Building A Defender 90 Into An Expedition Truck

[Witchdoctor Oz]

Just before we did our big Desert trip we got a major service on the 90 & found the rear axle spline on the drive flange had excessive stress on them. So we contacted High Tuff looking for their legendary axles. They are massive when compared to the factory job, sorry I did not get a comparo pic of them together. High Tuff come out of the selling up of Mal Story's Maxi Drive company.

Cheers
Dave

 

[Victory_Overland]

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

Thanks Dave, a quick Fleabay search came up with a few options!

CNLinko Connectors

 

[Witchdoctor Oz]

Try this one

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...H0.Xlinko+.TRS2&_nkw=Linko+connector&_sacat=0
Hi Victory I just had a look in the shed I have a couple left if that helps. Just PM me

Cheers
Dave

 

[Witchdoctor Oz]

Tyres of choice are BFG KM2 255/85 R16. As we spend a lot of our trips in desert or sand island this size tyre is tall but not overly wide so when deflated you get a great long foot print in soft sandy conditions. I was very keen to try the new KM3 in the same size & have them before the big trip but they were not available until our return. We did get a rather bad puncher on one of the gibber tracks after hitting a large rock & piercing the tyre in 3 spots in a radius of 50mm. We could not get a new tyre in the next big town so the tyre shop put a bag in it & that kept us on the go. In the heart of the desert tracks I was running 15PSI all round & as the front truck we did not encounter any problems at that pressure where others tried a higher pressure & ultimately had to drop to closer to my pressures. On dirt tracks pressure was 30PSI in the front & 38PSI in the rear, on the black top 38PSI front & 42PSI in the rear.

Cheers
Dave

 

[Victory_Overland]

Love my KM2 and will probably replace those with KM3 when the time comes. As soon as I get my hands on another set of LR EURO 17", I'll put a set of KO2 on those for the vast majority of driving I do.

Can't beat the sidewall strength of the KM2, unless of course you get KM3......solid tire all around IMO!

 

[Witchdoctor Oz]

For extra traction in sand or any condition we chose to go with the new ARB TRED traction boards. After looking at the all new design & the investment that TRED & ARB put into these it was a no brainer for me. I did like the Maxtrax but the ARB ones have just a little more work & design in them, + they are the same price.
The TRED's had to be mounted on the drivers side due to the awning on the other side. Having to move the board away from the gullwing doors to allow access would have meant the boards when in the open position would have also not allowed the gulwing doors to full open if they where tight to the doors. I also did not want to have to hold the board up while unlocking the doors. The active frame is made from 50mm x 50mm x 3mm alloy angle with the smallest gas strut to aid opening & keep the boards in the up position. This whole setup worked a treat in the real world, vey happy with something so simple. The lift setup is held in place with 2 Lynch pins but really they have never opened on their own when the pins where forgotten to be installed. The alloy angle above the boards had to be fitted after we mounted the boards on the doors they would not open so needed to be re gassed & that first opening cracked all the welds on the inside of the doors. Just need to paint them black.

Cheers
Dave

 

[Witchdoctor Oz]

On the Passengers side we needed to mount the RTT access ladder due to the fact that there was no room inside the truck + more important gear needs to live inside. The ladder is mounted to 50mm x 3mm C section alloy & position in a way to allow direct access to the gullwing door locks without removing the ladder. I have S/S all tread pins mounted to the C section that the ladder slides over & held in place with S/S wing nuts. We installed a cable lock for extra security as I tried multiple time to drill a hole in the pins to take a little pad lock but I kept blowing the hole out the side pf the pin.

Cheers
Dave

 

[Witchdoctor Oz]

Finished the swing away rear tyre carrier about 2 days before our big desert trip & had no real test time with it on the truck & just hoped it would all hold together.
The tyre carrier started life as a AEV unit that fit on a JK Jeep as I loved a number of feature in their design but thats about as for as it goes. The mounting system has to be completely changed to work on the door of the 90. The treaded section that brings the 2 big sections together had to be substantially lengthened to stop everything from binding up when you opened the rear door.
The section that mounts to the Jeep chassis was going to be mounted to the rear crossmember in a different orientation to the Jeep but we got it to come together after we put a couple of shims in place. We also had to lengthen the box section that brings the tyre to the carrier due to the different wheel offsets also the plate that the studs are on was way to wrong for the Land Rover stud pattern so that also had to be changed.
I really love how it all works now, all the weight has been removed off the door hinges, no more sagging.

I have one more thing to make before the next trip & that will be a shower/toilet tent attached to the side of the truck

Cheers
Dave

 

[John R]

Nice work. So from what I understand when you open the rear door the carrier automatically swings out of the way and back into place when the door closes?

 

[Superduty]

Amazing build up. Your ideas are great and well executed. All the metal work and attention to detail is impressive. Awesome truck. Thanks for sharing and making us all jealous.

 

[Witchdoctor Oz]

Nice work. So from what I understand when you open the rear door the carrier automatically swings out of the way and back into place when the door closes?

The rear tyre carrier is attached to the door. There is no need to open the tyre carrier then separately open the door it all happens in the one motion John R

 

[John R]

The rear tyre carrier is attached to the door. There is no need to open the tyre carrier then separately open the door it all happens in the one motion John R

Great work - very ingenious idea. Don’t suppose you can think of a way to do this with two carriers on the back?

 

[Witchdoctor Oz]

Great work - very ingenious idea. Don’t suppose you can think of a way to do this with two carriers on the back?

Hi John

have a look at this site, just made what your after.
https://rijidijoffroad.com.au/?product=defender-dual-wheel-and-jerry-can-carrier

I personally see no point in twin carriers, we always run the single on the rear & a carcass on the roof. That way it cuts down on dead weight but you still carry 2 tyres.
Thanks for your kind words JR

Cheers
Dave

 

[Dozer Dan]

Amazing build! You are giving me many ideas for my own 90!

 

[chand-o]

What a fantastic build, Certinaly given me a few areas to spend more time thinking about.

Out of curiosity, have you weighed your 90 before and after you added everything i.e. the draws, tent etc?