I have owned an M Reg (94) 300 tdi Defender for the last 10 years. The only serious rust/corrosion (other than the normal door bottoms) is the rear bumper/crossmember which is rusted through the outer skin in one place. I have begun to look into what is involved with replacing it. The HBOL says it is only a one spanner rated job which only involves unbolting the old and rebolting the new. Having power washed off a winter's worth of crud and inspected under there I am not so sure.I can find no nuts and bolts at all ( other than those securing ancillaries like mudflaps/rear step/towbar).It looks as if it is welded to the main front to back chassis members. I have however looked at Beamends website and found that you can buy a rear cross member separately from the chassis - though it is complicated by with or without extensions.What are they please? More generally I would be gratefull for any and all advice from those much more experienced than I as to what is involved inreplacing this rusted rear crossmember. Many thanks in advancefrom a complete novice.
Nope, you have to remove everything attached to the thing, cut the chassis to get the old one off, and then weld the new one on and then re-attach the body to it. If your fuel tank is in the rear as it is in a 110 then you need to remove that beforehand too.
Basically unless you're happy with that kind of thing, it's a dealer job and prices range from £400 to £1,000 including labour and parts depending on who you talk to and what they find once they've got bits off. "Extensions" and "No extensions" basically means that you either cut the thing off the chassis rails and weld a new one on ("no extensions"), or that you cut the chassis rails a few inches from the crossmember and the weld on the new crossmember which comes with a small bit of the chassis rails already attached ("with extensions"), I'm told the latter is the easiest and best option to go for.
If it's just the outer skin though then you could probably just get it patched for £40 or so instead.
I've yet to decide which route to go myself, having the same problem. The rust appears to be only the skin of the crossmember on mine though, the structure looks sound.
What, replacing the whole rear crossmember? Cheapest quote I got was £400 from my local chap who fixes just about anything and charges relatively little. That included parts. Most normal landy independents I asked quoted about £600, Keith Gott stated that it would start at that level, and would go up depending on the state of the parts that were removed, especially the fuel tank and wiring loom at the rear, which they reckon often need replacement too if the truck's got to the point at which the rear crossmember is shot.
My local chap though said he'd just patch it for £40, he's the only person who quoted the job with the truck actually in front of him, the rest had to rely on my over-the-telephone description.
Yeah but it's all the lining up, cutting it right, cleaning it up right, and getting to the right bits in the first place. For some reason I have a hard time drumming up the enthusiasm for the landy now it has such a beastly rival... The landy's going in for some plastic surgery to give it a pert little truck cab soon, so perhaps I'll want to work on it again.
Just as mentioned it is fairly involved replacing the rear crossmember on a
110.
Empty fuel tank and remove
Remove mudflaps and support brackets
Remove rear half of exhaust system
Relocate cables for all rear lights, trailer sockets etc. Having attached fishing cables (I forgot that bit!)
Attach chain or wire of some sort to main wire harness then from the front pull back through the chassis just enough to keep electricary away from weld heat.
Then marry up new crossmember ( + extensions on mine) mark to cut chassis
Cut and disgard old bits, depending on state of chassis legs you can allow the extensions to overlap the existing chassis legs.
Weld, tidy up, seal against further tinworm
put all other bits back.
Job done, spread over two afternoons 5 hours in total on todd.
Basically, the rear crossmember can be viewed as an I beam, with an outer skin on the rear face. To get the old one off, you'd have to effectively cut up the old one up in situ so that you didn't shorten the chassis rails, as the replcement needs to be attached to them. Attaching the new one would also be difficult as as you have to weld inside the 'I', not easy and certainly requires the floor to be taken out to gain access. Also, particulaly on 90's, the last foot or so of the chassis rails tend to be in a similar state as the rest of the crossmember - i.e. nothing much to weld to but rust.
To get round this, the aftermarket supply crossmembers with a section of the chassis rails already attached, and the ends awawy from the crossmember shaped to allow them to be slid over the existing rails to get a good joint, and help massively with alignment. These bits of chasis rail are know as extensions.
The job of replacing the crossmember, with extensions, is radically different on a 90 compared to a 110 - so heres the 90 version first....
Disconnect any electrics, and push the cables up the chassis rail well clear of where operations are taking place - make sure they are firmly attached to some stiff wire left hanging out, so that they can be pulled back afterwards! Cutting a chunk out of the chassis rail may help to get better access. Remove any towing hitch fitted, and remove the grab handles (you can to that later if you wish). Ideally you sould now support back of the body at this stage, and then undo the bolts at the back that attach the member to the body. The next bit you must get right. Chop off the chassis rails at the point that the new extensions will reach, and the member is now on its way to the jolly crossmember park in the sky. Now "all" you have to do is, in theory, shove the new crossmember extensions over the rail stubs, line it up with the bolt holes, weld it up and do a Haynes ("replecement is the revesal of removal") - only you'll most likely be sodding around for a while to get it exactly right. A good merchanic (as opposed to the fitters emplyed in most garages these days) will be able to do that in
4 to 8 hours after a few tries, it's basically a doddle.
The 110 is, however, a nightmare. Although the general procedure is the same, not only do you have to remove any towing hitch, you also have to remove the anti-roll bar (if fitted), the tank (which is practically guarateed to spring a leak in the process), and the floor. Worse, when putting it all back, you have to make sure the tank mounts, anti-roll bar plates etc are all lined up, which makes doing a Rubics Cube look like a doddle, and make sure the rear body hasn't sunk or twisted. This is easily a one and a half day job - no one likes doing it so you'll most likely get ridiculous quotes to try and put you off.......
Anyway, that's what extensions are all about. Anyone taking the above as a difinitive guide to doing the job should seek urgent medical attention, but a least you can see how garages arrive at their quotes.
People always say "Defenders are so easy to work on", and it is generally true. If you can't already, learn to weld and it becomes very true - jobs that seem impossible suddenly get so much easier (as does putting one's c*ck-ups right), and a hell of a lot cheaper! Obviously doing something that is going to kill you or others is Not A Good Thing, but then there really is only one way to learn...... If your motor is your pride and joy, get an old Series motor a practice on that (NOT a Series I or early Series II, as that should be a capital offence these days). Local Tec (or Further Education or whatever they are being called these days) colleges almost certainly run welding courses in the evening, for not to much dosh. Do a few weeks before investing in a welder - that way you'll have a reasonable chance of getting what you need, rather than what the "experts" try to sell you.
I think they generally do fit over slightly - though i think it depends on what kind of repair section you buy..
my chassis has had a new rear 1/4 - x-member and rails back to the mid floor. I have also done a x-member with extensions and that almost fit over the chassis but took a bit of a beating and some trimming in places to make it do so!
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