Returning to the fold and seeking guidance on fitout for My25.5 Defender

Thanks to everyone who has offered feedback it has been greatly appreciated. After much deliberation, joining several social media forums, and following up of the various links and other helpful posts my fitout plan is almost complete and I have put it below. But there's a few questions/feedback requested on some of them too.

As an example. Having spent time having a detailed look at the OE bull bar I am sceptical that it offers enough protection to the front lower coolers. Otherwise quality looks as good as the OE bar we had on the D4.

Storage
· Under tray storage. NDMods. Underfloor Rear Tray $572.00
· NDMods. Style B? Molle Rear Cargo Storage Platform $1053.80, OR
· Epic off road Rear TrunkFrame-Cargo Tray. Dual height setup $925.00
· Tuffant Underfloor Rear Tray, $808.00
· Or LAWSONS false floors Adelaide?
· Or DRIFTA?
· Slide out full size tray-Lawsons Infinity system?
o Needs tie-downs for; fridge & storage boxes
· Recovery kit & tools underneath tray
· Power board for:

o Go Block which we already have so no need to change that. Where to pull power from?
o Fridge
o ARB compressor dual and brushless version
o USB outlets

UHF
· Antenna location? Use the ORA one?

• Where to put and which UHF?

Internal bits
· Epic Off Road Co-Pilot Front handle storage box $45.00
· Powerful UK. LED Reversing Light Kit?
· New Defender Mods. Centre console cubby storage organiser $39.59
· NDMods. Dash Centre Molle Plate Kit $108.90
· NDMods. Centre Console Lower Front Storage Box $65.99

External bits
· Offroad Animal-Toro bull bar with 22” LED light bar $4700.00?

Final colour choice to be decided and tossing up between; Tasman Blue or Pangea Green with black interior. Oh and the car will be a D350 X-Dynamic SE with the premium upgrade interior pack.

TIA

Regards

Rob

For your consideration:

* highly recommend the TLR bracket for mounting your compressor in the engine bay and you have wiring already nearby and built in
* cargo space tray I will be getting the Tuffant one as I think it maximises the space and allows for wiring my battery and inverter
* rear power can be accessed from the 12 volt terminal on the MHEV DCDC convertor this is directly connected to the battery positive and in a good position. plenty of spare earth points adjacent in the same area
* I found the center console trays on Aliexpress if you want to save a few $$ - probably where most of this stuff comes from
* UHF base unit under the center console in an unused space. bonnet hinge antenna mount keeps it tidy and seems to have plenty of range. I like Uniden gear but each to their own

* Attachment 192244Attachment 192245

RobA, just a point about the factory front protection devices which I haven't seen mention of, but you might already know about. When the optional / accessory aluminium front undershield is fitted the main cross bar behind the bumper is also replaced as part of the kit. And I believe it is required for the factory Front Expedition protection or Bullbar. You can see the undershield in one_iota's photo. So there may be some additional reinforcement that is not obvious ( I have the undershield on mine, but didn't see the new cross bar as the dealer fitted the kit).

For holding phones and other items like the UHF microphone you could consider using ClicOn: Mounts Car Dash Mounts Land Rover Defender 20-25

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by eno

RobA, just a point about the factory front protection devices which I haven't seen mention of, but you might already know about. When the optional / accessory aluminium front undershield is fitted the main cross bar behind the bumper is also replaced as part of the kit. And I believe it is required for the factory Front Expedition protection or Bullbar. You can see the undershield in one_iota's photo. So there may be some additional reinforcement that is not obvious ( I have the undershield on mine, but didn't see the new cross bar as the dealer fitted the kit).

---

eno thanks for that quite interesting. I will go back to the dealership and have a crawl around under the D fitted with the OE bar to see what I can work out.

My concern is more about stopping something from getting in via the OE vents and damaging those low set intercoolers so thinking along the lines of a mesh screen perhaps. But one with large enough gaps to allow the required airflow of course.

I can't seem to find the one-iota post you mentioned so a link would be appreciated.

Rob

The picture from one_iota is in Post 9 of this thread. It really just shows that the front undershield is fitted with the factory bullbar. Well, at least in one_iotas case.

But this appears to be the fitting instructions and the replacement bar doesn't provide protection beyond the main chassis rails. So it's probably not relevant to your requirements.
LAND ROVER ACCESSORY FITTING INSTRUCTIONS

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by eno

The picture from one_iota is in Post 9 of this thread. It really just shows that the front undershield is fitted with the factory bullbar. Well, at least in one_iotas case.

But this appears to be the fitting instructions and the replacement bar doesn't provide protection beyond the main chassis rails. So it's probably not relevant to your requirements.
LAND ROVER ACCESSORY FITTING INSTRUCTIONS

---

eno thanks and both pieces of information are of great help in my decision making for the fitout. I try not to miss anything in the research phase as the effort makes it simpler when the final decision is made. In this case, subject to me crawling under the dealership one, it's not going to be the OE bar. But overall it looks like the next steps are all around timing and with a 9month quoted wait for delivery I have plenty of that on my hands

Regards

Rob

Hi Rob.

I was going to get a Synergy but have decided to keep our now old Matrix. Its tow ball can be heavy but I haven't weighed it - but I suspect around 290kg. It seems very easy to run out of carrying capacity in today's vehicles and if one ups the vehicle carry load that means it's the vehicle is no longer standard, so weight is a big issue IMO. And LR don't have suspension upgrades as far as I know ...

Firstly why get rid of the 200?

Secondly I access my fridge via the passenger left hand door. IMO using a rear slide doesn't suit when towing a van and also the rear swing door of today's vehicles also do not suit leaving the trailer attached. Hence my preference for side door fridge access (OK not so good for children or dogs).

And what worries me most about a Land Rover, is serviceability. I haven't done W.A. and I can imagine when something fails, getting a LR repaired would be difficult. And towing a van complicates all that. Hw does Land Rover handle out back break downs well?

Cheers
Doug

There's some good/bad/ugly real world experience here.
An honest review, I thought.

https://youtu.be/Niwx8U-cOZw'si=m9yPBM2DuCs7PV65

Also plenty of real world experiences of that other brand having issues and parts problems.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jwb

There's some good/bad/ugly real world experience here.
An honest review, I thought.

https://youtu.be/Niwx8U-cOZw'si=m9yPBM2DuCs7PV65

Also plenty of real world experiences of that other brand having issues and parts problems.

---

jwb thanks I have viewed all their journey and it hasn't really dented my views. I had almost the same experience with the 200 very early in that ownership journey where it would depower to snails pace when towing a 2600kg van up a decent hill. Toyotas view was it was caused by me fitting a non-Toyota bull bar. Now I'm a member of the Toyota 4WD Club in SA so have more than a hundred plus other 200 owners as a sounding board just to start with. So the discussion with TMCA was not positive and their attitude was what has put me off considering the 300 which I can see is also having the same de-powering issues when towing too. Last year we spent 21 days travelling some of Len Beadell's iconic and truly remote track with Moon Tours. In company with two new defenders one towing an AOR Matrix and the other a TVan. The latter has 20' rims and tyres and a long range tank and had virtually left the showroom to join the tour. The other was well travelled, on 19" rims and quite heavy. Both combinations got through what was a pretty challenging trip with flying colours whilst using 50% less fuel than the 200. A bloke I know has taken his Defender to the Cape, recently done the Canning and the Coast to Coast tour plus Victorian High Country all towing a decent offroad campervan with barely an issue.

So with all of that in mind I remain optimistic that over the time since that video was done JLR has done with any manufacturer would in undertaking some pretty detailed continuous improvement of their product and from the socials I am following that seems to be the case in the majority.

As a result I am still finishing off my planned Defender build with the end result being an order being placed hopefully by the end of January this year.

Thanks again it was useful to refresh that event in my mind

Regards

Rob