7shades

Some domain names have been parked, and I have a lead on an ex-US military mobile satellite broadband uplink. The trip coverage will be.... Extensive :D

aaaw shucks :D

Oh yeah. I know ALL about that crazy Russki action. One of the main reasons we're going over (and going by land in our own vehicles) is to check out as much Soviet hardware and infrastructure as possible. There's a veritable shitload of abandoned military bases, airfields, entire towns and cities etc in the (nowadays) lesser populated areas of Siberia and far eastern Russia. We're starting in a little port town called Magadan, and heading north before turning west. Through Siberia, down into Mongolia, then right across to London in a sortof zigzag pattern stopping in at the more noted landmarks along the way. Should take a few months.

You're kidding right? They're even worse! Only slightly more horrible than the Renault whateverthehellitwas... Dude the one I TEST DROVE broke down. Fiat can't even build a CAR that lasts 60 thou, let alone a commercial vehicle. Nope, I'm going back to a Hiace... Just like everyone else who's been burned by all these European shitheaps. The last 4 gave me almost zero problems in over a million k's.

I like my little ashtray light... Its where I keep my coins to buy coffee at ungodly hours of the morning :D

Something else broke on the Vito today. Surprise sur-f@$king-prise. Well, two things actually. The light bulb in the ashtray blew. And the driver's side sliding door doesn't unlock with the rest now, Has to be opened manually from the inside. Sigh. When will it end...

Well spotted sir! But again, I'm ahead of the game here... The plumbing and electrical systems in this rig are... Epic. Both standard tanks plus the extra 120L alloy tank are being fitted with dual heating elements... (multiple redundancy ftw) One being water lines run from the HWS, which is in turn warmed by 2 heat exchangers, one from the engine, another from the exhaust... The other is a regular 12V coiled wire element. The 12V system has alternator, solar, and standalone generator to keep it charged. (Again, redundancy) This vehicle is being built to survive flood/fire/famine/pestilence/nuclear winter/zombie apocalypse.

Already got that covered... Landcruiser camper I am building for the trip shall be equipped with diesel fuelled central heating... Even the underfloor :P

The irony of that statement is; I am actually going to Russia next year. Fires should be gone and everything should be frozen again by that time though.

I have a little acreage in the hills just west of Cairns. It got down to 4 degrees the other night. 4 degrees is very cold for Uncle Shady... As he is quite used to the balmy tropical climate on the coast. Tasmanians: STFU

I've struck a deal with Mercedes, after yelling my way up the phone tree until I was able to talk to someone authorised to be in the same room as a decision. I'll be replacing the pads and rotors with aftermarket ones, instead of genuine failtainium Merc garbage. They are supplying me with new wear sensors too. And I have it in writing that even after I do this, they will honour the warranty on all other components except the brakes. I'm fine with that, DBA stuff is pretty good and I'm not expecting it to f@$k up. My next service is also free :fuzz: Moderately placated at this point. No blood shall be spilled this day. Now, I'm off to my lakeside retreat to contemplate the weeks events with a chai tea beside the fire.

FL more than FR, but both are wearing far too quickly. Depending on who you ask, its the rollbar bushes, the wishbones flexing, or the steering rack... Nobody can tell me for certain. Everything in the front end clicks and clunks anyway so I'll just keep driving it until something breaks off and sends me into a ditch. Maybe then I can test the much-hyped 5 star ANCAP rating.

Yeah funny that, my pedal rubber is worn out too. Oh and there's a hole in the floor from my heel. It hasn't even BEEN for its second service yet. Its still burning oil though, so by the time it does go in for service they won't even need to drop the f*cking oil because I will have already fed it another 8 litres of nice fresh stuff. ALL the pads are worn down and squealing. 30k from rotors in unacceptable. Just not good enough. I went and bought wiper refills, pulled the blade apart, shoved the new inserts in, cost me a tenner. New tyres I put on a few thou ago are already feathering. I'm running stupid psi to try and counter it. I'm getting them reversed L - R next week, and rotated F - B, which I'll do every 5k to try and get more than 10 thou out of the front pair. Just been perusing the interwebs re: the world's most useless van. Nice to know I'm not alone in my grievances. http://www.roadtestreports.co.uk/road-test...edes-Benz/Vito/

Yeah man. I've had experience with Audi, BMW, VW and a couple of other Euros and I know you're lucky to even get one resurfacing out of them before they're undersized... They just don't have enough meat on them for some obscure reason. (The exception to this rule being Volvo, which have bigger rotors than a Landcruiser) But 30k is just ludicrous. They're not even warped or spotted, just worn down. And its not like I drive the thing at 10/10ths in stop/start traffic all the time either... I baby it around 'cos I'm expecting it to spontaneously explode, and more than half my k's are highway anyway. GAH

The camel's back has been broken. Replacement bits for the LAST problem finally arrived, so back the Vito went to have them fitted. While it was there, I asked them to check the brake pads (the light was coming on occasionally) and replace the assortment of blown light bulbs, as I'm just plain sick of doing it. For the last 2 weeks I've been driving around on foglights. I'm just absolutely over having to continually replace bulbs. So, more exciting news when I collect it this afternoon. Yes, all the brake pads have worn down. No, that's not a warranty item as they're a wear component. Fine, even though its only done 40k, just change the damn pads and I'll pay for them, no probs. We would, except all (ALL) the rotors are undersized too. Oh, you mean the ones you've already replaced once? Yes. Well, change them too. Hurry up. See thing is, they're a wear item as well... So they're not covered by warranty. *Uncle Shady begins to quietly smoulder with the fire of a thousand burning suns* So they were covered at 10k, but not covered now. That's correct. Why the f@$k not. Because before, they were faulty. Now, they're worn. That makes them a wear item, not covered by warranty. *smoulder smoulder* So you mean to tell me... That the brake pads have a service life of 40k, but the rotors wear down in less time than the pads, thus needing to be replaced every 30k. Is this what you are telling me? Yes. At this point, I'm just utterly lost for words. I cannot believe Mercedes makes such an abominable bucket of shit, charges an absolute fortune for it (this van cost more than the first residential property I bought) ad then arserapes you even further with parts. Eg: $200 for wiper blades. Yep, 200. Koreans build better cars than this van. I would rather drive a f*cking Kia Pregio than this van. I've had enough, I've contacted a solicitor, I want out of the lease with no money outstanding. They can have it back. I'm getting a Hiace.

Yes. Because nothing says "I refuse to compromise my youthful ambition and vigor" like a Korean soft roader.

As long as it weighs less than a tonne and I can somehow squeeze 100kw out of it, I'll probably be keen.

Cube sold out and went soft. Now it saddens me to even flitter through his back catalogue. With two exceptions: Express yourself (NWA) War and Peace - Extradition

Definitely. Mazdas and Volvos especially have their own distinct 'aroma'

Well at least we got to one chorus. I've given up, I'm very disenchanted with the youth of today. Bah humbug. At least the Vanilla Ice thread worked...

I once detailed a BA Falcon which had so much damn dog hair in it... And it was one of those stupid pointless little yappy dogs with short white curly pubic hair for fur. That shit was NOT coming out of the seats. It was like the seats were actually growing hair. What did I do? I shaved the goddamn car. Shaved it. Got a few disposable razors, and shaved the whole interior.

You can replicate that smell by strategically placing small pieces of MX73 Cressida carpet inside your air vents.

SU-weppervescence

See... This is what happens when you buy a soft roader. Your driving ability decreases to the equivalent of all the other soccer mums who own them.

Call centres give everyone the shits. I'm sure they're used to it :dance: