Andrew Chua

2002 doors are a single piece. yes, but still after a long time they start to rattle and show signs of stress. best bet is install a wheel carrier or put the spare at home and pray hard you can get your mate to fetch it for you when you need it. Could way be cheaper than a new door or a wheel carrier.

As far as i remembered, only black defenders have black roof and the silver ones have a silver roof. the rest have a white or cream roof. I've had mine sprayed osolo blue, but only to ruin it when i keep getting it scratched on carpark height barriers. not a good thing as well. dark coloured or 2k coloured defenders = scratches are super obvious. best bet on grey coloured ones. Doubt that LR will give you something for free. But yes, if you're willing to wait for 1/2 yr, I've met with an owner in singapore who requested a freelander colour for his defender and he got it, roof painted, bulkhead and all too from the factory!!

I've a 2002 rear door (on a 2002) defender and after 6yrs, the door card starts to rattle and the door shakes under the load of the 235 alloy. Usually I'd run around without the spare wheen on the rear door. However, the 02 door still is a good bet as they are a single piece and they are definately firmer than the earlier ones. I've seen a sorry state 01 door on my friend's defender after carrying the same weight for 6yrs. literally, the 2 piece door seems to be falling apart. Yes, slamming the rear door upsets the door catch and causes it to shift hence when the door is loose it rattles badly too. Wheel carrier is the best bet. but the guys at LTA (the equivalent of the MOT) will not pass it at the inspection as they claim it stick out over the specificed dimentions of the vehicle.

Key in ignition or not, dash lights and side lamps can be turned on. Key must be in pos II before the main headlamps can be turned on. This seems to apply to later defenders like the Td5.