With cargo space becoming ever more important with a growing family, and after the accidental breakage of the tap on the water cube in the back of the Defender, I thought it was time to get a water tank.

I chose the Frontrunner tank out of South Africa http://www.frontrunner.co.za/ , which is the one Opposite Lock sell here. However getting it out of South Africa was a lot cheaper and I suppose with a growing $AUD the price should be even better by now. (Compare AUD to ZAR [South African Rand] on a Currency Exchanger).

To keep costs down I opted for Sea Freight - so it took 12 weeks and 2 days to get here, by postage (cheaper than courier). Postage was about $50AUD and insurance about an extra $3. Being an export, you can save the 14% South African GST off the purchase price, which helps with the freight cost.

The kit comes with all fittings & instructions.






The rear LHS wheel arch, where the tank will fit.



Unbolt the exhaust clamp. I'm not sure where the exhaust is routed in the South African defender, as it didn't appear in the instructions.



Drill the hole (measurements provided for in the kit).


Lining up the tank.



Bolt the front of the bash plate on.



Clearance from exhaust.



I initially tried to position the tank with the rear securing tag alongside the exhaust bracket. But this occluded the drain (hose) hole.



Before I realised the hole was occluded, I was happy to see the tag lined up with a pre existing bolt hole.




I then decided to bend the tag and try slipping it into the recess above the exhaust bracket. Bending the tag.



The aforementioned 'recess' above the tag. This however moved the bashplate too far to the outside.



So in the end the bash plate sat over the edge of the rear cross member lip, no bolt was used, but it's all pretty snug and vibration free.



The tap that was provided was good, with a 'nozzle' on the end for attaching a hose, but it was a bit too long to comfortably clear the rear ladder, so I used a shorter tap I had.




Tap side shot

So it owed you a bit less that $250 landed in total? Looks neat

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 2005 Defender 110 

Thanks Michael!!

Since my Cape York trip, a water tank has been on the cards. Have been looking at the Opposite Lock one, but the cost has been the limiting factor. Also want a Auxilary fuel tank. (Also supplied by Opposite Lock). Fuel range is limited in the standard Defender, and the sill tank fits on the other side. By my calculations, can order both fuel, and water tank and have them landed for less than the water tank alone.
Where in Melbourne are you located? I would like to see your set up. PM me if you are interested in letting me have a look

Again Thaks for the great post.

Cheers,
Ken

I forgot to mention - the Bank stung me for $25 for the overseas money transfer, ouch. I thought an online transaction would be free.


Mudnut - PM sent

Michael, Great tutorial....

Question... is the exhaust going to heat the tank?
is the tank metal or Poly?
Have you found any soot on the tap yet?

Otherwise i'm impressed...
about 50 litres was it???

Steve

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I get lonely, so I set my phone's alarm for every 5 minutes or so and imagine people are texting me.

I am in the same process at the moment - contacted Front Runner direct, however when using Airfreight there was not much in it. Biggest killer was the airline freight docs (over $300 to clear once arrived)

Misses has just got her tax refund and we manage to get a discount from OL to buy both the fuel and water tanks for just over $1,000. It is more expensive but they have them in stock.

The fuel tank is a Stainless steel tank with 45 litres and the water tank is poly with 44 litre capacities.

THX for some GREAT pix and write up - I hope to pick mine up in the week.

LRH

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Disco 4 TDV6 Auto
RRC 300 TDI Auto
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Looks good but cant it be mounted on the drivers side , That way it gets it away from the exhaust
Oops just remembered the fuel filler

So far no soot on the tap after 1 week.

The plate is steel (although if it rusts, I'll be making one from alum chequer plate)and the tank is Food Grade Poly. I haven't noticed any warming of the water, but I'm doing a 3 hour drive tomorrow, so I'll be able to report on any water heating issues after that.

Capacity is 36 - 40 litres depending on whether you read the Front Runner or the Opposite Lock website.

The South African Post Office www.sapo.co.za will post anything up to 30kg (compared to 20kg for auspost). The rates are also very good when compared in $AUD. For me to post the tank to Perth from Melb for example would cost over $100.

The other benefit of using Post is that it bypasses all the customs clearing costs. If you're prepared to wait 3 months for the goodies, it's worthwhile.

Good post Michael. I've had mine for about 18 months. Great piece of kit!

To answer Clarkie's questions;

Exhaust does not heat the tank, even on a warm day the thick poly plastic and location of the tank keeps the water from warming up.

As Michael said, Poly is food grade. I've never had the water take on a "plastic" taste as per some water tanks. The first 100ml of water flushes out any grime that collects at the bottom of the tank if you leave the filler cap open or get dust in it when filling.

No soot on the tap but mine is mounted slightly different from Michael's. I went through the rear cross member, the little black mounting bracket wasn't necessary on mine but it seemed like a good place to store (see pic below) The tap is gravity feed but suppose you can easily install a small inline water pump and put the tap anywhere.



It is a definitely a 40L tank. Being a South-African product, the tap is even lockable with a padlock

Also, another thing that was a concern for me was rubbing of the wheels on full compression (I run 33" muddies) Not a problem at all.

Don't think, just get one .. there is no beter water tank for a Defender.