Defender Cab Chassis, spare wheel storage?

[austastar]

Hi,
from what I've seen so far, the Defender ute doesn't seem to have a standard mounting point for the spare wheel, (like under the tray on a winding chain).

Where is everybody putting theirs?

As I want to put a slide-on camper on the tray, I am considering getting the tray mounted back from the cab by about 250mm, and putting some water tanks on the chassis rails, and 2 spare wheels on the front of the tray headboard above the tanks.

Any thoughts?

Also, (while I'm picking brains) any thoughts on running an over the cab roof rack forward from the head board?

Problems?
Clearance for body flex ?
Too much overhead?

cheers

[weeds]

if its a 300tdi how bout on the bonnet, it works out OK for me

[austastar]

Does the bonnet have any re enforcing as bog standard, or is it an option to be fitted pre or post purchase?

cheers

[vnx205]

I have a Defender 110 with a Trayon camper on the tray.

Even though the vehicle is a single cab, I have the dual cab camper, because that was what was available second hand at the time.

The dual cab is probably better for me because I can keep the spare (or two) against the headboard and the back of the camper still doesn't reach the back of the tray.

As you can see from the photo, the camper extends over the headboard, which I had to chop the top off, but not over the cab. I put it there to leave room for the spare.

The double bed in the camper is quite long and wide, so I don't see why you would need to have a bigger extension over the cab.

[vnx205]

While carefully re-reading your post (as I sometimes do after I have replied), I notice you are considering mounting the whole tray back a bit so that the spare is in front of the headboard.

As the camper does not need to be as long as the tray, what would you gain by doing that compared to my setup with the tyre behind the headboard?

[austastar]

Hi vnx205,
looks like a nice set-up you have there, the Trayon was high on our list for quite a while.
This is some thing I mocked up when trying to get my head around sizes etc.
As you can see the Innovan does not go over the cab.
What I was trying to get by sliding the whole tray back, was a tall space from the chassis rails up to the height of the cab in which to lay a couple of water tanks (Camec 006069, 760x355x230mm) on the rails.
I think these should just about be the same height as the tray, and then I can put 2 spare wheels bolted back to the head board.

I hadn't thought about putting the wheels between the camper and head board because:

• I couldn't figure how to get access to the wheel nuts.
• I thought the headboard needed to be adjacent to the front of the camper.
• It was the only way I could imagine the tanks fitting where I wanted them.
• I was thinking of putting a 'step' in the head board to match the front profile of the Innovan, and brace it forward and up to go over the cab roof as a roof rack for extra storage.

I'm still at the 'ideas' stage at the moment, hope to spend some money next year when I retire, but so far we haven't found any thing that we think will do what we want better than a Defender 130 tray with a slide-on.

Just trying to get my head around what I can actually fit on to it.

cheers

[austastar]

Hi,
it was this photo

that gave me the idea of getting to use the extra space between the tray and back of the cab.

I have no idea where long range tanks are fitted on this model, I would be grateful if some one could post a comment on that.

Pesky old fart, ain't I.

cheers

[slt]

Hi,
it was this photo

that gave me the idea of getting to use the extra space between the tray and back of the cab.

I have no idea where long range tanks are fitted on this model, I would be grateful if some one could post a comment on that.

Pesky old fart, ain't I.

cheers

That's what mine looked like when they delivered it, albeit a 130DC. If you want long range fuel you can pretty much forget that position for the spare, unless your tray is extra high.

[vnx205]

I think you could still fit a fair sized watertank on the chassis rails under the tray with the tray in the normal position.

The camper in your picture is about 600mm longer than the Trayon. That is longer than the tray on a 110. I wonder where the C of G would be. I assume your picture is of a 130. It might be a bit tail heavy on a 110.

My spare is held up against the headboard with just one bolt. As it needs a fair bit of clearance to get past the deep angle section of the headboard, it is easy enough to get at the nut.

[slt]

FWIW, having briefly considered the Innovan (before ending up with a Trayon) I can only say this is a fairly massive camper. As vnx205 said, it would be ok on a 130 single-cab, but not the 110. You will also need to watch your weight. I couldn't get a straight answer out of him re empty weight, other than it's supposedly less than 500kg, but I doubt it. My trayon is 400kg empty, and this looks and feels a fair bit heavier.