Prepping a defender 130 for around the world..

[Scrapdaddy]

That's what I was wondering, if you could mount the controls for the top, anywhere. Nice idea on the safe.

 

[The Rover Shop]

I will have an isolator switch inside the truck to stop people from messing with the tent..and I may finish up setting up a switch from the inside also.. But that's when I run out of other things to do...so it won't be for a while..

 

[The Rover Shop]

Okayyyy... So I set off to see a guy about doing an external cage... Found myself up at LRC in North Carolina... Brewie (Brian Kandefer) has been building roll cages for land rovers for a while now and was willing to put up with my obscure design plans and Input..he was actually looking forward to doing something as off the wall and custom as what I had in mind..so I arrive on Friday and we basically get everything situated on the shop and we have at it.. I think we pulled nearly 40 hours in the first 3 days and it was still a long way from being finished.. Brian's attention to detail and symmetry was refreshing, usually he makes his cages welded together and installed in one piece to the vehicle, but for this truck I wanted to be able to easily disassemble and remove it, I also didn't want to hard tie the rear box cage into the front cage as I was concerned with twisting the cage with body flex. I also wanted the cage to closely follow the body lines as well as provide body panel protection while going through tighter bush sections... As well as being able to walk completely around the vehicle in water or muddy conditions...here are some pics of what we ended up doing..





These bars on the side are there to protect the side facing led lights as well as to act as a deflector so that branches etc don't rip our side awnings off...they will also make a nice place to stand when accessing the roof top storage box..

Tabs were added for the led light bar..the bar is set back so as to be protected from impact by the rack etc..

 

[The Rover Shop]

Bar below the winscreen is set a little higher than normal so that it can be used to stand on when climbing onto the roof as well as added protection for the windscreen..(more on the snorkel shortly..

 

[The Rover Shop]

Rear box cage is tied into the box side supports as well as a 45degrees support to the frame..this was done so that the rear cage could take the weight of the rear dual spare tire carrier.. I can stand on the end of this tire carrier and still swing it away with one finger...it also doubles as an extra layer of security to stop people from breaking into the back of the truck..the carrier will be securely lockable.. This carrier is designed to easily take the 33" tyres we will be running. Also designed so that above the spare tyres we will have a set of maxtrax traction aids mounted securely. The back of the gate will house out portable aluminum table as well as another drop down table. Mounted to one of the spares will be our trasharoo and the other will have out frontrunner brai grill mounted..
View attachment 289923

Mounted the adjustable tire mounts..

 

[The Rover Shop]

Started installing our snorkel tube but it was simply too small, as mentioned I wanted something that would allow the engine to freely breathe so I went and got some 3" piping and messed around with angles and install positions and finished up with this...







Waiting for my cyclone pre-filter top before I trim the top and finish off the welding and finishing..but the engine now gets a nice healthy 3" dose of air.... And if it sucks water then I have some big problems.. From the driving position you barely see any of the snorkel also..

 

[The Rover Shop]

We also added a front nudge bar to the custom ARB /mantec front bumper..this bar protects the lights and the winch cable as well as provides a nice step to climb onto the front of the truck.. And added a third light tab for a centre light..

 

[The Rover Shop]

Front bumper is an ARB unit but since I want to run a husky 10,000lb superwinch (different mounting bolt pattern than most winches..) we took the centre section of a heavy duty mantec superwinch unit and cut out the centre section of the ARB and mounted the two together.. To say that this bar is solid is an understatement..

 

[The Rover Shop]

Added the last piece to the cage also..this is the B pillar post and is welded at the top and through bolted to a plate on the sliders at the bottom, it's a very close fit between getting it to clear the rear door opening fully and the front door.. But it works.. I just hope to never have to test it out in a rollover..





Complete cage will be removed soon and made pretty and then will be rhino linered for durability and grip to walk on..

These side post will also be utilized for added level of theft prevention and security..more on that later..

 

[The Rover Shop]

Truck is starting to look like its ready for something....

 

[Juddy]

I like the idea of the spare wheel mounts, was thinking how i could do mine, but I have 2 rear ladders, well one now the other one when i have come up with a hinge for it to swing away from the body, so i can get in the electronics box, that used to be a gas bottle box.

What type of hinge did you use, for the wheel carrier? and how does it lock in position on the other side?

 

[The Rover Shop]

The hinges are specially made to duplicate the hinges on the rear swing away tyre carriers for defenders.. Brewie at LRC has them specially made but I'm sure he would sell you some.. Here are some pics..I will be gusset welding the back side of the hinges when I pull the whole cage off to paint it and the truck..


The gate will be able to be locked in a couple of positions..45-90-135 and 180 degrees by adding this setup with holes drilled in the appropriate positions..naturally this is just a cardboard temple..I will make the actual unit out of something sturdier..lol..



Spring loaded trailer latch oughta do the trick I reckon..

 

[The Rover Shop]

Another thing I have been anxious to do is the overhead console..this will house the communication equipment and hopefully the engine ecu as well..also houses the interior led lights and some switches...as well as a large screen gps unit which also acts as a backup camera.. Camera is usually activated once the truck is put into reverse but I will wire an over ride switch near the screen which will allow me to turn it on at anytime as well.. When the gps isn't being used or the vehicle is parked it is hidden up and a little less obvious.. It's mounted on a ram mount so it's very easy to remove and store in the tuffy box to avoid tempting thieves.. This mounting system also gives us the option of it being available to easy viewing of passenger or driver..











I have used the Zeus fasteners but I'm not totally committed to them, but while it is coming up and down as I sort the wiring etc it makes it easy..I may just finish up screwing it up there once I am done, the whole console and roof lining will be done in a outdoor trim kinda material once everything is wired etc..

 

[The Rover Shop]

Spare wheels look good on there..these are just temporary to test , I have ordered another 2 of the ones on the truck and will be having slightly taller tyres installed..33" tyres should be the best of all worlds..wanted 255/80/16 but trying 285/75/16 instead.. A bit wider and ends up with the same overall height..

 

[Scrapdaddy]

Very nice, really taking shape. Did I miss it in the build, are you staying with this paint or changing?