Rosy the Red wReck

[TommyP]

First trip out tomorrow for a long weekend with the old girl and hear new heart and legs.

The clutch is a disaster despite being new and neither me or Sachs know why so I’ve got another kit with CSC here to pull the lot out and inspect/investigate and swap as necessary in the coming weeks. It drives very nicely and makes bags of grunt from not much above idle so it’s ultra driveable and the gearing is superb. It’s nice to have the 6th too. Thoroughly chuffed with it. The clutch bite is just rather high and it just holds the standard 130bhp and 229lbsft but with the mapped one at 175bhp/330lbsft it slips from about 1600rpm. Fuck knows why but there a plan so I don’t need to think about it.

The missus has cleared it out and wiped all the all stains out and it’s loaded and filled with water and ready to get pasted all the way up north tomorrow. Dunno where, not booked anything. I’m feeling the call of a Scottish Loch though….


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[TommyP]

First trip out tomorrow for a long weekend with the old girl and hear new heart and legs.

The clutch is a disaster despite being new and neither me or Sachs know why so I’ve got another kit with CSC here to pull the lot out and inspect/investigate and swap as necessary in the coming weeks. It drives very nicely and makes bags of grunt from not much above idle so it’s ultra driveable and the gearing is superb. It’s nice to have the 6th too. Thoroughly chuffed with it. The clutch bite is just rather high and it just holds the standard 130bhp and 229lbsft but with the mapped one at 175bhp/330lbsft it slips from about 1600rpm. Fuck knows why but there a plan so I don’t need to think about it.

The missus has cleared it out and wiped all the oil stains out and it’s loaded and filled with water and ready to get pasted all the way up north tomorrow. Dunno where, not booked anything. I’m feeling the call of a Scottish Loch though….


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[arfur fox-acre]

The missus has cleared it out and wiped all the stains out


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Wait.....what?

[TommyP]

Hahaha.


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[TommyP]

Just tipped over 900 miles since Friday lunchtime. Been the usual whistle stop tour:

1st site for a night was at the side of Loch Lomond
2nd site is Glenmore Forest park in the Cairngorms.



Eilean Donan:

Been to Fort William, through the Five Sisters, Lossiemouth, through Inverness, Shiel Bridge, Loch Lomond, by Loch Ness and we accidentally picked up part of the NC500 route and loads of random detours to see some small coastal towns and villages off the beaten track.

Glenmore Campsite is cracking and on the banks of Loch Morlich with a sandy beach on the edge of the site. Forest pitches and all amenities. Bigger than we’d normally stay at but it’s very quiet so that suits us. Not packed in pitching even if it was busy and a fair central base for anyone wanting to tour mid/north Scotland.

The alternator has packed up on the van but the solar panel makes that irrelevant so it isn’t an issue but gives me a wonderful excuse to fit a Passat 180a one.

The PD is effortlessly torquey my from fuck all revs to the redline. I’m spending almost all my time below 2000rpm regardless of inclines or which of the 6 gears lol. Shameless drop of the 6 speed lol. Either way, from just above idle it just pulls. Might have to change the vans name to Father Time based on its relentless march onwards. Pmsl. It is very good though.


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[Jim24]

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Specatcular scenery - is that you and Jonno on those boards?

Having an independent cab heater must make a huge difference. The great thing about going to Scotland at this time of year is the relative absence of other tourists and midges.

If you end up back on the West Coast, I can recommend Ullapool for Fish & Chips, and the campsite on the front. Reputably good for dolphin sightings too.

[ARMSTRONG 1987]

Them pictures look amazing I wanna go up Scotland in the van this year it's on the 2do list I think nice to know the van is smooth as well top man

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[TommyP]

For clarity, I’m shifting to the next gear before 2000rpm and then depending on gear that drops it to about 1400-1500 rpm and it just pulls again and again in each gear. Cruising round the mountain roads and across the glens it’s running about 1400-1700rpm and pulls when the road rises. The power figures aren’t earth shattering by a very long stretch but the power delivery is utterly everything and headline figures don’t show you that stuff. It’s the best of both worlds, the creamy power delivery of a T5 with the more engaging drive you only get from a T4 out of all of the transporter models.


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[TommyP]

Specatcular scenery - is that you and Jonno on those boards?

Having an independent cab heater must make a huge difference. The great thing about going to Scotland at this time of year is the relative absence of other tourists and midges.

If you end up back on the West Coast, I can recommend Ullapool for Fish & Chips, and the campsite on the front. Reputably good for dolphin sightings too.

No, that was the people in the parked up Caddy in one of the other pics. Down that rough track was an incredible wild camping spot that we’ll definitely be using on the next trip. Water lapping at the tyres and utterly secluded. Total perfection.

Been to Ullapool a few times over the years but not for about 15 years now.

Having arthritis, the diesel heater is a must. That and drying my long ass gimpy hair. Even at only 2kw they’re too much for a small van no matter what anyone else might tell you. Yes they have a thermostat and adjust the output to suit but what they won’t tell you is there’s a floor. If it’s gets too hot they can’t run at a low output as the flame goes out. If it’s zero outside then ours can’t hold it at any less than 15-16 degrees. I need to pipe the intake up properly to the vent in the off side rear corner so it’ll suck colder air in and make it work a bit harder to heat it to avoid it flaming out.

A had a 5kw in the white van and that’s comparable to showering in petrol and then lighting a cigarette. These chinesium diesel heaters are better suited to bigger vans. I can’t speak for the Webasto or Eberspacher models but I ain’t gonna pay £1k+ for one of them when the ones I fit are a tenth of the cost.



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[TommyP]

Them pictures look amazing I wanna go up Scotland in the van this year it's on the 2do list I think nice to know the van is smooth as well top man

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The missus has taken 100+ pics and vids. I’ve been coming to Scotland since birth and on average nearly once a year. It never fails to disappoint or get old. Utterly epic.

It’s been overshadowed a bit this year by the van lol. Properly chuffed with it.

Is your 2.4 turbocharged and are you running big alloys?

The one thing I couldn’t remember from my last leisure trip up here is how incredibly fucking awful a lot of the roads are. Very poorly maintained and I’m sure it would have really pissed me off on the previous setup of lowered and 17” alloys. The 15” steels and ring donut tyres soak up most of it with ease.


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[TommyP]

Which brings me nicely onto suspension. This van is lifted about 2” using T5 T30 rear springs but they’re a tad overkill as it’s a campervan and not hugely heavy even with a full tank of water and all the other shite loaded in. The shocks are Sachs HD super touring which are fine lifted but I’m kinda aiming for the feel of the T5 suspension. Soft as shite but very stable and capable.

So, I’m think softer shocks and a rear arb. The soft shocks will make it flabby and it’ll soak up even more shit off the roads and the arb will then help with the stability lost from going to soft shit shocks from the ultra epic HD’s.

It’d be easy if it was a T5 as I’d go either standard shocks or Koni Special Active shocks but T4’s I’m not so sure.

Anyone have any ideas? I’ve not done any research myself yet.

Also, don’t let anyone take that the HD’s are too stiff as they’re simply the best I think you can fit to the T4 and on a par with the Billy B6’s. I’m just after a great big soft sack of shit swamper ride without rolling it if I need to perform an evasive manoeuvre in an emergency situation etc.


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[ARMSTRONG 1987]

No just 2.4 5pot no turbo n yeh 18inch alloys but iv put a 55 profile tyre on to make it a bit nicer ha ha

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[ARMSTRONG 1987]

Ow yeh and mines been lowered aswell so ill stay out ov this conversation as mine looks good feels turd but that's how I like it ha ha

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[TommyP]

“Here lies Armstrong87. He fell into a pothole on the A9 just outside Pitlochry and wasn’t able to pull himself back out - he succumbed to a spinal injury sustained during the fall”


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[Jim24]

The one thing I couldn’t remember from my last leisure trip up here is how incredibly fucking awful a lot of the roads are. Very poorly maintained and I’m sure it would have really pissed me off on the previous setup of lowered and 17” alloys. The 15” steels and ring donut tyres soak up most of it with ease.

I haven't toured Scotland for many years, when it was always by motorcycle over the last two weeks of May. We were always impressed by how well maintained the roads were compared to South of the Border. It sounds as if they've caught up?