oily

12.00-20 Dunlop Trakgrip RF Tyres for my saracen!!!!!:-D

Hi, Oily here, I had one of those leak too. Depresurise the system, by pressing brake pedal several times with engine off and handbrake on. Remove leaky pipe, only minimal amount of oil should leak out,...either take pipe to local Hydraulic Hose specialist, -my local one is PIRTEK, (very reasonable, and very efficient), explain carefully what it is from and what the pressure rating is (off the top of my head, I think it's 1260lbs/sq/in), and they'll make up a new one for about £10-15, or call them out, and they'll make it for you on site, with a call out fee...... depending on how much oil has leaked, it'd be advisable to bleed that brake actuator.....:-)

Hi, Monty, my friend... I see in some of those pictures there are some seats in the interiors of the saracens, which have the oval shaped vinyl padded backrests on, ... any chance you could find out if it is possible to purchase 9 of the best condition ones?... have beeen looking over here (and elsewhere!) , but only managed to find rotten or torn old canvas ones, willing to pay good money for them....:-D:cool2: regards Matt (oily)

Such a sad loss, to you, Dale's family and the rest of us enthusiasts, please accept my condolences Matt

Tracked Vehicle/Tank - No.1 spot just has to be The Centurion.:cool2: Wheeled AFV - No.1 spot obvoiusly the Alvis Saracen, (my one!):cool2::-D Wheeled AFV - No.2 spot goes to Daimler Ferret.:cool2: Wheeled Non-armoured Military Vehicle - No.1 spot Alvis Stalwart Mk2:cool2:

Hi there, I got a Saracen too, a very tidy Mk5, I'm in Hampshire, UK.:-D

I've had my Saracen since 2005, and used it regularly on the road til last September, now have some repairs and maintenance (spanner-time!).....to do, I know a bit about these wonderful vehicles, and have a fair bit of servicing info on them now, thanks in part to 'monti' -you know who you are...:cool2::-D

Thanks, Montie, for your concern..... no further as yet as my girlfriend (and fellow military vehicle enthusiast!) was rushed into hospital with a nasty chest infection:embarrassed:, and subsequent pulmonary embolism:cry:,.... all very frightening:shocked:, so saracen problem has taken a back seat, til she's better....:-(

Loving those models, Monty!..... I 'made' a Saracen in 'Pottery!' class of all things, at school, when I was about 14 or 15, I still have it somewhere.... probably in the depths of my 20ft container somewhere. I'd really appreciate the help, if you have the relevant info. On the subject of 'driving', I'll see what I can do for you....:cool2:

Hi Monty, Those sun/planet gear photos made me wince! ouch!, I don'i envy you sorting that little lot out! sorry I've not emailed any more pics yet, -computer was down... sadly also my saracen is mis-behaving too. I went to check on it, to ready it for some forthcoming prom-night jobs, it started fine with a jump-start, and settled down to a lovely smooth idle, I engaged reverse 1st, to manouver it around the yard, and my hydraulic warning light came on, signalling no hydraulic pressure (-no power assistance for steering or footbrake!).... not good! so I was wondering if amongst your manuals/field repair information, -do you have any info on testing/changing the hydraulic pump, and the correct procedure for bleeding the system....initially when I got mine 'on the road' all was fine after just recharging the accumulators, and topping up the hydraulic oil. When my engine is running, I can see the drive pulley for the pump spinning, but on looking into the filler neck of the hydraulic tank there is no sign of any fluid movement, when usually there would be. I'm not aware of any inherrant problems with these types of pump, initially, before I was the owner, it had sat immobile for approx 15yrs!, and was fine when I put i into storage, last September..... so I'm more than a little puzzled..... Check your email inbox, this afternoon/evening, as I'm sending Tracta-joint diagrams etc.... If there are any other forum members 'in the picture' about saracen faults, I'd welcome any other input/comments (-preferably serious ones!:-)) Regards Oily

Hi again, Montie,..... Just to let you know, -I'll be foraging into my EMERS again later this evening, so keep your eyes peeled for some more 'exploded' diagrams of the tracta joints/drive shafts etc, etc..... I'll scan some more in and send 'em by email.....:-D Regards, Matt

Hmmm:embarrassed:, it seems the 'attachments' part of the forum is still playing silly buggers, and won't let me attach things like pictures etc, so check your private emails, my friend, and you shall see what is inside a bevel box!!!:cool2:

Hi Montie!.... Good News!:cool2:, I've found my manuals for the Saracen, hopefully attached to this post/thread are some exploded-diagrams of the 3 Bevel Boxes..... along with their relevant parts lists. For good measure, I'll also email them to you, as they may be clearer that way:D Regards, Matt

didn't happen to see any 12.00-20 trakgrips did you, mate?:cool2:

'Autopaint' of Lowford Hill, Burseldon, Hampshire will mix it up for you in any qty, and you can specify which finish/system you want, two-pack/cellulose/water-base/synthetic,and they are very reasonably priced...and they do aerosols too:D

greetings!..... just a thought, -since you are in Malaysia, where SIMEX Tyres are situated, any chance you could see if you could feasibly purchase Trakgrip style/pattern tyres from them, seems to be a big demand here for 9.00-16 and 12.00-20, the sizes fitted to Ferrets, and the larger ones on Saladins, and Saracens.:cool2:

Hi all, I've read 'whispers' on 'Maple Leaf Up', that someone has managed to contact/strike a deal with Simex, whom i'm led to believe have moulds for 12.00-20 Dunlop Trakgrips.... sadly my password doesn't want to work for the forum there, so I can't contact/converse with said chap..... I see you, mr Farrant are mentioned in the threads.... any chance you could get some info for me? I'm after 6 x Dunlop Runflat trackgrip 12.00-20... to fit on my Saracen:cool2: so I'm after price/delivery etc.... regards:-D

Sad, sad end to a saracen... why so glad to see the end of another one Mr Grundy? just cos you might not like them!.....:blush::blush:

as long as you 'exercise' the transmission, by either letting the nearside wheels bounce up the kerbs now and then (when there are no plod around!!!), or a few laps of a gravel car park, or an empty farmers field(- when the farmer isn't looking!!!), you should have no problems.... driving in the rain helps alot to as it lets the wheels slip about a little...i do all these in my Saracen, and have had no problems, so far in about 2000miles in total on the roads around Hampshire..... hope this helps:-\

My Saracen's birthday is 2nd February 1956, mine is 30th April 1968......I'm 42 this year, Saracen is approx 54, give or take a day or so.... We are both in about the same condition..... a little honest wear and tear, here and there.... Saracen is better looking though!:-D

Righto, Richard, I'll try and get on with that, this week, one afternoon..... many, many thanks:D

Thanks Richard, how do I go about checking the adjustments, as I don't have the relevant parts of the manuals for that, I think it involves taking the top cover off the gearbox, but that's as far as I know...:blush:

Ok, all you knowledgable lot...:-) As you may remember, my Saracen broke down:-( last September, with apparent intermittent loss of drive in ALL gears (-read ALL gears, all at the same time), after parking-up and allowing to cool for 15mins, drive was re-established:-|...journey, 20 miles or so, continued until 4 miles from home, then drive was lost again. Recovery was called , and after about an hour we were trailered back to yard.....whereby drive 'reappeared' again. Anyhow, what with a nasty accident, resulting in a spell in hospital, and 3 months off work, inclement weather, and then subsequent Carpal Tunnel surgery 5weeks ago, I was only recently able to investigate things a little further,.... yesterday, Sunday 18th April 2010 I managed to remove the Oil Level/Filler Plug from the Flywheel.... having been sold what was supposed to be the correct tool, it seems to be one for a ferret? (socket part was too big), so I carefully used a 1" socket,..... According to the manuals the oil level should be flush with the filling hole with the aperture at the 12 o'clock position.....I checked the level, the existing oil was very, very clean:D, but there was not enough of it, it would appear! as I ended up having to put in almost 2.5 ltrs:blush: of new OM13 Equivalent, (-Morris Lubricants, Liquimatic No.1)..... Does this seem to be rather a lot to top up with? I rechecked the Oil level in the gearbox, this was still where it had been since last time I drove it, (-which, incedently was the last time I topped up the gearbox, using 1 ltr of oil) When I checked the level in the gearbox, I noticed that it smelled sort of 'burnt', it also seems very 'thin', and not like 'engine oil', which is what I'm led to believe should be in the gearbox... it was very similar in viscosity to OM13!, so I'm wondering if it was incorrectly filled?:shocked:.... (I'm hoping this is the cause of the 'burnt' smell, ie oil getting too hot, due to wrong grade/type)... also being very, very thin it may account for the seemingly high speeds (55mph +!, I don't think the engine was replaced with a B81!) my Saracen was capable of ?........ Can anyone veryfiy the correct specification oil for the GEARBOX, TRANSFER BOX, BEVEL BOXES/TRACTA JOINT HOUSINGS, and HUBS, please, because I think I'll replace the lot, and make doubly sure they are full of the correct oils..... Does the fact that, the flywheel oil level was as low as it was sound like it was the cause for the intermittent loss of drive? my 'limited' understanding of the fluid flywheel/pre-select system seems to indicate this could be the case.... Can anyone shed any light here? Help much appreciated! regards to all, Oily:cool2:

Very, very impressive!...bring it along to Overlord 2010, Horndean, near Portsmouth.... we'd love to see it at our show!!

Hi guys, (and girls!) I'm gonna check and top-up my fluids on my Saracen this weekend, one of which i think defineately needs doing is the flywheel.....any one able to shed some light on the correct procedure?, ...and which oil I should use, seem to think it is OM13 (or it's modern equivalent):embarrassed: regards, Matt