Tip Of The Week

[Klenchblaize]

For those with ‘stubborn’ LR wheel nut covers what won’t come off with the as supplied tool, you may wish to have another go using the following tools before cutting them off:


Just a few things to note:

1. The molegrips with padded jaws are only for removing the nut once you’ve broken the seal and the cover can be rocked until it pulls clear. Do not over-clamp the cover.
2. This approach will only work if the covers are just a little tight and the nuts HAVE had grease or copper slip applied.
3. If the convers won’t move by the method demonstrated and even with a larger pry bar with suitably profiled heel, you WILL need to cut them off with aid of a small chisel and old flat headed screwdriver if you don’t have a pry bar. Trust me on this last point!

K

 

[ryanmachen]

That’s propa I haven seen that for years still gold

 

[Sealgair nam fiadh]

As far as I know you remove the wheel nuts with those " covers " in place, your the first person I know of that removes them !

 

[Klenchblaize]

As far as I know you remove the wheel nuts with those " covers " in place, your the first person I know of that removes them !

All I can say is crack on with that approach!

K

 

[Sealgair nam fiadh]

Have you had problems?

 

[Ooops]

For those with ‘stubborn’ LR wheel nut covers what won’t come off with the as supplied tool, you may wish to have another go using the following tools before cutting them off:

Just a few things to note:

1. The molegrips with padded jaws are only for removing the nut once you’ve broken the seal and the cover can be rocked until it pulls clear. Do not over-clamp the cover.
2. This approach will only work if the covers are just a little tight and the nuts HAVE had grease or copper slip applied.
3. If the convers won’t move by the method demonstrated and even with a larger pry bar with suitably profiled heel, you WILL need to cut them off with aid of a small chisel and old flat headed screwdriver if you don’t have a pry bar. Trust me on this last point!

K

Lord posts like this make me feel quite dense, a top tip indeed. Although in my defence I did think about taking the covers off completely. I just never got round to doing it.
I added a drift to my wheel kit so that I could bang the wheel nut out of the socket.
I'll have to give this a try
Does the prybar mark the alloy wheels?

Have you had problems?

Yes. It's a fairly common occurrence courtesy of the afore mentioned air tools.

I get a real hard time when I insist that tyre changers use my breaker bar & socket to crack the nuts and they totally loose it when I insist on the same plus a torque wrench for the refit

 

[Skogsmannen]

Can’t recall if I’ve posted this before but here now with some pictures and a couple of tips if you’re considering install of Cottis supplied replacement leather bi-pod cushioning pads:

1. Make sure you do remove all the old Harris padding rather than gluing the new leather strips on top of the existing with the intention of increasing total thickness . The thought process that suggests increasing damping this way is indeed a sound one but be prepared to struggle mightily with engaging the swivel stud clamp as the greater thickness makes it a real pain to align. I should know as my pads are made of two pieces of leather glued & stitched which amounts to what I caution against!
View attachment 189680
2. You may wish to consider not gluing new pads to the bi-pod but rather make a single leather one that is shaped and wet moulded to a;- the contour of the saddle and b;- the rifle forend. If you do go down this route and you only have one bi-pod for a number of rifles you can make a custom leather pad for each rifle and in whatever colour leather you fancy.
View attachment 189682
3. When wet moulding the leather be sure to cover bi-pod and rifle with Clingfilm and do not over-tighten the swivel clamp that snugs the bi-pod to forend. You need to have some spring left in the leather to compress when the leather is dry.
View attachment 189684
4. I have also drilled a small seating hole that is about 1mm deep into the metal where the swivel stud clamp tightens against as I found this stops the screw from moving to the left or right of centre when under the kind of load one can apply with a hex key wrench.
View attachment 189688
Good luck!

K

Like that a lot - much neater than my attempt using a bit of tractor inner tube....

 

[Donkey Basher]

All I can say is crack on with that approach!

K

Never had any issues removing wheel nuts from alloys on 2x Discovery 1, 1x Discovery 2, 2x Defender 90 & 1x Defender 110 with the pressed steel 'finishers' on - they use the exact same size socket as the locking wheel nut key, which is the same size as the wheel brace supplied with the vehicle in the first place. The plastic removal tool is only for removing the 'finishers' from the locking wheel nuts...

 

[Ooops]

Never had any issues removing wheel nuts from alloys on 2x Discovery 1, 1x Discovery 2, 2x Defender 90 & 1x Defender 110 with the pressed steel 'finishers' on -

I've seen it on D2 and its a given on D3 & D4s.
Check out some one like Advanced Factors, they sell wheel nut by the full set for this reason

 

[Klenchblaize]

To be clear I’ve no problem with removing the steel wheel nuts as I have a nice Britool 3/4 bar, tight fitting socket and 2m length of scaffold tube. It’s the decorative covers I’ve previously had to chisel off as they had become bonded to the nut with corrosion that my “tip” relates to.

I could have said just ensure you keep the wheel nut outer surface lubricated.

K

 

[Dunwaters]

All I can say is crack on with that approach!

K

Its what I’ve been doing too, the only cover you need to remove is the one on the lock nut, which I replaced with standard nuts, 27mm socket.

 

[Klenchblaize]

Its what I’ve been doing too, the only cover you need to remove is the one on the lock nut, which I replaced with standard nuts, 27mm socket.View attachment 219837

I’ll try that but it’s clear the covers are intended to be removed as the LR supplied socket is not of a size that will fit over a covered nut.

K

 

[Dunwaters]

I’ll try that but it’s clear the covers are intended to be removed as the LR supplied socket is not of a size that will fit over a covered nut.

K

OOH, I know, Lord do I know. The 27mm socket is non standard, as is the extending bar. Throw the lock nut away, the key supplied wont work and will break if you force it, likewise don't bother with the covers if you don't have to, you’ll probably end up doing this for real on a dark wet byway, keep it simple.

 

[Klenchblaize]

OK!

NC-27 | SAM 27 mm 19.05 mm Drive Impact Socket, 53 mm length | RS

uk.rs-online.com

K

 

[Sealgair nam fiadh]

I was at the main dealer Pentland Land Rover yesterday.
Spoke to the workshop manager about wheel nuts to get his take on this.
The locking wheel nut is fitted with a cover ( part No RRJ100120 ) and removed with the wheel nut cover remover ( part ANR 5436 ).
The locking wheel nut cover is identified by a " Dimple " as seen in Klenchblaize's photos.
Non locking wheel nuts ( part No NRC7415 ) have no "Dimple " as seen in dunwater's photos.
The workshop managers opinion is that at some point either aftermarket wheel nuts have been fitted to Klenchblaize's wheels or for some reason the caps have been removed and replaced with Dimpled lock nut covers.
Any how, when I take my wheels off I always use a torque wrench to tighten them and the standard Land Rover wheel brace fit my nuts perfectly.

 

[Donkey Basher]

There are three types of cosmetic 'finishers' for these alloy wheel nuts. Normal wheel nuts have neither a dimple or a pimple on them, as per those in Dunwaters photo, and are not intended to be removed. Locking wheel nuts have a removable 'finisher' with a dimple in it so that the locking nut can easily be identified, as per the ones in K's photos. The third type has a pimple on it & these are only to be used to hold the spare wheel on the carrier and not to fit to a road wheel, again these 'finishers' are not removable.

Looks very much like at some time in the past the 'finishers' on K's Defender wheel nuts have been replaced & probably with those for locking wheel nuts because, at a guess, these are the only 'finishers' available for purchase on their own.

As for those fitted to D3, D4 & FL2, remove the locker as soon as possible & replace with a normal nut, it will save you a LOT of trouble down the line!!

 

[Klenchblaize]

This is cool and could be useful:

K

 

[Dalua]

View attachment 219837

...there's even oil on the ground, in case anyone should doubt there's a real Land Rover vehicle near by!

 

[Gunner223]

Black Silweld, everybody should have a roll in there vehicle, mends leaks , pressure lines , water pipes,
you name it, the steering pipes have just sprung a leak on the Hilux, a few wraps of this tape saved me £400 plus
and only around £6 a roll , watch it on YouTube.

 

[Longstrider]

This is cool and could be useful:

K

A good tip for stuff like securing high seats etc , but ...hauling on a 4:1 ratio between the sides of a pickup ... How long before you bend something expensive ?