LoggyDriver

I also have to go with the MJ. It might not be the best truck to work on and the DAF is easier of the two to drive and work on, but the Bedfords are bomb proof and rarely go wrong. Our unit had a good selection of both and it was always the Bedfords that went out and the Dafs that stayed behind. Hence the reason why so many Bedfords are still in service, indeed why they deemed it necessary to put them through a life extension programme. They might be slow, hard to get at the engine and simple, but they will get you to your destination eventually.

Hello mate, It was nice to meet you. Thoroughly nice chap our Smithy. Considering this is only the second year of this show it was excellent. A very good attendance of vehicles. The only thing I would say is that I feel it could do with a little more publicity as the public seemed to be a bit thin on the ground, although I was camped towards the far end away from the arena. I will definitely be going next year. The weather was vicious. VERY hot on Saturday with no wind. Just as hot today but with a nice breeze. The trip up on Friday was a total nightmare as the A34 was gridlocked and it took about 3 1/2 hrs to get there. Coming back was great apart from the massive hill on the way out of Evesham where the Bedford was doing all of 10mph for about 2 miles!!! Luckily my mate Mark Cook followed up the rear with his Yellow RAF Defender 90 with Amber beacon flashing contently. I will follow up this post with pictures, but I've just got in so will do it in the next few days. Cheers Andy

Should be leaving about 14.00hrs today. Keep the nice weather booked Paul!

Blimey, what's with all the Sat dishes? Are you plumbed into the USSR early warning grid?:cool2:

This is my take on it. Firstly the SA80. It is a good accurate weapon, but you had to keep it well oiled and clean for it to work properly and not rust to bits. The 5.56mm round is designed to tumble when it hits the body and it's better not to kill the enemy as a wounded soldier takes up valuable resourses looking after the injured. The 7.62 is a larger round and that's why it has further range, but you are likely to be killed being hit by one at 300yds rather than being injured by a 5.56mm. On the British vehicle front. The Land Rover is a very good vehicle. It's easy to repair and the parts are relitively cheap. As far as rust goes, well the jap stuff is even worse. I've got a Hilux I imported from Japan 5 years ago and I've had replace the head as it was cracked, Radiator etc. It's cost me around £3,000 to get right whereas the Defender I've got has been a stalwart in the 12 years I've had it. Sure I rebuilt the axles and replaced all the brakes (calipers, hoses, discs etc) but that was through choice not nessecity. The Bedfords are still in service as they are such a reliable truck. We had Leyland Dafs in my Regiments but never used them, we always took Bedfords over Leyland Dafs. I will agree that they are far too underpowered. The Russians giving their trucks "proper" engines. I was chatting to a driver yesterday who had to go to a MAN dealer for some work on his TGX 26.440 tractor and he told me that there were loads of MAN Army trucks in the yard of this dealer. He asked why they were there and the guy in service told him they required a repair that was a 40 hour job on EACH truck. He didn't say what the problem was, but with trucks now being run by computers that only spells disaster when they start getting old and need a laptop to diagnose whats wrong with them. Flat battery in a Bedford, no problem, jump start to get the engine running and that's it, no computers to kill the vehicle stone dead.

Welcome Dreadnaught..... I am ex 10 Regt too, 1 Squadron. I was with them when they were at Colchester in the late 90's. This was the best Regiment I served with. Hope your having a nice retirement? All the best from a fellow 10 Regt mucker!

Would a towed gun be classed as a trailer? As it can't be loaded with goods would it not be classed as equipment?

Jules, When you went for the test was it at a VOSA test centre or a commercial vehicle garage able to take the size of the vehicle on a class 4 test? I'm a bit puzzled by your taxation class. If you are testing it as a class 4 "Motor Caravan" then suerly the V5 would need to show the vehicle as a "Motor Caravan" and the tax would reflect this? Not Historic as you mentioned?

Was this the same documentry I saw last night? About the LRDG and the SAS teaming up?

Very nice find and quite local to me. Are you going to get it shot blasted and powder coated? The canvas looks OK considering it's age. Did you give the old guy anything for it?

I know where I would have told him to stick his carbon footprint!!!

WTF:computerrage::wow: NO BEER......:beer::angry:box: Looks like the poor old Bedford will have a little more weight in it than usual then. Is this guy a professional Paul as you would have thought getting a licence would be the first thing to get right? No wonder your not happy. I'm really looking forward to the show:D. I know several people who are coming, and a few of those are coming up from Cornwall. Will be leaving about lunch time on Friday to miss the traffic. Probably take about 2.5 to 3hrs to get there.

I know it's a pain in the backside doing all this work. I imported a Toyota Hilux from Japan (still own it) and within a year I had a cracked head - parts alone cost me £1,500 and I did all the work myself. I also had to replace the radiator at a cost of £480, front drive boot repair kit £350, rear hard/soft shocks £250, rear exhaust £280, new set of tyres £500, cambelt, tensioner and pulley £???. Since all this work has been done the trucks been fine. The point is once you have all the jobs done the truck will be sorted. At least if you sell it you will get your money back (in my case I wont and that's why I still own it). Sounds like you need to have a look at everything to make sure everything is tight as it seems to have a lot of loose bolts etc? Keep your chin up mate, every job done is a job less on the "to do" list.:-)

I bet it was to do with the football. A visit to local pubs when England are playing may show up the offender! Theiving scum ba*****s

Did one of the German guys take exception to you entering the beer tent at W&P?:shocked::D0

Thank you very much Neil. Yes I was well chuffed. I've been doing it 20 years and this is the first time I've won anything. I haven't touched the truck, so I was surprised it won anything, although maybe it was recognised for what it is, an IN SERVICE condition truck and not a show room condition vehicle? The runner up at W&P must have been very special as there are so many similar vehicles that to win anything must be pretty cool?

Well me and the missus put up the 12x12 today to see how it would go. It was surprisingly stress free and went up in about an hour. I will leave the sides laced up to the eves to make it easier and quicker to put up at the next show. Here are some pictures.

Have you not sold your truck yet Martin? Are you taking it to Beltring?

Keep clicking on the picture and it gets quite large. My other half is very understanding. Indeed, she has just bought us a 12x12 tent for the shows. She even knows some of the vehicles now and I've been giving her driving lessons in the Defender as she will be driving that down to Beltring this year.

:trustme::rofl::rofl::rofl::mailforyou:

Hello Ollie, Yes, she was a good truck. Ran very well. Might even have had a new engine in it by now as the last time I drove that truck was in July 2001. Here is a picture of me standing by the truck! I was in charge of all my Troops vehicles, ensuring servicing, vehicle availability etc. This photo was taken at the Bletchley Park Show in July 2001. I organised the supply and display of the DROPS and the Wolf TUL from my Squadron for the show and these were my Troops vehicles. This DROPS was the best my Troop had. Happy days I can tell you. Brings back a lot of memories. Andy

That looks like fresh damage. They don't give a toss at Withams. :undecided:

Sounds to me like air in the system. If you first brake and it goes to the floor there is obviously no resistance in the cylinder, then when you pump again it's OK meaning you then have pressure. I know you have said you have bled the system and no air is in it, but I've had a similar thing happen to me in the past.

You might also like to tell them to take their shoes off when clambering all over the truck, they might scratch the paintwork!!!:shocked:

Also MAM is Gross vehicle Weight. I think you will be refering to Maximum Train Weight.