kp
Member Since: 27 May 2011
Location: Sticking the Ex back in the skanks bin
Posts: 2824
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| Strata Florida & Bala and near by |
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Im heading on some routes on an event organised by MORC andand was wondering if any of you guys had done any at all??
Im taking the FF and it will have just come back from the bodyshop after the accident so im wondering if i should take some loppers and trimmers or just not bother as i'd be out every 5 minutes and get some magnetic protection mats for the sides instead??
Mucho Appreciated  FFRR Owner, very nearly became a D3 owner
Test piloted a new D4 XS SDV6.. Gone and being forgotten i hope!!
D4 HSE 10MY
D4 XS 11MY
SSRR Destroyer *2
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 21st Sep 2012 2:24 pm |
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Funkykipper
Member Since: 21 Feb 2010
Location: Nuneaton
Posts: 22
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You should have no scratchy problem on Strata.
Although be careful with the water and your air intake. You won't know how high the river is until you are stood looking at it.
Amazingly it can rain for a week and the water levels are ok, other times it's a raging torrent for what seems to be no apparent reason.
Also I took my FF on the Wayfarer and the alloys and tyres didn't fare very well so make sure you have some very thick walled tyres and preferably at least good quality AT's as the rocks are very sharp and unforgiving.
Other than that, enjoy!! Some say he eats creme eggs whole and is waterproof from the neck up. All we know he is called the Funkykipper!
WWW.1stOverland.co.uk
Range Rover TDV8 Vogue SE & Discovery 300 TDi
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| 21st Sep 2012 4:31 pm |
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kp
Member Since: 27 May 2011
Location: Sticking the Ex back in the skanks bin
Posts: 2824
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Thanks Funky
I got the alloys and mtrs off LT so ill be using them as not worried about damaging the rims then
Wading depth is about .5m according to the hand book and have my wading wellies to test as well!! FFRR Owner, very nearly became a D3 owner
Test piloted a new D4 XS SDV6.. Gone and being forgotten i hope!!
D4 HSE 10MY
D4 XS 11MY
SSRR Destroyer *2
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| 21st Sep 2012 4:34 pm |
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kp
Member Since: 27 May 2011
Location: Sticking the Ex back in the skanks bin
Posts: 2824
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Yeah the type to go upto your thigh tops so not waders I don't think.. FFRR Owner, very nearly became a D3 owner
Test piloted a new D4 XS SDV6.. Gone and being forgotten i hope!!
D4 HSE 10MY
D4 XS 11MY
SSRR Destroyer *2
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| 21st Sep 2012 4:42 pm |
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Funkykipper
Member Since: 21 Feb 2010
Location: Nuneaton
Posts: 22
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That's good then, just don't underestimate the weight of the water pushing against the side of your vehicle. Some say he eats creme eggs whole and is waterproof from the neck up. All we know he is called the Funkykipper!
WWW.1stOverland.co.uk
Range Rover TDV8 Vogue SE & Discovery 300 TDi
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| 21st Sep 2012 4:46 pm |
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kp
Member Since: 27 May 2011
Location: Sticking the Ex back in the skanks bin
Posts: 2824
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1m3 = 1tonne of preasure!!
It's a lot of force and can easily leave dented panels I imagine.
The last bit looks like fun for the ff!! Though he 2nd crossing looked too deep for me! FFRR Owner, very nearly became a D3 owner
Test piloted a new D4 XS SDV6.. Gone and being forgotten i hope!!
D4 HSE 10MY
D4 XS 11MY
SSRR Destroyer *2
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| 21st Sep 2012 4:48 pm |
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Funkykipper
Member Since: 21 Feb 2010
Location: Nuneaton
Posts: 22
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It's not so much just denting panels more about you losing grip and floating off down the river.
Like I said, that's the worse I've ever seen it and it could be just a mill pond of serenity when you go. Some say he eats creme eggs whole and is waterproof from the neck up. All we know he is called the Funkykipper!
WWW.1stOverland.co.uk
Range Rover TDV8 Vogue SE & Discovery 300 TDi
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| 21st Sep 2012 4:52 pm |
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kp
Member Since: 27 May 2011
Location: Sticking the Ex back in the skanks bin
Posts: 2824
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Hopefully one FFRR will weigh enough and have enough traction with the mtrs to push through if I try but that would be my limit. If it came over the bonnet the pollen filter would get wet!! FFRR Owner, very nearly became a D3 owner
Test piloted a new D4 XS SDV6.. Gone and being forgotten i hope!!
D4 HSE 10MY
D4 XS 11MY
SSRR Destroyer *2
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| 21st Sep 2012 4:56 pm |
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GSLRO
Member Since: 10 Sep 2008
Location: Sunderland
Posts: 1279
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Modern land rovers tend to be water tight (apart from Defenders even the new ones) to may float! 
If your not happy don't do it, don't be forced into something your not sure or happy about. Its your decision at the end of the day.
But go and enjoy!  And don't forget the photos/video to share with us all afterwards pls  Club N.E.R.D.s
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| 21st Sep 2012 7:01 pm |
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biskit
Member Since: 23 Dec 2009
Location: in my Mancave.
Posts: 1376
 
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I was supposed to be doing strata and other lanes this weekend with the MLRC, but can't now, i have done it without problems in my D3 in the past. Chicken Duck is going, but in his 90 hence the change of name from (Disco Duck)  Mantec sump guard.
Prospeed tree slider/steps.
Flack duel battery system.
18"Compomotive/AT3 tyres
Brembo 4pot front brakes
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| 21st Sep 2012 7:14 pm |
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kp
Member Since: 27 May 2011
Location: Sticking the Ex back in the skanks bin
Posts: 2824
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Ahh im going the first weekend of October Hoping the rain isn't that bad for the week before!! FFRR Owner, very nearly became a D3 owner
Test piloted a new D4 XS SDV6.. Gone and being forgotten i hope!!
D4 HSE 10MY
D4 XS 11MY
SSRR Destroyer *2
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| 21st Sep 2012 8:07 pm |
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riverblanche
Member Since: 31 Aug 2010
Location: retford'ish
Posts: 2226
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Hi Kp,
we drove up towards the abbey at the end of August, it had been raining a fair bit, but the river was still at "normal" level and no drama.
Other than trying to find our mates dog that headed for the trees and theres plenty of them
Only thing I would say is take the loppers for the wooded section at the abbey end, or you may get some scratches on the roof !
Enjoy Transit! 2019
Gone D3 HSE 2008
Another Porsche Cayenne 2022
Gone Porsche Cayenne 2020
Gone RRS HSE Dynamic 2016
Gone RRS HSE LUX 2011
Gone RRS HSE 2006
Gone D3 SE 2.7 2008
gone D2 Td5 1999
I plan on living forever and so far so good !
Club DG Mclaren stuff
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| 23rd Sep 2012 6:48 pm |
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kp
Member Since: 27 May 2011
Location: Sticking the Ex back in the skanks bin
Posts: 2824
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Thanks river Blanche
I've got a chainsaw and hand saw going in so may see if my dad has some spare loppers or buy a nice long set.
Waffle boards are on my purchase list as well!! FFRR Owner, very nearly became a D3 owner
Test piloted a new D4 XS SDV6.. Gone and being forgotten i hope!!
D4 HSE 10MY
D4 XS 11MY
SSRR Destroyer *2
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| 23rd Sep 2012 6:50 pm |
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kp
Member Since: 27 May 2011
Location: Sticking the Ex back in the skanks bin
Posts: 2824
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| offroading with a fattie! |
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Well we didn't make it to strata as by the end of Saturday we'd run out of time and light!
It was a dam good weekend though with only a few hiccups. One lane was heavily overgrown with a tree fallen over the gulley it ran in and then just got so narrow trail bikes would have got stuck. Another was a long grass uphill. First Cherokee got up ok and said it got worse as they got near the top. This was also overgrown and caused the 2nd Cherokee and me to have to go round it, possibly causing us to really struggle up as we lost momentum and chewed it up too quickly. this one was abandoned as we would never have got near the top.
There were lots of little narrow lanes that i just managed to squeeze through with just light scratches being scored against the bodywork.
I even traversed some deep puddles on the wayfarer which caused an issue....
Points to note for using the FFRR for offroading/greenlaning
BAD
FFRR is a right fatty when it comes to needing to spread the wieght out. I think 295 width tyres would be the only option...
The diff's, there isn't an option to just lock the ones that are lockable, instead the system(even with DSC off) uses the brakes to lock the wheels up. this is good in theory but stresses the brakes even more when they have been slowing a 2.5+tonne beasty on very steep downhill gradients.
Its very wide! i struggled getting by on some bits and did what has now been termed the 'range rover meerkat' by hanging out the window so i could see my side while guided or unguided for the passenger side sometimes getting through with literally a cm or two each side to spare...
A manual mode to force the car into extended mode for much better clearance
TC/Clutch lock-up is stupid as it only seems to lockup easily in Low Range which is pants when you need to use 1/2 High Range instead for downhill descents.
The DSC could be a little more sensitive/active but im comparing to a brand new D4 so the systems are bound to have improved over the years!
The rear exhaust hangers are pants so im going to beef them up with some cheap box section cut diagonally and holes drilled something like 3-4mm ally should do the job!
The backbox is f'in ridiculous! its too big and heavy for what's needed and pipework with it could have been a single pipe all the way back and performance would have been fine! This is a design thing i guess and one thing i'll look to get rid of i reckon should i keep using it for offroad tasks.
Headlight breather system is  and if they have been on at all as soon as cold air hits them condensation forms inside! Totally stupid design that i will look to improve by using the inlet tract to provide a vacuum and keep air circulating but clean.
Good things
The FF is very comfy and can handle a lot
The electronics make life easy when it comes to getting up things, just a light bit of power and the car sorts itself out but pulses and clunks as it does it....
wading ability and setup of the td6 air inlet can save the engine from hydraulic lock as long as a foam filter instead of paper filter is used!
The electronics are mainly well sealed and thought out and the double door seals didn't let any water in.
aircon works great when your back in the car after getting a sweat on moving stuff around outside.
the tailgate lower is great for sitting on when your sorting your boot and load out.
The fanbox(for internal air draw) is good as i easily managed to block this off with a good amount of thick cling film to stop water splashes soaking the filter and getting inside!
Things i Bust/Nearly broke!
Well the rear Drivers side quarter has a 2 line crease where the car slid down a grass hill as i took it too low where there wasn't enough grip to climb back up. Its not that deep and hasn't punctured too much paintwork but will be about £2-300 damage I reckon.
This also cracked the rear light lens so another expense.
The engine nearly died when I went through a long stretch of tunnelled water which being enclosed built up more and more and then pushed along the side of the car behind the headlights and got some sucked in, this was caught by the air filter which strangled the engine as the fine bits of it just clogged up and stopped airflow. Engine saved and it ran just long enough before cutting out to get me out of the water at which point power slowly died over about 10 seconds. Filter off IC and pipework checked for water, engine spun over and caught almost straight away(putting some of this down to the pump as well!)
Mantec under-shield has more scrapes on it now and the Fat Rover is caked in mud from top to tail so polish wash sometime soon me thinks and i'll do the inside myself with the hoover as its mainly dry grass and bits of mud and a good excuse for the leather to have another clean as well with the zymol and gliptone.
I'm going to see about making up my own snorkel seeing as no-one in the business world is interested even when i wave money at them and am happy to guinea pig it.
Im also intending to buy 2-3 more of the under-shields and get them beaten/made into the right shape for a complete underbody slider as the transfer box and its cage is quite vulnerable and I think a smooth underside whilst adding another 30kg of weight would help MPG and be better for offroad tackling.
Im seeing if the sill protectors from RLD can easily be adapted from d3/4 fitment to FF as the plastic sill covers are good but not strong enough to slide over rocks... Tree sliders may be another option but i fear they may not be wide enough with the side curve of the FF factored in.
In all it was great fun and i really enjoyed a weekend of camping and laning with beer and burgers/sausages/bacon all in there is great
The FF did very well IMO and was only let down on the last day by the sliding due to weight/grip ratio being poo and the iffy pump(external one) and the air intake set-up leaking and pulling air from behind the headlight instead of the grille on the wing..
All in it did super and i was very proud of it doing what it did FFRR Owner, very nearly became a D3 owner
Test piloted a new D4 XS SDV6.. Gone and being forgotten i hope!!
D4 HSE 10MY
D4 XS 11MY
SSRR Destroyer *2
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| 8th Oct 2012 2:09 pm |
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