Thread: What did you do on your Defender today ? (well, this week anyway)

Used an hour or so of lockdown time today to replace the a frame ball joint, old one had seen better days. I was suprised to see old one still had some grease in given the condition of the rubber boot.

Castled nut was easy enough to undo with a 30mm ring spanner and the back of 110 jacked up a little.

Discofender

Finally got my Shower tent mounted.

Purchased on of these
NOMAD Shower Tent Awning (Foldout) with Roof *** PRE-ORDER NOW *** Sto - CAOS Gear

Mounted up on rack legs.

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Cheers Glen

This is my homemade shower cubicle. Frame slides in under roof rack, curtain is just a wall section from a 3 x 3 gasebo that simply velcros onto frame. Can use poles if windy but not required for support.
Not as fancy or as many special features as the Nomad ones but it works sufficiently to keep SWMBO happy.

Nearly finished the back of my 130. 120ah battery tucked neatly between the fuel filler and back. Drawers and fridge slide for the 85lt Evakool. Best thing has been the self mounted to the canopy roof rack internal frame. Stores our touring tent, camp chairs and ground sheets. Just need to fit the 75lt. Water tank between the drawers and head board.

Replaced the bushes in the radius arms. Had a little trouble refitting the arms so ground a small chamfer where they were catching and they then slid in easy as. Also tidied up & repainted a few other bits & pieces while I was at it - mud flaps, diff guard & track rod.

Originally Posted by Discofender

Used an hour or so of lockdown time today to replace the a frame ball joint, old one had seen better days. I was suprised to see old one still had some grease in given the condition of the rubber boot.

Castled nut was easy enough to undo with a 30mm ring spanner and the back of 110 jacked up a little.

Discofender

You seem to have been much luckier than me! Looking at your excellent photos show a setup identical to mine.

I did this job yesterday & had great difficulty undoing the castellated nut & then breaking the taper!

I prepared a shortened 30mm impact socket with the angle grinder but the Milwaukee 18V impact driver wouldn't even look at it! It finally yielded after heat from a blow torch.

The taper joint also gave grief. None of the usual methods worked, but in the end I lifted the wheels off the ground about 2 cms using a jack under the A frame bracket, so that the taper joint had to hold the full weight of the rear axle & wheels. No amount of work with a hammer seemed to loosen the taper, so in the end I resorted to heat from the blowtorch. After a couple of minutes of this the taper separated with a very satisfying "BANG" as the wheels hit the ground!

After this it was all very straightforward.

My summation: Scomo believes in miracles - I believe in blowtorches!!

Cheers,

Lionel

Fitted an Exmoor trim kit to the drivers seat of the project. Previous owner had stuffed the seat with foam pipe insulation! Took a bit longer than expected as the seat pan welds had cracked away from the frame, so got the Mig out and welded it up also added some braces to stop it happening again. While I was doing the seat I added a seat heater too. Also fitted a new seat belt and as it was a bit frayed and replaced the pedal rubbers.
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[QUOTE=Fattima; Also fitted a new seat belt and as it was a bit frayed
[/QUOTE]

Where did you get the seat belt Fattima. Mine is also beginning to fray, and rego time is approaching. I also did my drivers seat with an Exmoor kit, and welded the frame. Good result.
Don.