130 extra cab details on DYI

[chasmac]

HEY does anyone have details on doing defender 130 king cab various parts etc and matirials needed.

[130man]

HI Chasmac, I have one, ex-Telstra , and the cabin is nicely larger than a standard 130 ute, allowing taller types to get comfortable. The actual difference in interior size is about 150mm but the benefits are bigger than that would imply . The roof would be the hardest part to construct. Mine appears to have been constructed by joining parts of a single cab roof in such a way as to make it bigger but you can create the same effect by shortening a SWB roof and making the rear corners square, not rounded. The little side windows are the same, I think, as the rear corner windows of a 110 . Mine has very little in the way of door pillars as the little window uses up too much space. As a result , the doors wobble on rough roads. The doors are standard Defender style. The head lining is very neat and would have to have been custom made for these vehicles. Again, using a SWB roof would simplify the lining of the roof. The seat box has an extra panel across the width of the cab to fill in the space behind the original box. There is a corresponding panel in each side section. Hope this helps. Cheers, 130man.

[chasmac]

thanks for info im just going to have to dive in, and hope for the best i think,all good fun thats why we drive these brilliant machines,its a hobby just owning one thanks again

[uninformed]

For the work invovled, have you considered making longer doors? This will give you extra room and more comfort than a extra cab.

Roof work wont change, body outrigger work wont change.

Seat base would be moved back and longer floor transmisson tunnel would be needed but they would be pretty simple.

just a thought

[130man]

Hi Chasmac, I looked at my vehicle today and realised that the extra side panel was a measured 195mm, not 150mm as stated in my previous post. Sorry about that. The seat rails are mounted well back compared to the original position in the 110/90 giving excellent room for tall drivers. I find the little side windows very handy as I can glance through them at intersections rather than lean forward to see out the door windows. A friend, who has built his own extra cab has not bothered with the extra side windows but he is a fair bit shorter than me. His is the one mentioned previously with the modded SWB roof and it looks fine. Cheers, 130man.

[mox]

I have 130 with extended cab. Has a Qld Transport compliance plate with modification made by Peter L Smith P/L. which I think is in Sydney. Gather extended cabs were made by more than one body builder for Land Rover in Australia who each did them their own way. Mine is extended about 8 inches. My cousin bought vehicle at auction after it had been rolled. I later tracked down former owner who said he jackknifed a trailer, the left rear wheel hit a rock which bent wolf rim and it went right over and landed on its wheels. He had a very sore neck which subsequent examination showed was very close to a serious break. Vehicle repair included S/H doors (expensive). Reckon maybe series 3 or military or county ones may have been better, as since I have left liners off, partly to give more elbow room. It needed new back of cab piece, and make new extension pieces with windows. s/h windscreen with frame and top of firewall straightened. Roof and lining, which appeared to have been made from two standard ones was straightened.


I think if you are making a similar length extension, would be worth considering trying to design and build one using steel heavy enough to double as an effective roll bar. This would include strong supports to the outriggers /chassis and a bar overhead, which would best just clear inside of roof. Probably necessitating some redesigning of lining. Note the P L Smith way of supporting the back was to weld an additional outrigger on each side of the chassis between the two existing ones which are not used and have the back of cab supported by it instead of the front ones. Probably as good and easier to instead "bridge " between existing outriggers. The 8 inch extension piece behind the seats is bent front and back like channel with the "legs" upward and holes drilled in them so it bolts in place. There are two supports under it down to chassis cross member below.


Re the little side windows, which are semi circular top and bottom, I think it would be better if the tops were a bit higher and bottoms a bit lower. Lining up with top and bottom of window in door. Reckon uprights each side of window would best be the thickest 32 or 38mm angle iron available to give some roll bar function. Probably best to make solid frame and weld bits of thin steel onto it for window surrounds than make a piece out of aluminium. The rubbers surrounding the window are 25mm or an inch wide. The angle iron one face of each of the angle irons would be against the door and cab rear piece respectively and the others on the inside pointing in direction of middle of window. So looking through window from outside, angle iron would about line up with edge of it. (Hope you can follow this explanation)


Hopefully it will never be needed but some extra rollover protection would be good. At least the present front of my tray gives some. Another bit of safety feature I have added is to cover the pillars in front of the little side windows with sections of foam cut from stuff designed as lagging for hot water pipes. So it does not hurt as much and /or does less damage if with some bucking sideways and driver or LH passenger hits head on it. Mate of mine knew a young bloke who was killed after running off road onto rough ground and hit his head on pillar while car wasn't even damaged.

[Landybitz]

You can buy a new genuine land rover kit to do this

[steveG]

You can buy a new genuine land rover kit to do this

First time I've heard of that. Any more details?

Steve

[chasmac]

am thinking of using rear window panels from series 111 wagon back seem to measureup well and have a spare roof so will use part of it and then manufacture bottom side panelor i think i may be able to cut a piece out of a style side back. and floor should increase cab by 300mm ,it helps when your surrounded by landys and ps im only 5ft 3 inch so doors stay std lol. ps safety bars sound like a good idea.

[modman]

Look up burbs engineering
Lots of pics and the best extended cab I've ever seen
The 110 is also on LROCV
Dc
Ps using a wagon roof is easiest and squaring off the back to whatever length suits
It looks ok on a style side or hcpu but really suits a tray with canopy
Hth