Tons of Squeeks and leaks

[Dirt Diva]

My Lizzy has only had 1 owner and damn them for not taking care of her,
Her under Carriage is all Oiled up so now i have to get her clean to find out where the leak is coming from, (Possibly the Transfer casing).
Her wheel bearings have just been replaced on Both sides, and we are trying to figure out what the squeeks are, (Breaks possibly) i hear the squeeks with out the breaks being applied so any ideas may help!!, Please offer any advice or suggestions.

[jhmover]

Squeak could be lots of things but I'd check driveshafts first.

[pavel]

The picture under your avatar shows you driving through muddy water. This activity alone will introduce grit to the brakes - make sure you hose down the brake calipers and discs thoroughly after 'fording'. When you get a nice afternoon off, jack her up very safely and take off the wheels. Note: the wheels can stick to the hubs like glue, so you'll need a mallet or small sledge hammer on the tires to dislodge the rear wheels in particular. Check out the pads and discs for condition and amount of wear. If everything looks good, make sure the pads are good quality not the crap $15-a-pair ones available these days.
Replacing the front and back pads is child's play if you have the older design Girling brakes. If the brakes have antirattle springs, make sure they are in place. Always spray off the discs/pads front & back with brake cleaner to remove any oil or grease that is present just before remounting the wheels.
Listen for your squeak to return.... If the squesk returns after driving a few days, you probably have a 'glazed' surface on the discs. This is easy to remove with a small grinder and #250 sanding disc. Don't have the discs machined unless they have deep grooves...
Cheers - remember, you have a specialty vehicle that needs lots of attention, it is not a Toyota.

[jmeyert4a]

Originally Posted by pavel

Cheers - remember, you have a specialty vehicle that needs lots of attention, it is not a Toyota.

Lord! When I hear this it drives me nuts...

On one hand it tells me that Toyotas are just SO MUCH better... You can run the snot out of them for 250,000 miles plus, and pretty much all you ever have to do is change the oil and filters regularly... (And if you do need to fix something, you don't have to take a second out on your house...)

Then, on the other hand, REAL people, (flying farmers, miners, station hands, tour guides, land managers, and Crocodile Dundee) use these things in the REAL World, and under god-awfull conditions all over Africa and "Down-Under", and I just can't see them being pampered and fussed over to the extent that I've been reading about for the last couple of months that I've been on this forum...

"Will the REAL Land Rover, Please Stand Up?"

[jhmover]

1. I have 210k on my D1, the wheels haven't fallen off, very little repair work done, most any work done is modding it.
2. Don't ask my mother about her Toyota.
3. Don't ask me about my wife's Mercedes either.

[pavel]

I stick by my comment and will even extend it to say that many people I have personally known who bought D1s should not have. Of the 8 families I know who bought their Landies in the early to mid 1990s, we are the only family who still owns a Land Rover, drives it and ENJOYS it. These people all should have bought something else. They never took the vehicle off-road but used it exclusively for daily city duty. They all bought automatics (which several really disliked in the end because of poor acceleration); they all bought the top models with the stupid little leaky sunroofs. Those families traded their Discos in for Mercedes SUVs (one of these SUVs was a disaster, Jason ended up abandoning the vehicle on the dealer lot), Land Cruisers, Volvos, Touregs. Not one bought another LR. I don't think I would buy another new LR either.

The influence of BMW and Ford may have pushed the newer models toward greater public acceptance but the D1 (I don't know enough about the D2 to comment) had characteristics that still remind one of the old Series vehicles - which were excellent. Our 1996 bare bones 5 spd D1 was bought new, has only 30k miles on it and is thoroughly enjoyed by my wife and the two kids. We have been over some amazing terrain in the vehicle but never used it as our main daily driver. It has never let us down but I did have to replace a broken exhaust valve.

Yes, jmeyert4a, Toyotas are better in many (most?) ways just like a fresh salad is better than a steak, but I have found Toyotas to be bland to drive and not to my personal taste. My son and I test drove the new FJCruiser and really disliked the engine, transmission and huge blind spot; but I'll put money on it the vehicle will be virually trouble free for 200k miles... still it is not for us.

So, "will the Real Land Rover stand up?" yes,very much so but it will stand up beautifully being used for what it was primarily designed; in mud or deep snow or serious off-roading! That being said, it will need a helping hand from time to time when it is younger and plenty of TLC (and money) as it ages.