I’m thinking if fabbing some stainless tree sliders for the 90. Has anyone got dimensions for them, or will it just be a case of whipping off the sills and measuring up?
I am just about to do mine but from mild steel box (100*50). I have bought some tube to slide into the rear outriggers but tried it in this weekend and due to the amount of rust in there it will need a good clean out first - I will have to figure that one out!
I am going to make brackets for front and back to allow some movement as I want to use these if (when) I do a chassis swap.
I also want to make removable side steps to fit to them, together with holes for a high lift (actually looking at a twin hole version and making an adaptor for the jack as they look quite unstable otherwise).
I hope to do this over the next few days so if I do manage to draw it out I will post it up. I intend to draw the bits to laser cut but I am doing the parts for some rear bumperettes and the hilift assesories too.
Are you looking at stainless box section or folding them up from plate?
I am just about to do mine but from mild steel box (100*50). I have bought some tube to slide into the rear outriggers but tried it in this weekend and due to the amount of rust in there it will need a good clean out first - I will have to figure that one out!
I am going to make brackets for front and back to allow some movement as I want to use these if (when) I do a chassis swap.
I also want to make removable side steps to fit to them, together with holes for a high lift (actually looking at a twin hole version and making an adaptor for the jack as they look quite unstable otherwise).
I hope to do this over the next few days so if I do manage to draw it out I will post it up. I intend to draw the bits to laser cut but I am doing the parts for some rear bumperettes and the hilift assesories too.
Are you looking at stainless box section or folding them up from plate?
Cheers Mossberg. Would appreciate a few dimensions when your done.
Same as mentioned by Roel, I manufactured a pair, and the one side needed to be a bit shorter than the other.
Made them fit exactly with the eyebrows. The front and rear have different angles that I transferred with some cardboard onto the steel section. The front bracket went infront of the bulkhead outrigger, not against the bulkhead. I just used one bracket in the front. For the rear, fabricated a tube with a flange at the end that slides inside the tube outrigger. On the mating side on the slider, welded some 6mm to have extra material as the slider is then bolted up with 5x M10 bolts. The tube in the tube outrigger is bolted from the inside with an M12 bolt and a large washer which had to be fabricated as well as could not find one with the right thickness.
1988 90 Hard Top, 19J Diesel Turbo, Shire Blue - Restoration ongoing
2012 90 CSW, 2.2TDCI, Santorini Black
Free material I suppose is one driver. I'm just curious because without getting exotics stainless is normally weaker, harder and much more difficult to work with.
If you hit it you're more likely to tear or break it where as mild will deform without breaking.
If you wanted strength then a high carbon steel would be preferable I'd have thought.
Also stainless isn't rust proof, just takes a lot longer to rust compared to most steels...
Ed
82 Hotspur Sandringham 6x6
95 Defender 110 300Tdi
^^^ what sako said. Stainless is more brittle than steel. If it's just a visual accessory I'm sure it'll be fine but if you are planning to actually use them then I would suggest a rethink.
Mo
The Land Rover 90 - Many are called, few are chosen.
There are many grades of stainless steel .. so cannot really make one generic conclusion for all. ost common will probably however be 304 or 1.4301.
I do not know what is the OP's use of the tree sliders.. if he would be bashing them on every rock or every tree in his way, or if they will be used in the urban jungle as in supermarket carparks. If it is the latter, stainless still is strong enough to protect the Defender bodywork from a Vauxhall door.
One thing I would however be worried about, and would make me steer away from stainless steel is galvanic corrosion. Galvanic corrosion is also a function of surface area and two large stainless beams on the sides of the Defender are quite significant.
I use a lot of stainless steel bolts on my Landrovers, wherever is not structural, but also careful to isolate them with plastic washers, or Duralac as much as possible. And a small M6 or M8 bolt is a lot less surface area.
In my opinion, galvanized steel is best all rounder. But that is my opinion. I will not make galvanic tests on my Landrovers
1988 90 Hard Top, 19J Diesel Turbo, Shire Blue - Restoration ongoing
2012 90 CSW, 2.2TDCI, Santorini Black
Free material I suppose is one driver. I'm just curious because without getting exotics stainless is normally weaker, harder and much more difficult to work with.
If you hit it you're more likely to tear or break it where as mild will deform without breaking.
If you wanted strength then a high carbon steel would be preferable I'd have thought.
Also stainless isn't rust proof, just takes a lot longer to rust compared to most steels...
Thanks, and that’s a good point. I have 304 and there is a good chance they will see active duty, so might have to have a rethink as I can probably muster up some mild steel box.
I also used a pipe through the chassis outrigger. If you look at my picture you just can see the pipe sticking out below the sidebar. Make sure the pipe just extends through the chassis as the chassis is the strong point
.
The font support I used some angle irons, as I think they are stronger than a flat strip.
Sometimes you see that an additional pipe is used to the side to get more clearance from the trees. That might be good for your doors but I opted against it as I always get dirty trousers if I get in my friends 90.
Roel
1984 90 2.5 na Diesel - RR V8 (1994-2001)
1997 Camel Trophy Discovery 300TDI (2001-2009)
2005 G4 Discovery III 4.4 V8 (2008-2018) It's gone but it still hurts.
2003 90 Td5 (2009-now)
Roel
A bit ov an overkill in my opinion but is what the end user wanted.
1988 90 Hard Top, 19J Diesel Turbo, Shire Blue - Restoration ongoing
Ed
