and to the recovery eye at bumper level. In combination with the DB tow bar, this will allow the NATO hitch to be mounted as high as possible without fouling the tailgate:
Click image to enlarge
Click image to enlarge
I've ordered a replacement towing eye cover, which I hope to trim around the new hitch to tidy that area up.
The reason I need a NATO hitch is because I'm the current custodian of this camping trailer, which some of you will probably recognise:
Click image to enlarge
It's undergoing something of a refurbishment at the moment but plan to be out in it over the summer. If you're really keen, you can read all about what I've been doing to it over on Defender2.net HERE.Darren
"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia
Last edited by LandRoverAnorak on 13th May 2024 9:43 pm. Edited 1 time in total
13th May 2024 9:30 pm
LandRoverAnorak
Member Since: 06 Mar 2014
Location: Surrey
Posts: 1172
Side Steps
The other significant job that I completed today was to remove the completely rusted side steps
Click image to enlarge
I wasn't going to faff about with trying to get the steps out of the sill covers so I've ordered some new ones. In the meantime though, I'm much happier with the look without the steps:
Click image to enlarge
Darren
"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia
Member Since: 06 Mar 2014
Location: Surrey
Posts: 1172
Cargo Shelf
I recently picked up a Flatdog cargo shelf from omg! of this parish, which I fitted yesterday:
Click image to enlarge
Installation is pretty straightforward as it uses the mounting points for the rearmost grab handles. I did have to fit some slightly longer screws though, as the originals are too short:
Click image to enlarge
The shelf is secured to the brackets with four M6 button head bolts, which I replaced with new stainless ones, as I like a shiny thing.
The only slight snag with this thing is that it's really designed for use with the genuine LR dog guard, which projects back a lot more than the Travall guard that I use. This means a much larger gap between the two:
Click image to enlarge
As the brackets are the clever part, I may well make a new basket that makes better use of the space in due course. For the meantime though, it's serving its purpose:
Click image to enlarge
Darren
"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia
Member Since: 06 Mar 2014
Location: Surrey
Posts: 1172
Towing Electrics Cover
Having fitted my new NATO hitch-friendly tow bar, the cover for the towing electrics would no longer fit. To solve this I bought another cover (saving the original) and hacked it around to make it fit. This basically involved cutting it around the shape of the new tow bar and then cutting it in two as it still wouldn't fit in one piece:
Click image to enlarge
It looks a bit strange but each section is retained by two lugs along the top edge and then a single twist lock at the bottom, so they're quite secure.
Click image to enlarge
Darren
"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia
Member Since: 13 Aug 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 14496
You've been busy. I had a similar tow hitch set up for a NATO hitch.
The adjustable tow hitch is really useful. D4 HSE EU6 (Known as Jeeves)
New Defender L663 110 SE (known as Noddy!) Sold
Sold Volvo XC90 R-Design (known as Basil)
Sold - D4 HSE (Known as Gerty)
No longer the Old Buses original owner
231,000 miles and counting
05 S manual owned from March 2005
D4 Face lifted
Still original injectors and turbo
V8 Front brakes
BAS Remap, Allisport Intercooler and deCat
EGRs blanked
T-Max split charge
Hanibal Expeedition rack
Prospeed ladder
Duratrac tyres
IID BT
BAS FBH control
6th Jun 2024 9:59 pm
LandRoverAnorak
Member Since: 06 Mar 2014
Location: Surrey
Posts: 1172
Yeah, I've had adjustable tow bars of one form or another on various Land Rovers over the years. I need to dig out my NATO hitch and actually bolt it to the slider so I can see how high it'll be. I suspect it'll still be lower than on my old Defender but swapping the wheels on the trailer for Discovery ones will help and I'm not worried if it's a little nose down.Darren
"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia
Member Since: 06 Mar 2014
Location: Surrey
Posts: 1172
NATO Hitch and Other News
Hello folks,
It's been a bit quiet on the Discovery front until the last week or so which, in true Land Rover style, became rather spendy. I booked it in with Nick Kerner 4WD for a 'big' service - cambelt, all transmission fluids inc. gearbox flush, brake fluid, front suspension arms and, surprise, a new rear propshaft. Just to add insult to injury, one of the rear parking sensors gave up the ghost a few days before, too. Still, it's only money
On a more positive note, I bought a sat nav update via eBay, which arrived on a USB stick and was duly installed. I believe that this was from 2020, so a useful update to the original 2013 data, but also the last one that was available. Installation was straightforward, if tedious. It took two and three quarter hours and it was necessary to keep the engine running for the whole time. I did try plugging in a battery charger to see if that would work instead, but the dash still shut down after about ten minutes and I had to start again. In the end I went for a drive as it was a bit anti-social just sitting on the driveway.
I finally got round to fitting my NATO hitch to the slider for use with my adjustable tow bar. This wasn't straightforward as unlike a genuine Dixon Bate one, the slider is only drilled for standard M18 tow ball bolts. To resolve this, I had some stainless steel collars made up with an 18mm outer diameter and an M12 clearance hole and pressed them into the slider:
Click image to enlarge
Click image to enlarge
I did have to take an angle grinder to the ladder as there was a lump of weld preventing the slider fitting on the highest position, but got there in the end:
Click image to enlarge
It does stick out a looong way, so I'm unlikely to drive around with it on except when towing:
Click image to enlarge
I reckon it's about two inches lower than my previous set-up on a Defender but I don't think the trailer being slightly nose down will be a problem.
Finally, a very minor win was finding a Really Useful Box that's the perfect size to fit in the third row footwell, which is a handy place to stash my Jetboil kit. It's a 5l box with XL lid, in case anybody is interested:
Click image to enlarge
Darren
"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia
Member Since: 06 Mar 2014
Location: Surrey
Posts: 1172
This weekend saw the first proper use of our camping trailer with the D4:
Click image to enlarge
Click image to enlarge
It towed perfectly and everything worked as intended, which was a relief, as I'd just completed some extensive refurbishment of the trailer.
Click image to enlarge
One of the challenges of the set-up that I hadn't appreciated was that of a sloping pitch. Because the trailer is so short and so high off the ground, there's relatively little scope for levelling fore and aft. The size of the pitch we were on dictated which way around the trailer needed to be positioned, which happened to be nose downhill. The jockey wheel quickly ran out of travel, which was solved by putting my waffles underneath, and there was barely enough space to drop the rear legs. It all worked out but when re-hitching I was glad of being able to raise the D4's air suspension.
When hitched, the trailer is almost level, which is nice as I thought it might be more nose-down than when I towed it with my previous 110. With the D4 suspension in off-road height, it's ever so slightly nose-up, but absolutely fine at slow speeds when that might be necessary:
Click image to enlarge
The trailer is an ongoing project as I come up with improvements and modifications, and more about it can be found over on Defender2.net via the link below.Darren
"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia
Member Since: 13 Aug 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 14496
The other advantage of the big tow bar and NATO hitch is that people don't follow you so closely....
Curious to know what's it like towing off road?D4 HSE EU6 (Known as Jeeves)
New Defender L663 110 SE (known as Noddy!) Sold
Sold Volvo XC90 R-Design (known as Basil)
Sold - D4 HSE (Known as Gerty)
No longer the Old Buses original owner
231,000 miles and counting
05 S manual owned from March 2005
D4 Face lifted
Still original injectors and turbo
V8 Front brakes
BAS Remap, Allisport Intercooler and deCat
EGRs blanked
T-Max split charge
Hanibal Expeedition rack
Prospeed ladder
Duratrac tyres
IID BT
BAS FBH control
26th Aug 2024 8:51 am
LandRoverAnorak
Member Since: 06 Mar 2014
Location: Surrey
Posts: 1172
Heh, heh, I don't tend to run around with the NATO hitch on as it messes with the parking sensors
I haven't really taken this trailer off-road; just across a muddy field really. It's heavy though, so you can feel the drag on anything but a smooth surface.
I know from past experience that slightly rougher terrain can be a challenge. Years ago, my wife and I had a different trailer that we took all over Europe:
Click image to enlarge
Obstacles that a 4x4 will drive up and over, a trailer has to be dragged over, which is a lot more difficult. Because of that, I've equipped this trailer with some waffles that can be used to form ramps when necessary.
Click image to enlarge
Darren
"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia
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