Thread: 130 - The old tray vs tub

From owning a couple of 130S
First off cracking mounts is a function of insufficient flex in the tray
Tub doesn’t crack mounts because it is loosey goosey
Just re-design your tray/mounts and voila!

Tray trumps tub for mine cause of space gained
I have 80l of water 80l of Diesel a spare plus a tool drawer that swallows enough tools and spares for me.... and that still leaves 1800x1800 tray space.
Plonk that in your tub and it will be half full?

Steve

I preferred the tub as I was working out of it daily and it has a lower working height compared to a tray.

When you are lifting 60kg+ items weekly and 20-30kg items multiple times/day in and out by yourself it makes a difference.

Here's a tub for you:

- Defender 130 Tub - Melbourne

Crisis of Faith over...gave myself an uppercut and came up with a game plan.

I'm going to knock up an intermediate frame that sits between the chassis and tray or canopy. The base of the frame will be built to tailored to the haphazard 'x,y & z' nature of the factory mounting points and the top will be flat with 4 or 6 evenly spaced, and level, mount points. The frame will be 200-250mm high and house a 'Trundle' style tray that is drawn from the rear of the truck.... the moving bits will be all tucked inside panels (no dust water or mud exposure) and a double seal at the business end on closing.

Plenty of rubber will be used between the intermediate frame and the chassis, I'll go easy on the bolts and incorporate some clamps.....on top I might just use 4 gearbox mounts to support a tray or canopy. Over the top of the pull out tray/drawer I might slip in a neat little pull out table 'Drifter' style that makes for a handy workbench in lieu of a tail gate.

With a drawer permanently fitted I'll always have a spot for all the tools/recovery kit etc that need to be in the truck.....the front of the frame adjacent the rear of the cab can house a AGM, or maybe two. This is a great spot, as has been mentioned previously in this thread as the weight is as low as I can get it.

This way I can, with minimum fuss, chuck my tray back on after the engine goes in...I was not looking forward to the job of modify that tray to stop it cracking mounts any further. Once the Defender is mobile again I can commence in earnest on another alloy canopy and have a standardised mount system to build too.

Some quick measurements after work indicate a drawer 1600x750x200mm internal is probably doable....and no doubt has been done before. Time for some serious Defender Google stalking!

Thanks for the thoughts, advice and opinions.

nb I agree the tubs on a 130 do look better than a tray.

Originally Posted by Zeros

Here's a tub for you:

- Defender 130 Tub - Melbourne

Sorry, sold it this afternoon
Nick

Sounds pretty similar to mine.
My drawer is 990 wide (internal) 200 high, and 1220 long. Mine is shorter because I have the 200l fuel tank behind it.
Using the Teflon slides means you can make that drawer as big (long) as you want without any issues.
I have a lid on my drawer so its 99.9% dust proof. The lid is in one piece so it's a bit awkward (heavy) to access. I'd do that differently and make that 2 pieces.
The up side of my strong lid is that I can use it for anything, table, chair, step to get on roof (but 2 pieces would be just as strong).
I also decided to extend my tray chassis 400 mm past the end of the Defender steel work.
I caded it up to ensure I wasn't intruding on departure angle, and I just don't put anything heavy in that area. The reason I did that was so I could sleep in the back if I had to.
No problems with that idea in the bush, but that extra couple of hundred mm is a pain around the suburbs parking etc, and again I'd do that differently and keep the chassis shorter and make the tray longer if I wanted. A good way to ensure nothing heavy goes in that area.


I'm also an admirer of the tub. No doubt it is a thing of beauty. I was eyeing off Nick's tray and thinking about pulling my heavy duty back off and replacing with a tub just for general use. If I did I'd no doubt have to spend a couple of grand getting a roof rack, and making a lockable space, some where to put the spare, so I'm not sure what I'll do.
Let me know if you want any more photos. The photos weren't really relevant to your fuel tank post so I didn't give you much detail.
Cheers
Mark

Is anyone selling a rear tub and canvas canopy?

Theres been a few on gum tree for $4000. Prices seem to have gone up even in the UK.