Successful rear door fix

[LandyAndy]

Hi People
I removed the rear door trim off our Defender to give to AgroJnr as a template to cut me an aluminium checker plate trim to help strengten the rear door.What I found in there horrified me,no wonder the door had so much flex.
The top mount stud for the spare was cracked and moving freely.
There was rust in both bottom corners of the doorframe.
The lower member of the doorframe was cracked half way along and flexing.
The frame between the 2 lower hinges was cracked and flexing.
I did take pictures,but they arent good enough to use.
Next decision was how to fix this mess,a new bare door is $800,then it needs painting,all the parts swaping over(glass,wiper motor,hinges,lock,wiring etc).I figured I could strengthen the door and fix the rust without removing it or damaging the outer skin.MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
I re-welded the cracked stud for the spare and welded 4 35mm M10 bolts to the plate that will help secure the checkerplate trim later.
I then cut the bad rust from the outer bottom corner of the frame and welded a 5mm thick piece of plate inplace with 2 M8 bolts that will secure the checker plate trim.
I was able to grind and weld the rust at the hinge end ok.
I also fabricated mount/strengthening plates for the middle of the rear door member where the crack was,the hinge side member and the central member.All have M8 bolts welded to secure the ali trim.
Landrover use a lite gauge frame overlay to re-inforce the door frame,its pop riveted on.Some of mp po-rivets were broken,others close to it.I also welded this overlay to the main frame.
The results.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/08/132.jpg

A quick spray of Epoxy dark brunswick green and its ready for the Checkerplate when AgroJnr returns from his holiday.



The door now shuts firmly without anf flex and there is no rattles when driving either.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/08/133.jpg
Andrew

[Bearman]

Andrew,I see in the last pic that you were keeping your fluid levels up whilst doing the job!:D:D

[LandyAndy]

Sorry Brian
Thats not a functional keg,scabbed it from the scrap metal heap at the tip.
Its mate I scabbed will be my Auspig clone;););)
Andrew

[JDNSW]

Interestingly, yesterday I carried out a similar operation on the County. It had no rust, but of the frame carrying the spare wheel carrier, the LH (viewed from inside) upright was broken away from the rail at the base of the window (cracked weld), and both of these uprights were cracked below the crosspiece at the lower side of the spare wheel mount.

I decided against welding, as I did not want to introduce stress concentrations. Instead, I made up two plates of 18 gauge galvanised steel. One the full width of the wheel carrier and extending from the bottom rail of the door to the centre of the wheel carrier, but with a cutaway to allow access to the bolts on the carrier. The second is a triangle extending over the broken weld as close as possible to the wiper motor and along to past the LH bolt for the door grab handle, and down about six inches.

Both plates are rivetted on using 4mm steel rivets with a rivet spacing of about 3cm in a zig-zag pattern, and in addition, both plates have at least one bolt (which was used to hold it while drilling). The holes were marked, then predrilled on the plates, clamped and bolted into place and progressively drilled and rivetted.

A similar triangular plate had been put in place about eight years ago where the other top weld had broken. This had two loose rivets and these were drilled out and replaced.

Sorry, no pictures at present - I decided that before pictures were pointless, as you cannot see the cracks easily even in real life - and then I ran out of time to get the job finished as I had to use the car today. If I get a chance in the next couple of days I'll pull the lining off and take some after pictures.

John

[LandyAndy]

Hi JD
I cant understand why landrover still produce a flimsy back door that cannot support the spare wheel.It isnt like they havent had time to do so,this is no stronger than a Ser2 door!!!!!
Mine will have a 5mm ali checkerplate bolted to it strengthening it further,no need to worry about weld stress.
Why is there no drain holes in the door frame??? No wonder they rust.
I ran out of time and patience,when the ali plate is ready I will be adding drain holes!!!!
Andrew

[JDNSW]

Hi JD
I cant understand why landrover still produce a flimsy back door that cannot support the spare wheel.It isnt like they havent had time to do so,this is no stronger than a Ser2 door!!!!!
Mine will have a 5mm ali checkerplate bolted to it strengthening it further,no need to worry about weld stress.
Why is there no drain holes in the door frame??? No wonder they rust.
I ran out of time and patience,when the ali plate is ready I will be adding drain holes!!!!
Andrew

The door is actually quite a bit stronger than the S2 one - for a start it has an extra hinge. But the spare is mounted a lot higher, which puts a lot more strain on it. And the tendency to move to larger tyres has exacerbated the problem.

However, I think that a big part of the failure to adequately strengthen the door is because the Defender more so than the Series Landrover has sold primarily in the uK, where corrugated roads are uncommon, and travelling long distances at high speed on these surfaces is unheard of. Note however that from about 2002? Defender doors are all steel and much stronger (although I do not know if this means the problem is solved!).

I do not think that criticism for not having drain holes is justified - unlike the side doors, the rear door does not have an opening window, so there is, at least in theory, no way that water can get into the frame.

John

[p38arover]

Hi JD
I cant understand why landrover still produce a flimsy back door that cannot support the spare wheel.

I was surprised when I saw the door. That type was discarded years ago when LR went to a pressed steel frame door (effectively single piece) with a rear window that has a glass with rounded corners.

[Carlos]

Some good and ingenious repairs and like most of you my TD5 door cracked badly, I feel that given the tracks that we like to go on and the state of some corrugated roads the final solution is to get the spare wheel off the door, there is no way the door, hinges nor the supporting frame would ever stand up to it. And though the Puma door seems to be a heavier and different construction I'll eventually get round to building/buying a wheel carrier for it.

[JDNSW]

Picture of my fix.
Also visible are details of the central locking actuator.
John

[LandyAndy]

The door is actually quite a bit stronger than the S2 one - for a start it has an extra hinge. But the spare is mounted a lot higher, which puts a lot more strain on it. And the tendency to move to larger tyres has exacerbated the problem.

However, I think that a big part of the failure to adequately strengthen the door is because the Defender more so than the Series Landrover has sold primarily in the uK, where corrugated roads are uncommon, and travelling long distances at high speed on these surfaces is unheard of. Note however that from about 2002? Defender doors are all steel and much stronger (although I do not know if this means the problem is solved!).

I do not think that criticism for not having drain holes is justified - unlike the side doors, the rear door does not have an opening window, so there is, at least in theory, no way that water can get into the frame.

John

Spare wheel is a factory alloy with the factory 235/85x16.SHOULD BE UP TO THE JOB IT WAS DESIGNED TO DO.
Drain Holes.ANY NORMAL VEHICLE HAS THEM.The water does get in,wouldnt rust if it couldnt escape after getting in!!!!!
Being form a country area and being the fixer of corrugations in roads I can only agree,they are NOT made strong enough to meet australian conditions!!!
Andrew

[LandyAndy]

Picture of my fix.
Also visible are details of the central locking actuator.
John

John
I cant see the pop rivets being up to the job,factory ones failed in mine.
Andrew

[Carlos]

Spare wheel is a factory alloy with the factory 235/85x16.SHOULD BE UP TO THE JOB IT WAS DESIGNED TO DO.
Drain Holes.ANY NORMAL VEHICLE HAS THEM.The water does get in,wouldnt rust if it couldnt escape after getting in!!!!!
Being form a country area and being the fixer of corrugations in roads I can only agree,they are NOT made strong enough to meet australian conditions!!!
Andrew

Ah, so you're to blame, I always felt there was someone responsible for the corrugations!

[LandyAndy]

Ah, so you're to blame, I always felt there was someone responsible for the corrugations!

I have been guilty of adding them whilst grading!!!!
There is a "magic speed" whilst grading,once you go past it the grader will bounce and put fresh corrugations in the road;);););)
Andrew

[frantic]

I remember reading in an article ,from dr Karl i think, that corrugations are actually a natural occurrance ! So we in effect are fighting nature.

[JDNSW]

John
I cant see the pop rivets being up to the job,factory ones failed in mine.
Andrew

Depends on the number and arrangement of them. I am interested that you have factory pop rivets - there were none in my door, everything welded. Failures were a broken weld and cracked tophat sections.

As I explained, my reason for not welding was to avoid stress concentrations - using a number of rivets spreads the load, and the large lower plate transfers the load to the lower rail without relying on the uprights.

John

[LandyAndy]

I picked up the new door trim yesterday,5mm ali checkerplate thanks Adam(Agrojnr).
Its a copy of the original trim,laser cut.
THE FINISHED JOB!!!!
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/10/1323.jpg
Certainly stronger than the factory door.
Andrew

[TimNZ]

Looks great Andrew! Who knows what LR were thinking with that door design, it seems that after it had been initially designed the bloke who fitted the wiper thought "this nice piece of box section running accross the middle of the door holding the spare on looks like a great place to cut a ruddy big hole to run the wiper arm through".

Here's a post 2002 door naked, (for anyone who cares :) )

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/10/1282.jpg

Cheers,

PS: Yes, the top left and bottom right spare tyre mount nuts and washers have already been taken off.

[justinc]

Andy, those doors are the main reason I bought a new MIG....Such a disaster and quite easily preventable during design stage, have repaired heaps and then fitted wheel carriers to them.
Luckily my 110's one seems OK, carrier was removed and plated over already...


JC

[numpty]

Looks great Andrew! Who knows what LR were thinking with that door design, it seems that after it had been initially designed the bloke who fitted the wiper thought "this nice piece of box section running accross the middle of the door holding the spare on looks like a great place to cut a ruddy big hole to run the wiper arm through".

Here's a post 2002 door naked, (for anyone who cares :) )

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/10/1282.jpg

Cheers,

PS: Yes, the top left and bottom right spare tyre mount nuts and washers have already been taken off.

When I put the wheel carrier on mine (swing with door), I made spacers to go under those large washers, so that the mounting bolts pull on the edges of the channel and the centre. (spreads the load) This alleviates the problem of the washers crushing into the gap.

Hope this makes sense:)

[Frenchie]

Great job Andrew,

mine is one of the newer steel ones and I have had no issues, I stand on the spare wheel to access the roof rack, apart from a squeaky hinge it's fine. :cool:

Cheers Tony

[cewilson]

It is so tempting to get rid of the rear wiper. :)


No wiring and a flat surface to work with :)