Most useless piece of kit on a 4x4

Hillbilly's dislike for annoying/useless technology in vehicles got me thinking - dangerous that!

What's your nomination for "the most useless/stupid/waste of space piece of kit in a 4x4?"

My vote goes to the humble inclinometer, that ridiculous instrument that Jap 4x4s often have on their dashboards. I ask you, what is the point? Would you ever rely on one of those things to prevent your pride 'n' joy from toppling over ... I think not!

Space saver wheels or the repair kit in a can modern 4X4's now have instead of a spare wheel.

You serious? I've obviously seem them on hatchbacks and saloons, but never on 4x4s. What a joke!

Just thought of another one - those stupid pieces of plastic that live under modern 4x4 vehicles. They are there as protection for fuel tanks and suchlike, yet the slightest twig seems to rip 'em right off. They definitely fall into the 'waste of space' category.

Tom Mc wrote:

You serious? I've obviously seem them on hatchbacks and saloons, but never on 4x4s. What a joke!

Just thought of another one - those stupid pieces of plastic that live under modern 4x4 vehicles. They are there as protection for fuel tanks and suchlike, yet the slightest twig seems to rip 'em right off. They definitely fall into the 'waste of space' category.

Our D3 came with a space saver spare wheel, and yes 2 silly bits of plastic around the spare wheel been knocked off.

peoples reliance on the
annoying/useless technology

Tom Mc wrote:

Hillbilly's dislike for annoying/useless technology in vehicles got me thinking - dangerous that!

What's your nomination for "the most useless/stupid/waste of space piece of kit in a 4x4?"

My vote goes to the humble inclinometer, that ridiculous instrument that Jap 4x4s often have on their dashboards. I ask you, what is the point? Would you ever rely on one of those things to prevent your pride 'n' joy from toppling over ... I think not!

No !

But they are usefull for levelling a camper from the drivers seat as the iveco comes with them as standard

Suppose so, it's gotta be difficult leaning out of the window with a spirit level.

Assassin wrote:

Space saver wheels or the repair kit in a can modern 4X4's now have instead of a spare wheel.

NOT much use when you popped the seal on a rim, in the middle of Africa!

in the Paj it is the tool box the blood thing never breaks down

Sorry but LR needs the toolbox all the time

ratrace wrote:

in the Paj it is the tool box the blood thing never breaks down

Sorry but LR needs the toolbox all the time

Part of their charm. Besides, it's a marathon with 4x4's and we all know which of 'em lasts the course. It may take longer to start puffing, but when it finally 'hits the wall' at the 13 mile halfway stage, the Pajero simply dies in an exhausted heap. But with a Landy, give it the kiss of life and not only will it finish the race, it'll go on to complete another dozen marathons.

I suppose they are like Trigger's broom he's had for 20 years. It may have had 17 new heads and 14 new handles, but it's still going.

Same with the Shogun, never breaks down, so its also the toolbox for me.

Maybe not 'useless' kit but certainly annoying: fancy plastic and vinyl dash facias. Every time I have bought a used 4x4 in the past, one of the first things I inevitably have to do is trace some faulty wiring. And other than the simple older Landrovers or Toyota FJ40s, it is always a major pain to get those facia panels off without breaking something. And the crud and dust and mud that collects back there is unbelievable! So over the years I have just developed a simple solution...I pull everything off and throw it away. Now I just build a simple metal dashboard with hinged access to all the wiring and leave the cab bare enough to clean it out with a hose. Noiser, yes but I will trade that for instant access to all the critical wiring in the cab any day. My two pence...

A satnav, telling you where to go,
if you don't know where you are going why go?

tomw13 wrote:

A satnav, telling you where to go,
if you don't know where you are going why go?

Good point. That said, set on 'shortest route' they are really useful for finding your way back out of towns and cities. If you leave them on 'fastest route' they take you 10 miles out of your way on some stupid ring road as on paper it is .000001 minute quicker ... this being the fastest route because the speed limit is 70mph, although more often than not you end up crawling along at 10 mph.

Well you learn something every day

Thats why it has the nickname twat nav.

Try one with a truck where weight or height limits apply and you soon see why.

It's got to be large plastic bumpers, why build a vehicle which you can drive almost anywhere then put on large plastic bumpers which rob you of ground Clearance and destroy approach and departure angles

wideformat4x4 wrote:

It's got to be large plastic bumpers, why build a vehicle which you can drive almost anywhere then put on large plastic bumpers which rob you of ground Clearance and destroy approach and departure angles

Very true.

As for Satavs for trucks where weight/height limits apply, I had always assumed they have their own version where this infomormation would be next to useless to most family drivers yet is essential to drivers of large vehicles. Seemingly not!

It's got to be the spark plug spanner that LR supplied in the tool-roll, right up to the end of the 300Tdi production

No, we use a different system which is computer based and we can download in real time to a truck, well thats the theory and we all know the theory and practise are two different things.

In theory we get instant updates to theoretically we can re-route a truck when its on the road, in practice however, it can take up to three months for authorities to actually update the system, particularly in London where they are horrendously slow. Take next right!!! and you go to turn right and its no right turn, or they resurface a road under a bridge and don't follow the original road hollow or contour under the bridge which was designed to give a specific clearance because its easier to pave or resurface a road flat and you lose up to 12" or even more of height even though the system and even bridge height signs say you have that height. Suddenly you have a wedged truck or trailer damage and a local authority spouting their usual drivel "well, take us to Court then" which puts most people off, so I do take them to Court, and as soon as papers are served they suddenly change tack and offer to compensate us.

Then we get weight limits, a bridge inspection will take place, the structural engineers note any damage and instantly reduce the weight limit to a safe level, but while they update their system straight away others down the chain don't bother to do it straight away and it can take weeks for it to pass through several Local Authority departments before it enters the system for us to be updated.

Assassin, I see you look after your drivers, after reading all your post,
when I was a HGV driver in the seventies we had no sat-nav's nor mobile phones,
used to drive all over europe always found our way their and back, one of the best help we
got in Europe was from taxi drivers, mainly in city's and big towns, did have a few laughs 1 taxi driver thought I had an F1 car, he did come back, another one did go under a 10ft bridge but again he came back and helped me round the bridge.
Taxi drivers in the UK not so good, always wanted too much money where abroad a few packets of cigs was enough.

We made do with maps and word of mouth.

diesel_jim wrote:

It's got to be the spark plug spanner that LR supplied in the tool-roll, right up to the end of the 300Tdi production

Nice one DJ. As it happens, it took me a few seconds of wondering - why on earth wouldn't you supply a spark plug spanner? - before the penny dropped. Opps!

Obviously too many years of running Rangies with V8's, and clearly somebody in the office at Lode Lane was also a V8 enthusiast!!!

Roamingman:

With the size and weight of the loads we carry (up to 247 tonnes) it is crucial that we plan a route and stick to it, therefore its crucial we know what route we have, any clearances, and any weight limits which may apply, as we often send a convoy its not one truck which is affected it is the whole convoy. We run up to 97 feet long and if you encounter an obstruction you can't just spin round in the middle of the road, and it causes total mayhem.

Its not a case of looking after our drivers, more a case of teamwork from good route planning and the drivers and escort vehicles going their job, particularly with the idiots in their company Mondeos and Insignias who think these vehicles stop in the same distance as their repmobile even though they are plastered with flashing lights and signs large enough to be seen from Mars. My drivers are excellent, and this is the reason I still drive our lorries and heavy haul units when time permits, or when the workload is excessive, if you can do it then your employees respect you for it as you are coming from a position of practical knowledge. Good employees are hard to find and if you treat them well they will look after you, I try to operate ethically and give them a Bi-Annual bonus which is profit based, my employees either leave for health reasons or retire, and this is why they volunteer to work long hours or split themselves into shifts so they get the work out, I don't need to ask them to do it, they just do it themselves. One example was last Christmas, it appeared as though we could get behind with a major project, Boxing day came and went and the following day all but two of the fabrication department just turned up for work to get a start on the next phase of the contract, two of them were away with family.

I have always maintained one thing, technology is useful, but never confuse it for real navigation skills, and never depend on it, exploit its benefits but understand its weaknesses, and if all else fails we all have a gob in our heads, so use it.

I see your point about large loads, you do a good job for your workforce,
Do you do any large loads in europe,
if I remember right in Italy they would rather put Large (exceptional) loads on A roads rather than motorways.

Got one convoy going to the docks in a few minutes time, they are heading for Croatia to complete a project we started earlier this year and had to stop for several months due to the tourist trade.
Now with improved European roads they prefer to restrict the travelling times instead, but some countries can occassionally be a little petty.