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10 minute film of 1 PWO entry into theatre and their take over from The Cheshires Col Bob Stewart. It shows Warriors, 432's, Bedford MJ's, TM's etc...an interesting film. I was a DROPS operator with 7 Sqn during this period..quite an eye opening tour!

Hi, Im not sure what type of tyre inflator you are after but I found this.... http://www.thexmod.com/item_detail.asp?id=5626

Hi Ron, According to my Bedford TM 4-4 Service manual the Stop Lamp Switches are "incorporated in the Service I and Service II air lines between the footbrake valve and the brake actuators. The switches are located on the inside of the chassis member" Hope this helps. Good to see another TM owner on here..Ive got a TM 4-4 8T CALM. Any pics of yours? Andy.

I was a DROPS driver back in my army days and they only ever did 48mph on motorways...the good thing about them was that they would do the same speed cross country...yeeee haaaa!! I learnt alot about their capabilities when driving them for 6 months out in Bosnia in 1993....we put them through their paces...an excellent truck...just watch the retarder when empty in the wet!!!

Thanks mate. The MOT is the same as any HGV and is done at the local VOSA testing station. It had a new test on it when i bought the truck and its due in October. Its plated as an HGV 16 Ton gross but is registered as a Private HGV so the tax is only £160 a year and the insurance is only £170 on a classic car policy. In other words I can't undertake any work for "hire or reward" but i can carry a load as long as its for me or a friend and no money changes hands. It was the price of tax and insurance, parts availabilitie and also there being no requirement for having a tacho or under run/side protection bars that swayed my decision to buy the truck..its a no brainer really!! I have a soft spot for them also as i used to drive them amongst others back in my RCT/RLC days.

Hi mate, Id love to come up to W&P but its a bit of a trek from down here in the west country and doubt ill get the time off work. I work in Southampton and live in Plymouth so it gets a bit tricky finding the time! Would love to see your MJ sometime..they are fantastic trucks, absolutley bulletproof!! We certainly put them through thier paces when i was in Cyprus for 7 Sqn's UN tour in 92. I was witness to one rolling over the edge of a cliff in the Troodos mountains, i was driving the truck behind, The vehicle and occupants barrel rolled over 200 feet down a wooded mountain side..the MJ was unrecognisable when it finally came to a stop..amazingly the engine was still running!! I was first on the scene and the first thing i did was pull the engine stop..no idea why!! The 2 engineers were in a real bad way..the driver had gone all the way with the truck and was thrown clear..he was lying about 10 feet to the side of the cab...the passenger got thrown clear about halfway down and had had his face smashed in..what also gives me a chill is the driver had virtually all his uniform torn from him so can only imagine the violent forces his body must have gone through. They got casevac to Akrotiri hospital..they both survived though seriously injured. They had to use a sky crane to lift the wagon out and it got taken back to our REME wksp..quite a sobering sight but a good advert for its strength. Andy

Well done mate:) Glad you got it sorted!!

Thanks for all your kind comments guys..much appreciated:) This was quite a straight forward and quick resto compared to some ive done in the past! Robin..I will keep the civvi plates on at shows as it shows that its now in private hands and not just tipped up from a local army camp! The original Mil reg number is stamped on the vin plate and the data plate on the side of the bed. The metal box strapped to the bed is an old army steamer trunk that i painted up..it only contained a couple of easy chairs and our packed lunches! It gets taken off when i park up and taken home. Ill get some more pics up soon. Andy. PS..Andy..I was in B tp then in C tp 91 to 94.

Hi Andy, I had the same problems when I changed the fuel filters on the TM..Im afraid its just a case of get hand priming the fuel pump..after you've done a few hundred pumps and your fingers about to drop off try turning the engine over and see what happens!! Ive got a spare 7 Sqn windscreen sticker if you want it..ill send it to you. Andy.

Hi, After 5 months hard graft ive finally finished restoring my TM. Apologies for not keeping a running update on the progress but im a very busy person with work and doing the truck that its difficult to find the time!! I stripped the cab down of all its panels, doors, lights, trim etc...interior came out and the rest of the truck body was stripped down of all its parts. Everything that could be refurbished was and put back on truck..everything else that was too far gone was replaced with new. The truck was then rubbed down by hand and prepped for painting. It was sprayed with 4 coats of NATO satin green from Frank Burbery paint..had a few issues with the paint only because i didnt buy enough and couldnt get the same batch so had to spend ages remixing the paint to get a correct match..believe me they do differ..considerably!! It then took a couple of weeks to put it all back together again and managed to finish her the day before it was due on display on Plymouth Hoe as part of Armed Forces Day!! Talk about cutting it fine!! Now all i have to do is drive and enjoy her..and reminise..im ex 7 Sqn RCT!!

Dab the paint on with a sponge..thats how we used to do it in the RCT! If you are using sticky back stencils then carefully remove them whilst the paint is still wet or else the words will come away with the stencil. Ive got access to the original brass types which in my opinion are the best.

Yeah why not!! Looks like fun..Germans used to do it all the time in WW2!!

Hi Emma and Mike..welcome to the forum:) Im in Plymouth..so just across the border! Ill be showing my Bedford TM on Plymouth Hoe this coming saturday..pop along and say hello if you are down this way. Andy.

As you are all aware this coming up at the weekend. Ill be displaying my Bedford TM which ive only just finished restoring! There will be other classic military vehicles there along with the armed forces displays. So if anyones down this way on saturday then please come along and say hello!! Ill take plenty of pics!! Andy.

From what I can remeber I think its 45 Front and 81 Rear. Hope this helps! Andy.

Ill agree with you there..I served for 10 years and only took about 4 rolls of film!! I do regret that now but like you said it was all just part of the job!!

Excellent pics..thanks for posting. Anymore info on Unit, Location etc? I can see its BAOR just wondered where.

If you use Nitromors then when you've put a nice thick layer on wrap or cover it with cling film. This will stop it fromm evaporating and allow it to penetrate deeper into the paint. It works for me!

Hi Nick, Ive just painted my Bedford TM and i used 15 litres. I used about 10 litres for spraying and one tin for all other jobs and ive still got some left. I got my paint from Frank Burbery. Really good quality and service. Hope this gives you some idea on how much you will need. Andy.

Ive got a pic of Royal Marines using M16's in the Falklands in 82.

Yeah I second that as well...definately the cheapest parts supplier around. You have to remember the more obselete the part the expensive its going to be! Ive found its worth ringing them as not everything has been listed on the website as they have so much stock! Theres 780 Bedford items on the site alone!

Just thought id post up a link for this site. Its a treasure trove of hard to come by and odd parts for British military vehicles large and small from the 1970's on. Its yielded many parts for my TM restoration. Excellent service as well..I ordered some bits and bobs at 16:00 and it arrived the following day..can't argue with that! www.thexmod.com

and a strong spine...crunch!!

Enjoy:)

No they don't have one anymore since they became part of the RLC in 1993. Ive found a number for the RLC Museum. Ill give them a call this week. Thanks for the suggestion.