Thread: Series 3 second life

I have a bush block in central Victoria and need a trailer to leave there for collecting wood. I saw an AULRO member had the remains of a Series 3 LWB, just chassis and body and rear part of the rear axle and springs. Perfect start. I have a pintle hook on the back of my Defender but others who share the property have only 50 mm tow balls. So I needed it to be adaptable for both. I cut the centre from the rear axle and found a section of heavy wall pipe will press perfectly on the thinner ends and welded up makes a very good axle. Springs and axle have been sandblasted and painted and new spring bushes and wheel bearings fitted. I cut the centre off the drive flanges and welded up the hole to make the hub covers. Any superfluous fittings on the chassis were cut off and the rails were bent in and welded up to a piece of large pipe for the tow hitches to rotate on. Changing the tow hitches around requires sliding back the locking bar and rotating the front piece and relocating the bar. It's now off to the sandblasters while I tidy up the body.

Originally Posted by numpty

That's a very neat piece of work.

Of course it's not an issue, given it's intended use, but that will weigh a bit to I imagine.

As it stands at present I can quite easily lift the front end and push it around so it is not as heavy as I thought it would be. Once the body is on it will be different but it will be towed behind my 130 ute so a bit of weight on the back end won't hurt.