arm79

Have a look at my comments in the AAMI = Bad thread. I see you posted in there too. If the twit is insured, then it shouldn't cost you squat to get your car repaired. Hire cars should be paid for by the at fault party. Including all medical bills and loss of income, etc, etc. Like you, the moron who caused my damaged came up with an excuse. Said he fell as asleep at the wheel. But I watched him in the rear view mirror before it happened. Anyone who can drive 200 to 300m at 80km/h, perfectly in the middle of their lane with their head tilted down and slightly to the left and maintain they were asleep must be amazing. I suspect the position I saw the driver in was more "I'm on my phone or reading/typing a text". I would have preferred he wasn't insured so I could make him pay dearly for his stupidity.

Oh, and I just remembered... Shannons include not at fault claims as a claim when sign up with them. If you have more than so many claims (at fault and not at fault) overall, they won't insure you. I'm insured with Shannons, and its the other reason I'm going direct to the f*%kstains insurance company.

Why put a claim in with your insurer? My car was in a freaky rear ender last week. But I went to a panel beater that charges the at faults insurance company directly. This way you get choice of repairer, you can work directly with the repairer for the best repair (not a faceless inurance company who prefers second hand and aftermarket parts) and you can even include a hire car in the claim. Plus AAMI wont put a black mark against your name for making a claim. My repair bill is $20,175... Plus 3 weeks hiring a Falcon... Plus the legal costs for the lawyer acting on my behalf. Prob end up being near $25k. In my case, the f*%kstains insurance company is AAMI. The lawyer tells me that mine is a cut and dried case, AAMI have no choice but to bend over and take it without any questions. Car is alredy assessed and goes in for repairs on Monday or Tuesday.

Can confirm the same with my +36 Force rims (which are Dark Argents in another name/colour)... Plenty of room.

It is a bitch to get off. You've obviously found the metal tab you need to push to release the clamp from the window. Easiest way to do it (not really easy as you need to juggle a couple of things) is lightly tap the base downwards with a hammer to take the pressure off the clip. Stick a screw driver onto that release tab and lever it towards the window. I actually used a screwdriver thing with an angled tip. I think its like a nail remover. Made it much easer. Then lightly tap the mirror base upwards with a hammer and it should slide off. Dont hit too hard or you might break the window mount off the windscreen. Will end up costing you a new screen then. Installation is reverse. Just tap the base downwards until you hear the tab click in.

Hopefully it was them getting flashed for doing 20 under the limit. But I doubt it that little pipe dream of mine would come true. I'm to understand that every few cars that go past, the camera is required to do a self test... Which triggers the flash... And ultimately scares the crap out of some poor unsuspecting driver. There is a good thread about this on AFF in the Pub or Bar section I remember reading. Spells it out pretty well.

110 sounds like count for the Force 8. I've heard that number used a few times, and always known they sold a handful more 8's than 6's.

Seems you have a friend in an F6 that lives in Melbourne. Sounds like you guys have the same problems. http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=11280599 Maybe send a message to the OP on that thread and see if he's found anything from his buggering around over Christmas.

Contact Blue Power about that one. When Chris tuned my car late last year, he mentioned they had that car in for work a few months previously and it only just been written off when I went to see them. I saw it on the auction websites and was very tempted to visit the auctions and buy it myself. Have a Force 6 in my 2 favourite colours. But the money didnt work out. :( I've heard 2 different build figures for these cars. Russellw on AFF will swear black and blue its 65, and if you have another number your wrong. But when I asked FPV, they told me 99. Since yours is the first I've heard of above build number 61, then it would have to be 99 cars.

Would be interesting if anyone can get hold of the AC system performance charts from an FG workshop manual. I have the EF/EL ones and B-series charts here and its an interesting comparison. The charts are basically an acceptable centre vent tempterature level based on the ambient temp. And going by these charts, an acceptable B-series temperature is anywhere from 15% to 25% warmer than an EF/EL. Would be interesting to see an FG chart to see how it compares to these 2. I suppose we are only talking a matter of 2 to 4 degrees in some cases, but in our weather, every little bit helps. For instance, the minimum temp range for an EF/EL is 1 to 5 deg. For a B-series, its 2 to 9 deg. So the minimum temp the OP recorded is unacceptable in an EL, but at the high side of acceptable in a BF. I've always felt my old EL had better cooling than my BF, which isn't all that bad. But I have been in many FG rentals and taxi's that the aircon can be called lacklustre at best. Just a thought to see what Ford consider is acceptable nowadays. It's probably more that Ford are more concerned with engine performance and fuel economy over a cool interior at the moment. My XF Ghia would freeze my nads off in about 20 sec of turning the aircon on, but at the expense of 30kw and 3l/100km.

A suspension shop said to me the design of the b-series suspension is excellent, its the execution that fails. And its not cheap components that are the cause. You said it yourself, you like driving a car full of nice creature comforts. I'm assuming this includes a nice soft comfortable ride. This is only achievable with big soft bushes. Take the lower control arm out and you will see its only about 1/3 of a bush. It's very heavily voided. On top of that, its fluid filled. Hit one pothole or rut too hard, and it pops all the fluid out... So it becomes a dead bush. Pedders probably wont tell you the bushes are dead. You cant see that at all unless you pull the arm out. The bush is very well hidden, and unless its leaking fluid there and then, only the cracks you see in the rubber can tell you its failed. When I took mine to Pedders suspecting the front bushes were dead, they told me after a test drive and inspection they were fine and the car was perfect... And the very minor shudder I could feel at inital braking was warped rotors. I didn't believe them and progressed with the bushes anyways. Once the arms were out you could clearly see they were dead. New urethane bushes went in and shudder is gone and handling nicely sharpened up. Trade off is a noticable decrease in comfort. All this happened when the car had about 30,000km on it. Although I'm told Brembo's and 19's quicken the time it takes to kill that bush.

Problem can also be caused by the crap control arm bushes Ford use on B-series, in particular the big front lower bush. Their design is a joke. Failure in this bush can make a very minor disc variation feel like a massive shudder... And the softness of the bush can actually cause the discs to warp over time. So if you are having continual shuddering problems, might pay to start looking at other areas that might cause it.

Anything built after 07/07 should have the short spring installed. Should have asked me mofo, as I have both at home. I could have measured for you.

Ford replacement prices I believe so. Last time I checked, for the fronts, the discs are $800 or so each and the pads are $800 or so. So on Ford prices, factor $3000 to $3500 for replacement genuine Brembo stuff. Was too scared to price the rears. Obviously aftermarket is significantly cheaper.

Just wanting to know from BF F6 R-Spec owners, or those that have driven an R-Spec, how much better this suspension setup is than the standard F6 stuff that FPV give us. I remember reading in the mag's long ago that it was a fair jump over the standard F6 stuff... But I suppose that's subjective. Reason I ask is there is a set of F6 R-Spec shocks on ebay at the moment at (to me anyways) a really good price. http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270677463688&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en Yes, I know they probably arent a patch on a Koni or Tein or Bilstein, but they also aren't $1200 for a set... So they seem a reasonably priced upgrade if they are as good as the old magazine write ups suggested they were... But just wondering of opinions from people who have driven and lived with them.

I've had both control blade bushes rooted on my car, and the only way I noticed was the crappy ride, knocking and vibrations I could feel in the back end. Dealer told me the way to tell if a control blad bush was stuffed was if you drive in a straight line and go on and off the throttle lightly, if the rear end skips right, bushes are stuffed. However, I also had the rear lower inner control arm bushs (the toe adjustment ones) fail. At least Pedders said they were stuffed, but Ford thought not. When driving and turning right, I could feel the car rolling over the back left wheel, and it would wiggle under load. Specially noticable at roundabouts when there was quick weight transfer from side to side. Felt very disconcerting. Ford swapped them for me anyways, and problem solved. Problem is, its a cradle and diff out job to get them done... Plus an alignment.

If you've got 4 days, then you'll have plenty of time for the scenic route. A suggestion if I may: Day 1 - Brisbane to Coffs Harbour via Pacific Hwy Day 2 - Coffs to Sydney via Pacific Hwy and Newcastle Fwy... Newcastle Fwy is awesome, some nice up and down hills and views Day 3 - Sydney to Eden via Batemans Bay/Princes Hwy... All the way down the South Coast, a very nice drive. Day 4 - Eden to Melb via Lakes Entrance... The rest of of the South Coast and through a national park. Day 3 and 4 are my favourites from a drive perspective. Just alot of holidays makers and caravans at that time of year. Plus 98 fuel wherever you stop. GOR is awesome too. If your not interested in the commercial side of the GOR and dont mind passing Torquay, the best drive to do is Geelong to Lorne via Morriac and Deans Marsh, then onto Apollo Bay, then back to Geelong via Skenes Creek and the Otways Park. The Torqay to Lorne bit isn't all that interesting and usually full of beach traffic. Lorne to Apollo Bay has the best twisties and most fun. After Apollo Bay the twistes kinda of disappear and its a fairly straight long run into Warnambool.

Having done the trip twice in the last 18 months (last one was 6 weeks ago), I can assure you there is 98 fuel all the way up and back, regardless of which path you take. Whether it be via central NSW (Newell/Goulbourn Valley/Hume Hwys) or the much nicer and scenic route of east coast NSW (Pacific Hwy/Sydney/Hume). BP have been nice enough to position there servo's in major towns which are within 100km of the range of a Falcon tank. First trip saw me fill up at Campbellfield, Forbes, Parks for a slight top up, Goondiwindi then Hervey Bay.

Heat... Metal expands in the heat... Maybe the new rotors are a tad over thickness for some reason. Most of the time when you take the rod out you'll find its a little bit too long and slightly pushes the brakes on. Takes up whatever slack there is. But in your brake setup at the moment there is no need for a slack takeup.

Most definitely is. Adjustment bolt on the head of the rod to set the distance/pre load on the master cylinder piston.

Was it definitely fitted with Brembo's all round from the factory? Or did the previous owner add them later? Either way, if you remove the master cylinder from the booster, there is a rod in the booster that can be removed and its length adjusted. Its just a matter of trial and error adjustment to see what suits your car the best. While it might be a stuck piston on the brakes or something silly like that, this is one easy place to start.

Just order off these guys - www.carbra.com.au. Excellent service and excellent quality. And they usually have the more common ones ready made and ready to ship. You could probably have one by the end of the week for the trip to Perth. My only problem with them is after extended night driving, my car tends to blow globes. Lost my 2 driving lights and drivers headlight over the course of 2 weeks driving interstate. Must be the globes getting too hot because there is no airflow over them. Otherwise, it protects the car perfectly.

Because getting the box to do what it does comes down to driving styles and circumstances, and it seems mainly to happen in adaptive mode. How and where you drive it may cause the issue to show itself, but someone else may never see it. Or they may only see it once every 100 shifts, whereas you see it once every 10. So not a problem for them, but it is for you. There is a bloke on AFF that only has the issue in peak hour traffic, 90% of the time when coming to one roundabout. He slowly idles to the line and does a quick take off when he see's a gap, then gets a thud. In the rest of his driving, it doesnt happen. Can fully understand ZF's reasoning for it and why the box is programmed this way. I think the constant 2 > 1 shifts at idle and low speeds would become hugely annoying when it wasnt necessary.

that's OK then... #58 would mean you're buying and driving my car. But I know mine is covered in dirt and crap at the carpark here at work still... Hopefully.

Are you sure it's build #58?