Defender Extracab / Extended cabs

[steveG]

I'm after some info about the cab construction of the tdi and td5 130 extra cabs that were made back in the '90s and early 00's.
I've searched and found some info, but not much detail. Seems they were made by a few different body builders, and the construction varied a bit.

Can anyone help answer these questions for a start?

• Was there a standard amount that the cabs were extended by?
• Some had windows instead of solid infill. Were the windows custom or perhaps standard defender glass (110 rear quarter windows look a possibility)
• Was the roof construction pretty standard, or did it vary depending on who built them? shortening a dual-cab roof would seem to be the likely option.
• How are they supported/attached to the chassis at the rear. If anyone has got one I'd love to see some photos of how they are attached.

I know some people here have made their own from standard single cabs, and that's the route I'm planning to take. Partially because they are pretty scarce, and partially because I enjoy building stuff.
If there are some standard sizes and mounting methods its going to be simpler to get it engineered than if I have to re-invent everything from scratch.

My ideas so far:

• I need at least 50mm extension to get the same seating position as what I currently have in my county.
• If its being extended I might as well put in a decent amount - as long as it doesn't a)look stupid or b)make the tray too short
• Assuming its going on a 130 chassis, up to roughly 300mm extension would be practical for my purposes - longer than that and the tray would be too short
• Having a fixed window seems to be a practical idea rather than a solid panel (and the 110 rear quarter windows look like a likely candidate for glass)

Any other ideas/info warmly appreciated.
Also, I'm pretty sure that DeeJay had a thread on the one he made, but I'm buggered if I can find it despite giving the both Google and the search on here a good workout. If someone could post a link to that would be great.

Steve

[uninformed]

Steve, I cant give you the exact measurements, something like a 200mm extension. I would have thought all the offical extra cabs be made by one company?

One thing I cant understand, is when people custom make their own, why not make a longer door instead of the cab. If its for comfort, I can tell you as an average built Aussie, that I have the window down and my arm out, which rolls my shoulder forward somewhat in my truck cab. Now If the door was 200mm longer it would allow the seat to move back 100-125mm and have the door frame a further 100-75mm rearward of my shoulder.

[Landy Smurf]

All i remember about the company that built them is that it was in brisbane. well I think it was

[steveG]

Steve, I cant give you the exact measurements, something like a 200mm extension. I would have thought all the offical extra cabs be made by one company?

One thing I cant understand, is when people custom make their own, why not make a longer door instead of the cab. If its for comfort, I can tell you as an average built Aussie, that I have the window down and my arm out, which rolls my shoulder forward somewhat in my truck cab. Now If the door was 200mm longer it would allow the seat to move back 100-125mm and have the door frame a further 100-75mm rearward of my shoulder.

I think the reason people don't extend the doors is its a LOT more work and expense than filling a panel and putting in a bit of fixed internal structure to support it. Custom glass (probably $300 per window??), new door skin, modified structure to support window regulator, and messiest of all - new door card to finish it off nicely.

As far as Defenders go I'm lucky in that most of my height is in my torso rather than my legs, so I don't need to extend the seat rails - just lay the seat back slightly - to be comfortable.

Agreed - it would have been logical to have a single supplier for the cabs, but there's quite a few logical things on Landrovers that never happened.

Steve

[uninformed]

I could understand the problems of door extension of a new puma.....but in my Tdi, id be happy with a series type door. Which means, no door skin, no window mech problems, Make both glass slide, aka the military window tops. Even then a wind up window door would not be rocket science to produce up to LR fit and finish standard.

Re the door skin, 2 doors to make 1, and simply rivet, it is a LR after all....

JMO.

[Vern]

Steve, when I first started building mine (what was I thinking), I extended the cab by 9", then woke up to what I was doing(went and bought a new car), gave the car to matt, he reduced it down to 6" I think. I found the 9" was perfect for me, but the 6" was to cramped. Remember the seat will only recline as far as it can until it hits the back of the cab.
I do have some pics somewhere
So as they say, bigger is better

[Don 130]

I remember going into a body builders workshop in Rosehill Sydney. River road I think, searching for someone to build a canopy for my 'new' truck. That was in 1999. They were building extracab bodies for telstra. I can't give you the sort of build details you seek, but someone might remember the company name or someone who worked there. It was between trivets workshop and silverwater road on the river side.
Don

[rovercare]

I'd spend the time and do the door extension

[steveG]

I'd spend the time and do the door extension

I hadn't seriously thought about a door extension as I thought it would be too much hassle - for all the reasons I stated above. But since you've already been there.....

How big to you reckon you'd go, and would you put it all in the door, or some in the door, some in the cab?

Only had the card off mine once, and never paid much attention to how they are constructed.
How would you approach the extension? Extend the door or stick 2 doors together to make a longer one?
Do you think the door structure would need beefing up to handle the extra length/weight?
Any ideas on making a longer door card?

Going back over your 120 thread, it looks like you only ended up with a 4" extension in your cab. Was that right?

Steve

[rovercare]

I hadn't seriously thought about a door extension as I thought it would be too much hassle - for all the reasons I stated above. But since you've already been there.....

How big to you reckon you'd go, and would you put it all in the door, or some in the door, some in the cab?

Only had the card off mine once, and never paid much attention to how they are constructed.
How would you approach the extension? Extend the door or stick 2 doors together to make a longer one?
Do you think the door structure would need beefing up to handle the extra length/weight?
Any ideas on making a longer door card?

Going back over your 120 thread, it looks like you only ended up with a 4" extension in your cab. Was that right?

Steve

You would need to roll on new door skins, so welding 2 doors would work, roll new lower skin, having join under the capping

Yea 4" was ample for leg room, but found myself slumped over to avoid pillar blind spot/ allow arm out window

I don't think doors would be to hard in hindsight and your certainly no dummy, so I think you'd be better off

Cons are as you say, custom glass and ease of replacement, but no buggy really

I am a bit ganglier than yourself though