defender chassis

[sumo]

Hi all

The defender chassis rails have more depth than the jap stuff, are they stronger? or do they use lighter material and build them wider to get the srength?:confused:

Regards sumo

[hiline]

good indication would be the towing capacity of the defenders

[mark2]

Defender chasssis are built from a lighter gauge steel - basically cold formed sheet metal. The extra depth, more so than the width is needed for strength. The method of construction is probably a legacy of the old construction methods from the early days of Land Rover when technology and materials were in short supply.

Most Jap chassis are hot rolled, using a much heavier section.
Cant comment on which is stronger but it could be worked out fairly easily, Defender chassis can be dented more easily, Jap chassis's are usually more flexible, its debatable whether this is a good thing or not. Its a generalisation but I would say that Land Rover chassis are more corrosion prone in the same circumstances, due to the thinner material and the metallurgy which did vary throughout the decades - some chassis from the 70's seem to rust a lot quicker than other decades. From Series 3's onwards, chassis construction methodology has pretty much been the same.

[sumo]

Thanks Mark

Thats shed a bit more light to the subject

Cheers

[Ace]

I cant imagine to much flex in the chassis would be good for the alignment of your body panels over an extended period of time. Matt

[mark2]

Probably not as bad as you think with a welded body which is designed to flex with the chassis, some vehicles (not Land Rovers!) get almost as much wheel travel due to chassis flex as they do from their springs