 | Home > My Defender > An Anorak's Utility Station Wagon |
 
|
|
|
| LandRoverAnorak Member Since: 17 Jul 2011 Location: Surrey Posts: 11240   
|
This is a box that’s been taking up room in the garage for a while.
I’ve been meaning to fit a swing away spare wheel carrier for ages and had narrowed down my choice to the offerings from Britpart and Safari Equip. Details on the latter are hard to come by (their website is rubbish) and so when a Britpart one came up at an absolute bargain price the decision was made. Now, ‘Britpart??’ I hear you say, but this particular item gets pretty good reviews and is one of the few designs that I could be sure would allow me to refit my deluxe grab handle, which was an important consideration. If it falls apart in a years’ time then it won’t be the end of the world but with a few small changes I’m pretty confident that it won’t. Anyway, on to the installation: The carrier does come with instructions, which is a pleasant surprise, and on the whole they’re pretty good. There are a couple of details that it glosses over but it generally gets you to a finished install.  Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Apart from the swing arm itself, the kit comprises a variety of powder coated bracketry. Where possible, I’ve covered the mating surfaces of these pieces with self-adhesive neoprene to prevent metal on metal contact in an effort to preserve both the powder coating and the painted surfaces of the vehicle. In some areas this wasn’t so practical and so I’ve relied on a healthy coating of Dinitrol prior to assembly. Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge The kit also includes various nuts and bolts, all of which I intend to replace with stainless equivalents. Unfortunately, my order for those was incomplete when it arrived so I’ve had to use the kit bolts in some places, but these will get swapped out again in due course. The coupling between the door and the carrier is a nylon piston that gets bolted to the door plate. Into the end of the piston is a length of M12 studding with a couple of lock nuts. Click image to enlarge After a rummage in my nuts and bolts box, I managed to replicate this bit of hardware in stainless, too. Click image to enlarge The first step in the installation is to drill two holes in the tub capping. The first is in the position of an existing rivet and the second alongside to suit the top bracket. Look away now if this isn’t your thing! Click image to enlarge It’s also necessary to open out three holes in the crossmember – two from M8 to M10 and one from M10 to M12. Click image to enlarge Of course, if I’d thought about this a few weeks ago I could have done those holes before I resprayed the crossmember  Anyway, out with the masking tape and paint:
Click image to enlarge I also had to open out two of the holes in the end of the right hand grab handle to match, which then also needed painting: Click image to enlarge With the paint going off, the next step was to remove the old wheel carrier. An easy enough job with the door card removed, which revealed eight years build up of grime: Click image to enlarge It looked much better when all cleaned off: Click image to enlarge The large door plate is supposed to fix to the door using the existing bolts and fixing points for the standard door mounted wheel carrier. Again, those nuts and bolts have been swapped for stainless ones and for inside the door I’ve made some plates to replace the large washers that spread the load of the wheel carrier. Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge To be honest, this is probably overkill given that I’m installing something to take the weight off the door, but it makes me happy. The plates are 3mm thick aluminium, 60mm wide and approx. 250mm long, and again have had neoprene foam added to the mating surfaces.. Click image to enlarge Fitting the top bracket is quite straightforward, attaching with two M10 bolts into a matching nut plate that fits inside the tub under the capping. Click image to enlarge The bottom bracket is more involved, doubly so in my installation because of my desire to fit my grab handle. The bracket is fixed with two more M10 bolts, again into a nut plate, and also an M12 bolt that goes right through the crossmember. The kit includes a crush tube for this bolt with a handy little bracket attached to make it easier to position. The addition of my grab handle complicated this as the M10 bolts needed to pass through it, which in turn obscured the M12 bolt head. Re-using the nylon spacer that I’d made for the original installation of the handle allowed this to work and was merely fiddly to assemble. Click image to enlarge A bit of trial and error came up with a suitable arrangement of the nuts and washer on the piston to attach it to the carrier arm, although see below for an update on this. It's one of the details that the instructions don’t mention, along with the washer arrangement for the main M12 pivot bolts. Click image to enlarge With everything assembled and all of the bolts tightened, it was time to offer up the spare wheel. I was pleased to find that the carrier accommodates my Tufflift sling in exactly the same way as the original carrier: Click image to enlarge And the finished article with both grab handles installed. A quick drive on our weekly supply run didn’t reveal any clunks or rattles and the door opens and closes smoothly, which is nice. Click image to enlarge On the whole, it's a nicely thought out and comprehensive kit and the instructions are only weak in a couple of areas that are easy to resolve. Darren 110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia Last edited by LandRoverAnorak on 27th May 2020 1:04pm. Edited 2 times in total |
||
26th May 2020 11:16pm |
|
| sgreenham Member Since: 27 Apr 2019 Location: Southampton Posts: 145 
|
Looks great Darren. I’m liking the fact the Tifflift fits too. May have to add that to mine
|
||
|
27th May 2020 6:33am |
|
| Harry.O Member Since: 25 Jul 2014 Location: Warwickshire Posts: 704 
|
Looks good Darren, it may be worth trying to get a 2nd nut onto the threaded end to the left of the piston, mine worked loose and created a rattle over time. I tried swapping to a nylock initially but it simply turned the piston rather than tightening the nut against the carrier
 2005 Td5 110 Hardtop
1989 300Tdi 90 Soft top 1992 200Tdi 90 Truck cab with Land Cruiser axles |
||
|
27th May 2020 8:36am |
|
| LandRoverAnorak Member Since: 17 Jul 2011 Location: Surrey Posts: 11240
|
That's a good point and, slightly oddly, I was thinking the same whilst lying in bed this morning. I think perhaps the original two nuts locked together near to the piston and then a nyloc on the end might be the way to go. Will have a look in a bit. Darren
110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia |
||
|
27th May 2020 8:57am |
|
| LandRoverAnorak Member Since: 17 Jul 2011 Location: Surrey Posts: 11240
|
So, a good call by Harry as a quick inspection this morning showed that the securing nut had worked loose already
Having taken it apart again, options are somewhat limited as when the door is closed the space between the end of the piston cylinder and the swing arm mounting point isn't big enough for two nuts to be locked together. After a bit of experimentation, I therefore settled on the following - small washer against end of piston with half nut tightened against it (done by gripping the piston with waterpump pliers), penny washer and nylon penny washer: Click image to enlarge With the swing arm back in place, I then fitted another nylon washer followed by a regular washer and finally a nyloc nut: Click image to enlarge When the arm is in place, getting to the first nut is virtually impossible but this picture taken down the gap between arm and door shows that the piston is fully compressed when the door is closed and the lack of space for a locknut: Click image to enlarge I'm hoping that the nylon washers will add a bit of vibration resilience but their main purpose is to protect the powder coating from damage by the steel washer. Time will tell if it works. The fall back solution is some Loctite but as I'll need to strip it down again when the rest of my stainless bolts arrive, I'll leave that for now. Whilst I was fettling, I also took the opportunity to add some plastic pipe to the wheel mounting studs to stop the large locating nuts from moving: Click image to enlarge Darren 110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia |
||
|
27th May 2020 12:56pm |
|
| LandRoverAnorak Member Since: 17 Jul 2011 Location: Surrey Posts: 11240
|
Whilst I had the rear door card off to fit the wheel carrier, I took the opportunity to add some sound proofing. The first step was to fit pieces of Silent Coat deadening material to the parts of the door skin that were accessible through the frame, like so:
Click image to enlarge The second step was to add 6mm foam over the top, covering as much of the inside of the door as possible without interfering with either the mechanical gubbins or the fit of the door card: Click image to enlarge Having already treated the whole of the rear of the vehicle, the benefits will only be incremental but the door does now close with a satisfying thud and, as the saying goes, every little helps. Again whilst I had it in bits, I replaced the fixing screws for the rear door grab handle with some nice stainless steel ones, and yes I did line up all of the slots 
Click image to enlarge Darren 110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia |
||
|
27th May 2020 1:25pm |
|
| jcw Member Since: 11 Sep 2016 Location: Gloucestershire Posts: 142 
|
Re the piston to frame arrangement, looks very similar to the Mantec carrier, here’s the instructions -
Click image to enlarge |
||
|
27th May 2020 1:40pm |
|
| L90Andy Member Since: 29 May 2014 Location: Stratford-Upon-Avon Posts: 716 
|
Very impressive work as always Darren, love the attention to detail
Instagram: l90andy
2006 Land Rover 90 TD5 CSW Silver Edition My 1984 Ninety: http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic56071.html - SOLD! My 2015 Defender: http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic39625.html - SOLD! |
||
|
27th May 2020 1:54pm |
|
| Harry.O Member Since: 25 Jul 2014 Location: Warwickshire Posts: 704
|
Looking good Darren
 really must upgrade the bolts on mine to stainless. I went for the lazy option and just cobbled a 2nd nut onto the end like the Mantec instructions posted by JCW and a smear of loctite for good measure, no issues since for 20,000 miles and much of those with a bike rack hanging from the spare wheel.
Keep up the great work, your 110 is lovely 2005 Td5 110 Hardtop
1989 300Tdi 90 Soft top 1992 200Tdi 90 Truck cab with Land Cruiser axles |
||
|
27th May 2020 2:30pm |
|
| LandRoverAnorak Member Since: 17 Jul 2011 Location: Surrey Posts: 11240
|
Thanks, it does look very similar. The instructions for the order of nuts and washers is different on mine and it doesn't include so many components, but the Mantec instructions make a lot of sense. Darren 110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia |
||
|
27th May 2020 8:02pm |
|
| Sulisuli Member Since: 30 Oct 2016 Location: South west Posts: 4789 
|
Quality work, always a pleasure to read your thread
2015 HT XS 90
2008 SVX 90 2000 XS TD5 90 |
||
|
27th May 2020 9:33pm |
|
| LandRoverAnorak Member Since: 17 Jul 2011 Location: Surrey Posts: 11240
|
Thanks. It keeps me off the streets
 Darren
110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia |
||
|
27th May 2020 9:54pm |
|
| Grenadier Member Since: 23 Jul 2014 Location: The foot of Mont Blanc... Posts: 5765  
|
How the  did you manage that?   Monsieur Le Grenadier
I've not been everywhere, but it's on my list..... 2011 Puma 110DC - Corris Grey |
||
|
28th May 2020 6:28am |
|
| LandRoverAnorak Member Since: 17 Jul 2011 Location: Surrey Posts: 11240
|
It's a rare talent
Darren
110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia |
||
|
28th May 2020 6:51am |
|
|
|
| All times are GMT + 1 Hour |
< Previous Topic | Next Topic > |
Posting Rules
|
Site Copyright © 2006-2024 Futuranet Ltd & Martin Lewis
