Hattie rides up front. That’s non-negotiable. So Riley has to ride in the back and she doesn’t like it. And she’s only there because she is leashed to the spare tire and cannot climb up front.
Category Archives: My Land Rover
Universal Driving Gestures
As soon as I started driving my old Land Rover around town I started getting the “thumbs up” gesture from other drivers. Almost always with a smile. This gesture is clearly meant to convey something positive. They like/admire the Rover. Wikipedia has a page on the history of the gesture. I love getting the thumbs up and started wondering why there are not more universally (at least in English speaking countries) recognized gestures between motorists. The only other one I can think of is The Finger. The other end of the approval spectrum, if you will.
Land Rover hardtop back on
Doesn’t seem that long ago (April 29) we took the hardtop off the Land Rover and replaced it with the soft-top. We carefully stowed the hardtop in a storage unit where not quite a month later a tornado banged the shit out of it (and a bunch of other stuff in Jefferson City). More photos.
It’s still warm enough for the soft-top but the mornings are getting cool so I decided to put the hardtop back on and today some pals showed up to help.
L-R: Me, Benjamin and John Middleton, George Kopp, Andrew and Ben Lear.
Off-road on the PGT
There are some beautiful places in Missouri but one of my favorites is the Prairie Garden Trust, managed by my friend Henry and his wife Lorna. I’ve posted about it here many times.
Henry and I usually walk but today we took the Land Rover. (The hot, dry summer made it safe to drive on the prairie without leaving ruts.) Henry took us to some spots where we got to engage the four-wheel drive (low range!) and the truck performed beautifully.
Why the Brits don’t make computers
Spotted a new leak on the truck and reached out to my friend (and Land Rover expert) John Middleton:
Common place for them to leak. Rear transfer case output shaft seal. May need a speedy sleeve on the the output flange. The flange nut also might be loose. Eventually you will get oil on the parking brake shoes. All of mine have leaked or still leak there. If it stops leaking it means the transfer case has run out of oil!
Very hard to find a Land Rover that does not drip some oil. As the tappet brothers proclaimed: “The British were not successful in the computer industry because they could not figure out how to make one that leaked oil.”