Defender rebuild - leave galvanised or paint?

[Rannsachair]

New steering drop arm ball joint fitted, steering now sorted.

Out with the old rear screen (again)

Parachord in the seal lip

And fitted with ease

Decided to replace the faded Defender 90 badge too

That's it for this afternoon

 

[dobbslc]

Screens in just ready for the warmer weather I see

 

[Rannsachair]

Screens in just ready for the warmer weather I see

Handy for condensation too, it can a little damp up here.

 

[Migmac]

Handy for condensation too, it can a little damp up here.

Just a little, my kids were born with webbed feet !

 

[dobbslc]

Handy for condensation too, it can a little damp up here.

I have a couple of those anti condensation bags you microwave on the dash of the Surf as it gets really damp down here too. They work very well.

 

[marlinspike]

I've been using those £1 little tubs but I might give those a try. How often do you swap them?

I have a couple of those anti condensation bags you microwave on the dash of the Surf as it gets really damp down here too. They work very well.

 

[Robotstar5]

I've been using those £1 little tubs but I might give those a try. How often do you swap them?

When the indicator patch changes colour, just nuke them in the microwave for a few minutes.

 

[OJCar]

How often do you swap them?

When the float switch turns the pumps on ...

 

[dobbslc]

I've been using those £1 little tubs but I might give those a try. How often do you swap them?

Every week or two.

 

[brightspark]

I painted my new galvanised Disco chassis, not for the aesthetics or security issues, but because zinc does gradually dissolve away. A coat of paint slows the process

i had a galve chassis and gave it a coat of 2 k acid etch and a topcoat of 2k paint it keeps the salt off it and as good as new 14 years on

 

[Rannsachair]

MOT prep time, started fitting the super pro polybush kit, rear trailing arms were quite easy and not very worn:

Front radius arms have been fun getting the old bolts out ( last changed 6.5 years ago) the slight wear in last year's not advisory:

After knocking out the rubbers the old bush steel sleeves pressed out ok. Wire brushed and painted the radius arm and new bushes pressed in. came in when the midges got too bad. Hopefully get the other side done over the weekend

 

[sako243]

Front radius arms have been fun getting the old bolts out ( last changed 6.5 years ago) the slight wear in last year's not advisory:

To be fair in my experience they go from being fine to completely trashed in the click of your fingers. Actually using the flex in the suspension kills them pretty quickly because a Defender can flex a hell of a lot as standard.

Only fitted OEM / Genuine ones because I've not found any others to last half as long but I'm still averaging 12 months between replacements but then nearly everytime I'm leaving the house it's flexing the front to its full extent which very few vehicles do. Currently trying out at the recommendation of the locals parts guy some OEM RRC ones which have an extra metal sleeve in them and they've been a better ride in the 110 and so far seem to be holding up.

 

[Bobupndown]

Are you going poly bush all round?
Remember the original radius arm bushes on my Discovery 2 being an absolute pain to change. Glad I had the use of a 10T press!

 

[sako243]

If you've got a press then they're a doddle I find. I used to use the new one to press the old one out until one of the new ones collapsed in on itself I then turned down a piece of scrap I had that means pushing them in and out on the press is a 5 minute job.

Takes far longer getting the arms on and off the vehicle.

 

[Rannsachair]

Are you going poly bush all round?
Remember the original radius arm bushes on my Discovery 2 being an absolute pain to change. Glad I had the use of a 10T press!

I bought a complete Super Pro polybush set from Gwyn Lewis, so going to try them. I have a 10T press, it managed the front radius arm steel sleeves after pushing the almost detached rubbers out.

 

[Rannsachair]

To be fair in my experience they go from being fine to completely trashed in the click of your fingers. Actually using the flex in the suspension kills them pretty quickly because a Defender can flex a hell of a lot as standard.

Only fitted OEM / Genuine ones because I've not found any others to last half as long but I'm still averaging 12 months between replacements but then nearly everytime I'm leaving the house it's flexing the front to its full extent which very few vehicles do. Currently trying out at the recommendation of the locals parts guy some OEM RRC ones which have an extra metal sleeve in them and they've been a better ride in the 110 and so far seem to be holding up.

I thought I would give the Super pro bushes a try, my Defender is an XS with anti roll bars which limit flex a bit .

 

[dobbslc]

I thought I would give the Super pro bushes a try, my Defender is an XS with anti roll bars which limit flex a bit .

Do some not have ARB's then?

 

[Rannsachair]

Do some not have ARB's then?

Most don't, just some of the higher spec as far as I am aware. Most of the ones I did offroading with never had them, or abs or traction control.

 

[dobbslc]

I suppose they restrict articulation at the extreme angles off road.

 

[sako243]

Do some not have ARB's then?

As @Rannsachair said most don't, especially on the front, in fact I'm not sure if there were many factory fit. A fair number of the county station wagons (particularly the 110s) came with factory fit rears.

I suppose they restrict articulation at the extreme angles off road.

The standard LR ones are a good compromise (like most of the vehicle to be fair for what they were designed for). I'd wager that a Defender with anti roll bars still has more articulation than most other offroaders.

An acquaintence of mine designed a dislocating anti-roll bar for Defender (and similar) vehicles based off a retempered half shaft that offered, I think, 3x stiffer anti roll bars, but then at the twist of a free wheeling hub was completely disengaged to allow full flex.

I've had one fitted for a while and whilst technically nice I feel the use of hubs rather than something custom has hindered it's longevity as the hubs weren't designed for the shock loads that the anti-roll bar sees so wears out quickly.