Building A Defender 90 Into An Expedition Truck

[Witchdoctor Oz]

The roof of the RTT is designed to carry a load, the front sloping section has the extra tyre & that leaves the rear half to carry fire wood. To stop these things scratching the paint work I mask up the area between the roof rack & used the Raptor Coat Tint-able system. So the roof will be Galway Green with the rack pieces Santorini Black. Once the Raptor Coat had cured for a week I then installed the rack to the roof using a combination of polyurethane sealant & painted counter sunk S/S rivets.
The rack has holes on the top & matching smaller holes on the inside, this allows the use of 2.5t ratchet straps or less. I get no whistling from the rack which was a concern with all the holes & angles.

Cheers
Dave

 

[Witchdoctor Oz]

Roof Top Tent complete & installed on the 90 ready for a test camp somewhere. Everything worked very well except the control panel inside the RTT which houses 4 double usb charging outlets as well as the switch for the LED light, well when you close up the tent the canvas pushes on the switch & turns it on. Need to make a change to that design.

Cheers
Dave

 

[karimba]

Wow Dave, that is one sweet setup you have there, very detailed and top craftsmanship!

Cheers
Adam

 

[Witchdoctor Oz]

To gain a little more get up & go with my 2.2, I got the cat removed.
This combined with a very mild flash of the ECU torque has improved greatly & I picked up 2Lt's per 100.

Cheers
Dave

 

[Witchdoctor Oz]

Another accessory that we wanted on the truck to allow cover from the elements in camp would be a 270 deg awning. We looked at a number of manufacturers & all awnings are designed for full size 4x4. A full size awning will overhang the 90 by 600mm, great for catching branches, not an option. More designing & innovating what is available & make it better & work for us. The biggest problem I had is the gutter length is 2180 long which is about the length of the awning arms but when they are in the open position the amount of awning cover is no where enough, how to fix that. Slide out arms on each awning arm, with that we get 1.8m out from the side of the truck & the same out the back of the truck. The construction is alloy sheet laser cut & folded, brass bushed in the pivot points & S/S in the mounting bracket & pins. We imported a special canvas from Europe due to its very light weight, breathability & waterproof, it also has a reflective coating on the top side. Each arm has a double LED strip light attached full length these are positioned in a recess in each arm. No poles are required but we have them if the wind is out of hand, everything required for the awning is inside the awning bag.

Cheers
Dave

 

[ar4me]

Incredible work! Thanks for providing my morning "fix" Looks like it can fly too with that awning

Personally, I would have kept the cat on, maybe found a better flowing one with similar "cleaning" - "tread lightly"... save the planet...

 

[Witchdoctor Oz]

Incredible work! Thanks for providing my morning "fix" Looks like it can fly too with that awning

Personally, I would have kept the cat on, maybe found a better flowing one with similar "cleaning" - "tread lightly"... save the planet...

Hi ar4me,
The main reason for removing the cat has way more to do with removing the heat from the drivers footwell than anything else. On one of our camping trips in mid summer on a concrete highway the temp in the footwell reached 57deg C with the outside temp 27deg C, all this with the windows down & the A/C on full. This truck is used every day & this was starting to be extremely uncomfortable, also you could not rest your leg on the handbrake during summer. Now the temps are acceptable & you can rest your leg on the handbrake anytime your in the truck. This was a very expensive fix but very well worth the money. On another front I save 2Lt's per 100 & that is a plus, using less fuel every K traveled.

Cheers
Dave

 

[Witchdoctor Oz]

With external power for the awning & lighting for the awning & future shower tent. I could not find a connection with the correct rating from a local auto supplier, after sourcing the net I found these.
The first 2 images are the connectors for the power supply to the awning & is rated IP68 for water & dust also rated at 40Ah. Made from machined alloy with nutril seals. The last 2 images are plastic connectors used for lighting its still IP68 but only rated at 25Ah. They are designed for bulkhead mounting with a seal when not in use.

Cheers
Dave

 

[Witchdoctor Oz]

A good mate of mine has developed a range of Defender products that improves greatly the factory item. The factory is a complete wast when it comes to making the intake system water tight. Nugget Stuff's air boxes is water tight & has a dust restriction gauge incorporated. On our double crossing of the Simpson Desert with other trucks the gauge made it very easy to keep a close eye on the effectiveness of the element, when the others where cleaning theres out with compressed air we did not even have to change it until our first service on our return.
Nugget Stuff has just developed mud flaps for Defenders that have after market over size flared guards. I got to trial a pair on the rear of my truck they work a treat & keep the stones down for following trucks. Nugget also make a 2 port, 3 port & 4 port raised breather kit.
Have a look at his site. https://www.nuggetstuff.com

Cheers
Dave

 

[Witchdoctor Oz]

My wife is handy with a sawing machine & we needed somewhere to put our rubbish when out camping. I thought lets make a tyre cover come bin & maximise the space. The cover protects the rubber from our harsh Australian sun & the bin gives us extra storage for both rubbish or muddy boots. The whole setup is made from tuff canvas with plastic inserts to hold the shape. There are drain holes in the bottom to let fluids drain out.

Cheers
Dave

 

[ar4me]

Very nice! I have been looking for proper mudflaps for my LR4 for a while. Think the factory hard plastic ones will be crushed on first significant off-road hard obstacle... like going down rock steps.

 

[Victory_Overland]

This build is legit........I absolutely love all of the ideas. I'm not bashing anyone here, just saying when I see a $150K price tag on a Defender, this is what I path I believe it should follow!

Great work! Any chance you can post the weather connectors you have the link for them?

 

[ar4me]

Agree! This looks like a top notch professional build, and not a DIY like most of us. I suspect Dave may be a professional in this or related business! I love following this thread and seeing all the work and ideas be implemented.

 

[Witchdoctor Oz]

Thanks guys I appreciate the kind words. Im a lic Plumber & active Carpenter & blessed with a design mind & ability to implement the designs I draw.
I have never sold any item I've built for my trucks.

Cheers
Dave

 

[Witchdoctor Oz]

This build is legit........I absolutely love all of the ideas. I'm not bashing anyone here, just saying when I see a $150K price tag on a Defender, this is what I path I believe it should follow!

Great work! Any chance you can post the weather connectors you have the link for them?

Hi Victory,
Have a look on flee bay Linko is the brand. I went direct to the factory & purchased bulk & sold the excess to mates. These connectors are awesome & way a head of cigarette connectors. the wire connection is simple solder on, Oh and cheep.
I purchased our 90 for $31K Australian & been offered $80K with 220K on the clock as is. But there is so much personal input to this truck it will be retired to the shed when its time.
I think the next 4x4 will be a 4.5ton job.

Cheers
Dave