Mods? Take cover!

Afairly common modification to the P38 Range Rover is to change the air suspension to coil springs. In fact, some years ago I helped my mate Bill Jones to do just that. It’s fairly easy when you buy the kit, and cheaper, with less maintenance involved not having to replace the air springs, compressor and piping.

However, when I bought my P38 a lot of people who I respect in engineering and Land Rover terms said it shouldn’t be done as it throws the design of the vehicle out of the window. In simple terms the air suspension is an integral part of the way the vehicle rides, corners and distributes its weight around corners.

That’s fair enough I thought. The motor does ride very nicely on air, as do the few late Classic Range Rovers I have driven with the same suspension.

After I encountered air bag failure and wear on the others I had Scott Bailey at Mirfield replace them for me. With a new compressor, it wasn’t a lot more than the conversion to coils would have cost.

On forums and Facebook pages someone is always asking what people think of the conversion. Should they, shouldn’t they? I’ve always said I prefer air, but each to their own.

Then someone recently asked about insurance. Anyone can insure, more or less, any type of vehicle modification, from enhancing a vehicle by adding a roof rack for example, to a full conversion to compete on a drag strip, but how much information do insurance companies actually need to know.

If you change an engine you need an engineer’s written report to assure the insurance company that the work has been carried out properly and whether it alters the performance of the vehicle. Some people say that you even need to inform them if you change your tyres to other than factory-fitted.

What do you need if you are completely re-engineering the entire suspension system of your vehicle and replacing it with something that the manufacturer did not fit themselves ? And you’re doing it on your drive ?

So far I have asked three different insurance companies if they would insure such a modified vehicle and I’m yet to have a proper reply. One said they do not speak to the press about ‘specific policies’ and the other two both said that every request for a quote is treated on an individual basis.

Yet I know a number of people who tell me they have insured their P38s with home-fitted coil spring suspension simply by telling the insurance company that the modification has been carried out.

However, as we all know, insurance companies will wriggle out of any claim if they can find a loophole, so I would be very worried about driving such a vehicle.

If anyone working for an insurance company (not just a broker, please) would care to give us a definitive statement on this worrying situation, please get in touch.

An article I read in a newspaper about how much safety has improved in cars over the last 50 years, while the percentage of accidents per thousand people driving has not changed, reminded me of something I once wrote: Take two otherwise identical cars and on the bonnet of the first strap a gallon can of petrolandastickofdynamite.

Thensurroundthesecondwith aframeofirongirders.

Now which car will be driven with the most care and therefore less likely to be involved in an accident?

“If anyone would care to give us a definitive statement on insuring modified vehicles, please get in touch ”

A cousin of mine wrote on Facebook: “Thanks to the 4x4 driver who cut me up on the roundabout this morning. Goodness knows how we avoided an accident.” Within minutes there were more than a dozen comments from her friends all pointing out the horrible deficiencies of 4x4 drivers that they experience every day.

When Marjorie and I go out we see idiots on the roads all the time. And, yes, one or two are driving 4x4s, but the vehicle being driven has nothing to do with bad manners – unless you are a friend of my cousin, it seems.

Back with Facebook, a well-known tuning company posted a video showing how well the Land Rover they had modified performed on a twisty road. A friend of mine pointed out that it had been filmed on a public road and that the camera car had on several occasions, crossed a solid white line, and in one instance a double solid line.