Frontera LWB 2.4i

[tommychimp]

Sounds good to me mate! We need a catch up, it's been years since I've seen you! It's been that long, I think Cornish Dave is probably legally allowed to drink now.

Yeah definatley, I know some good lanes around Shropshire if you fancy a play that won't destroy the fronty. Yep cornish dave is most certainly able to drink as well!

[Spinbitch]

For the love of God will you fit a fecking snorkel and drive it into a river for my amusement!!!!!!!

[DarrenH]

For the love of God will you fit a fecking snorkel and drive it into a river for my amusement!!!!!!

the amusing bit? when the water level reaches the distributor, a meter below the snorkel tip ?

[Spinbitch]

Bit of sealant and he'll be fine.
No the amusing part is when he has to check if A he has a sunroof and B if he can fit through it.

[tommychimp]

DERV 4x4s ftw, what were you thinking buying a petrol, it would be less painful to torch 50s, having said that I have been eyeing up a defender 90 V8

[Jack]

Bit of sealant and he'll be fine.
No the amusing part is when he has to check if A he has a sunroof and B if he can fit through it.

Yes, and probably. lmao Might need to break the latch to get it to open further than an inch, but it's clearly Jack-sized.

[Jack]

Yeah definatley, I know some good lanes around Shropshire if you fancy a play that won't destroy the fronty.

Let's do it! I'm all up for that.

[Spinbitch]

Just missed out on a 4.2l Range Rover Classic a couple of weeks back, gutted.

[Jack]

Had a slight issue recently with drivetrain vibration, and a really strange tapping noise coming from under the tunnel. Turns out the tapping was some threads coming out of the rubber propshaft coupler and slapping the underneath of the tunnel.

A pattern one for a Frontera would have cost me over £50, which for a poxy bit of rubber I thought was a bit steep. Not wanting to part with a sixth of what I paid for the whole car for a pox-bound bit of a rubber, I did some research and found that the Land Rover one is identical, and goes for £9.



Spot the clifference!!

I also treated it to a new fan belt, and I even washed it! I used a sponge and everything!!

Other than that (touch wood), it seems to be going alright. It doesn't half drink ze petrol though!!

[Spinbitch]

First thing I thought of when I saw that picture was "looks like a Disco one!"
Bit of a result that, not surprised their so cheap, I killed one in a month lol

[Jack]

After I did this little job, I noticed some vibration at slow speeds, and some quite substantial body resonance at high speed.

This was the only thing I changed, so it was obviously a prop-related issue.

After lying underneath it and having a study, I noticed that the centre bearing was pulling the shaft down. When I pulled the bolts out of the bearing, it's natural tendancy was to lift up about 6mm.



I put it back together with some longer bolts and some washers underneath the bearing to lift it up. Hey presto, no more vibration.

[Jack]

I would like to submit my entry to "Most Car for the Money Competition."

I can't believe it's still going, considering it cost me £300. I've even managed to get a two seater sofa in the back! Anyone that slates these cars wants their head looking at.

[Paul]

For the money, its doing well.

Shame fuel isn't cheaper.

[Spinbitch]

Gangsta WIP dude

[djivesp]

Dude thats awesome :-) good tip on the prop coupling!

[Jack]

Dude thats awesome :-) good tip on the prop coupling!

Thank you sir! It's perfect for throwing a gearbox or whatever in the back.

Sadly my dream car fund is taking a bit longer to acrue than I planned, but I am enjoying just looking after the Frontera. I think I might treat it to a water pump and a PAS pipe that don't leak soon.

[VXSy]

Hate the colour in general on any car but love this! Great work!

[Terry]

Hi Jack, do you have to strip down the hub to replace the CV boot? I've got to replace both outer boots on one tomorrow and never stripped a frontera down before.

[Jack]

Hi Jack, do you have to strip down the hub to replace the CV boot? I've got to replace both outer boots on one tomorrow and never stripped a frontera down before.

Officially, it's a hub completely off job. Un-officially, you can get away with just cracking off the bottom ball joint and swinging everything outwards. But yes, you need to strip the freewheeling hub mechanism down so that you are then able to slide the driveshaft through in order to swing the hub outwards.

Worth buying a pair of bottom ball joints as well IMO, as I knackered mine trying to get the pox-bound thing apart.

If you look back through the photos in this thread, that's about the minimum you can get away with stripping down to access the CV boots, and even then it was a faff. I messed around with a stupid cone to get the CV boot over the joint... took me far longer than it should have done, especially as the one person I normally have to get me out of sticky situations was on crutches next to me going "I would help, but you know... crutches."

If you need any advice, drop me a PM, or check out the Frontera Owners Group. Very helpful bunch of people. If you're struggling for bits, the Frontera shares front suspension with Isuzu Troopers, Vauxhall Montereys...etc.

[Jack]

As far as an update goes... I got fed up with topping the coolant up every other week, and dreading sitting in traffic waiting for the temperature guage to creep up to 95 and then to have this embarassing tiny electric fan kick in and make an arse-load of noise but not actually do anything.

So, last night I took the radiator out, stuck the hose pipe through it (sweet beans I've never seen so much orange shit come out of a radiator), replaced the baby Kenlowe with a 14" ebay special, cleaned all of the hoses and pipes up and clamped it all back together.

So far (touch wood), no leaks, no strange noises, a much quieter fan and it seems to cool a whole lot better.



Lovely!

And yes, whoever took the viscous fan off left whatever that is in the middle of the water pump on, but frankly it's not doing any harm, I've heard things about it being a left-hand thread, and I really can't be bothered to try and get it off. Bear in mind that this car has been bolted together for 20 years, and it doesn't like being unbolted.

[Jack]

Oh, I also whipped the headlights out and replaced them, as mine were horrible and discoloured. This photo was pre-fan replacement.



A pretty big job, as the bullbar has to come off.

Luckily I had a little helper.



Sadly she only understands CAN, and if she can't diagnose a problem by plugging a laptop in then she's snookered. So I was on my own!

[Jack]

Planning on changing the diff oil, gearbox oil, transfer box oil and putting a new exhaust on it this weekend, so I'll get a few more photos.

Luckily it's so high off the ground that you don't even need to jack it up to get the exhaust off.

[rc]

good work jack

[Spinbitch]

Love the bullbar support device.

[tommychimp]

I'm going to inspect the prop centre bearing on my trooper now I've seen about yours sitting too low, might eliminate the vibration I've been getting. I love my isuzu, got me through the fuel shortages a few months back, all I had to do was drive to aldi and load up will veg oil

Have you taken her off road yet dude?