Roof storage/roll cage 110 Defender

[defenderqld]

Have been researching purchasing a new Defender 110.
Im a Builder, have no need for a ute other than to carry lengths of timber (5.4m) using a t rack off my front bar. (trailer for the dirty stuff)
My aim is to build a vehicle that can take weight on the roof around 300kg that I can also use as a tourer. (wagon)
Have seen the Safety Devices external roll cages with their expedition racks and think that this could be a good set up for me. I like the Safety Devices products as they seem quite tight and don't make the Defender look like a comp truck.
Can anyone on the forum give me their experiences with these or similar products?
Can anyone put me in touch with someone in Brisbane that can build me a similar product and advise on any compliance issues?
Any advice welcome.

[uninformed]

Safety Devices have a very good reputation in the UK. I like the look of them also. The beauty of them is they have been working with LR for years and know the ins and outs. Alot of local guys cant get their heads around the construction of the Defender and approach it like a Nissan or Toyota which may leave it a bit wanting. I would try and find a sales rep for SD here in Oz??? maybe someone is already bringing them in? Im sure there are guys here in Oz that can build something good, but it is going to be a bigger cost than normal stuff as they would see bugger all Defenders and have no prior experience.

I hope I am wrong and there are local guys building this stuff.

good luck and let us know how you go...pictures are always nice

[Summiitt]

Last year,I did a trip thru the oddnadatta track, birdsville track, simpson desert, innaminka,camerons corner etc, we had a mate with a Robinson helicopter with us and I ended up carrying his fuel. I had a full length arb tradsman rack on my 08 puma, I had two spare tyres, 75 liters of diesel, 250 liters of av- gas and some other crap, total load was prob close too 400kg on the roof, I know that was excessive, but another Toyota on the trip hit an emu and had to be towed back to Canberra for repairs, so I carried all the supplies,it was only an issue if the vehicle got into the soft sand on the edge of the road, other than that the defender handled the weight easily.up to 200 kg, a good steel rack would be fine on the roof of a defender, over that, a roll cage/ rack system would be the go.

[slug_burner]

I think you will find the defender to be ok with about 75kg on the rain gutters. With the Safety Devices? More?

SD designed to stop roof crushing passengers with best part of 2 tonne truck pushing down on roof plus what ever the additional G they have to allow for. I suspect that 300 kg will be achievable, but then your driving style and maybe suspension sway bar may have to be beefed up to stop the thing leaning over on corners.

If you don't find a local importer, see what SD from UK will cost including shipping. You might be surprised. Many other things come in at less that what the locals are retailing for. A custom roll over protection fabricator with a bit of rally car experience should be able to copy the basic concepts. Would cost more than something they have jigs for but then again they would be local.

[Drover]

total load was prob close too 400kg on the roof.

Wow, that is way to much. !

So much to much !!!

Was it just a gutter mounted rack ??

[Summiitt]

Yep, a full length arb gutter mount, I agree, it was way too much weight, but our circumstances of loosing one of the vehicles with an animal strike meant that the poor old defender was running well and truly at or above it's gvm. I def wouldn't recommend that sort of a load under normal circumstances, the less weight on the roof the better.

[Rimmer]

I remember seeing a bloke at Saphire Beach, near Coffs Harbour as a supplier of SD cages/bars.

Will have a look around and post up when I find it.

Found it.

www.landrovertuning.com.au

[juddy]

For the record Hannibal racks have been tested up to 800kg, but you have to look at the dynamic load rating of each vehcile concerned.

You can buy a. Number of different roll cage systems in full and half style protection. There's also a internal roll over system, same as the mod have got ( made by sd too )

[PAT303]

It's got nothing to do with what the vehicle can take,if you put 800kgs on the roof your a bloody idiot. Pat

[camel_landy]

Do NOT stick stuff on the roof!

If you need to put stuff on the roof, you're carrying too much unnecessary stuff.

A 110 is big enough for a family of 4 to be able to live out of it for 12mths... I know, I've done it.

M