PolarBlair Posted December 18, 2022 Author Share Posted December 18, 2022 Got a new rear door panel from Mud-Uk but not sure where they got their dimensions from. The space for their latch is far too low so the snib cutout doesn't line up either. If you do line up the panel using their cutout, it hangs off the bottom of the door. Maybe it's my door or I ordered the wrong panel? I clearly have the older style door 🤔 They glue in solid spacer blocks for the big pull bar under the window but these protrude from the panel and will need to be cut down to let everything sit flush against the door. I must have the wrong panel but it's here now so I'm cracking on. You can see the snib cutout is too high as well as being too far to the left. I'll 3D print a new cover for the snib at some point. Locked and unlocked positions. The central locking mechanism nearly fits but not quite. A small cover panel will sort this too. A bigger concern is going to be the gas strutt cover. My old one is useless now so it's free to a good home for postage along with the old checker plate rear panel. New strut cover will be a little more tricky as the door has a curved recess to take a storage net. Will have to see if this can be retained. Rather than try to get the new strutt cover to fit into the recess I'm thinking about cutting out the recess and moving it up to the crease above. Should hide the top edge of the cut line. The other three I can hide behind the trim for the storage net. While I'm polishing this turd of a panel I think I'll try add in an idea I've seen elsewhere but can't find the image for now. Recessed LED strip along the bottom edge of the trim panel (possibly printed into strutt cover), small one in the handle recess and a red light above the latch. Should be able to make them all run off a bog standard courtesy light switch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted December 19, 2022 Share Posted December 19, 2022 If that panel is meant for older type doors, then that is poor indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolarBlair Posted December 19, 2022 Author Share Posted December 19, 2022 6 hours ago, Snagger said: If that panel is meant for older type doors, then that is poor indeed. It's definitely the older type panel - has the wider mounting points for the old style pull handle which do line up perfectly. Maybe it's because I'm using a newer style latch? I thought they were basically the same upon first inspection but maybe not. Either way the gas strut is proving to be just as much trouble as last time. The door wasn't designed for it. I think it's meant for the newer style door but it does work just fine. My workaround is to use the old checker plate to skin the lower part of the door and I'll make another smaller 3D printed strut cover. Needs a bit of tidying up mind you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted December 20, 2022 Share Posted December 20, 2022 All the gas strut kits that I have found advertised do specify the later door, presumably for this reason. I can’t imagine the cover clearing the longer strut mechanism on this after market card or on the original hardboard and vinyl door card, to be fair. I fancy one of these struts in the future, and as I still have an original door card, could just remove the plastic check-strap cover insert, rather than needing to cut sections away, but that would leave an ugly hole in the card. I don’t know how deep a fabricated cover for the strut would have to be to allow for the angular movement while the door is closing. It may be simpler to leave the strut exposed and try to neatly cover the hole in the card with colour matched plastic sheet. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolarBlair Posted December 20, 2022 Author Share Posted December 20, 2022 (edited) 5 hours ago, Snagger said: All the gas strut kits that I have found advertised do specify the later door, presumably for this reason. I can’t imagine the cover clearing the longer strut mechanism on this after market card or on the original hardboard and vinyl door card, to be fair. I fancy one of these struts in the future, and as I still have an original door card, could just remove the plastic check-strap cover insert, rather than needing to cut sections away, but that would leave an ugly hole in the card. I don’t know how deep a fabricated cover for the strut would have to be to allow for the angular movement while the door is closing. It may be simpler to leave the strut exposed and try to neatly cover the hole in the card with colour matched plastic sheet. Any ideas? Sounds like you might be interested in my old cover. Free to a good home for postage. The old checker plate panel sits flush with the door so my old cover has plenty of clearance. Because the new card sits further off the door than the old checker plate panel, I'll make a new lower profile Version. Some pictures of the old cover mounted. Looking down the cover, probably was a bit oversized. Edited December 20, 2022 by PolarBlair Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junglie Posted December 20, 2022 Share Posted December 20, 2022 16 hours ago, PolarBlair said: It's definitely the older type panel - has the wider mounting points for the old style pull handle which do line up perfectly. Maybe it's because I'm using a newer style latch? I thought they were basically the same upon first inspection but maybe not. I will shortly be replacing my rear door with a tailgate as I'm going to sticks and hoops. It has the old style latch which works fine and is yours if you want it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolarBlair Posted December 20, 2022 Author Share Posted December 20, 2022 4 hours ago, Junglie said: I will shortly be replacing my rear door with a tailgate as I'm going to sticks and hoops. It has the old style latch which works fine and is yours if you want it. Thats a very kind offer but I've hacked the panel apart now 😅 I would still take you up on your offer if you're reasonably close. I'm up in Moray so most places are far away. My door is a bit on the scabby side. Previous owner backed it into something so it's a bit bent. Don't suppose yours has any luxuries like the heated rear window or a wiper blade? 😁 I had to move the central locking bracket I made up the door and now it sits neatly in the bulge in the door card. New strut cover is being printed and should do a good job of hiding my crimes. It looks like I have just enough space to fit the door pocket with the net. Just need to decide if I want it in the middle of the door. I'm leaning towards putting it to the left or right to leave me enough space for a fold down table for a jetboil 🤔 It just so happens I also have plenty of molle pouches kicking around along with an old plate carrier that could be repurposed to give me some molle panels to fix them to. Might look like a bit of a Walt with them being multicam but you can't argue with free. Could always spray them black too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junglie Posted December 20, 2022 Share Posted December 20, 2022 20 minutes ago, PolarBlair said: Thats a very kind offer but I've hacked the panel apart now 😅 I would still take you up on your offer if you're reasonably close. I'm up in Moray so most places are far away. My door is a bit on the scabby side. Previous owner backed it into something so it's a bit bent. Don't suppose yours has any luxuries like the heated rear window or a wiper blade? 😁 I had to move the central locking bracket I made up the door and now it sits neatly in the bulge in the door card. New strut cover is being printed and should do a good job of hiding my crimes. It looks like I have just enough space to fit the door pocket with the net. Just need to decide if I want it in the middle of the door. I'm leaning towards putting it to the left or right to leave me enough space for a fold down table for a jetboil 🤔 It just so happens I also have plenty of molle pouches kicking around along with an old plate carrier that could be repurposed to give me some molle panels to fix them to. Might look like a bit of a Walt with them being multicam but you can't argue with free. Could always spray them black too. Well I meant the catch rather than the door, simply because I saw where you are and the only time I'm likely to be up that way is on two wheels for an NC200 ride next summer. My door has luxuries like a door handle and a window that doesn't leak. Not heated though, and no wiper. (What's behind me...is not important!) It is fundamentally solid though and relatively unmolested, so we can look at shipping it if you're interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolarBlair Posted December 20, 2022 Author Share Posted December 20, 2022 10 minutes ago, Junglie said: Well I meant the catch rather than the door, simply because I saw where you are and the only time I'm likely to be up that way is on two wheels for an NC200 ride next summer. My door has luxuries like a door handle and a window that doesn't leak. Not heated though, and no wiper. (What's behind me...is not important!) It is fundamentally solid though and relatively unmolested, so we can look at shipping it if you're interested. Sorry - misunderstood you there! I'm stuck with the new latch now if I want central locking but thank you again for the offer. Just had a doodle and think this is where I'm going with it for now: I have an offcut of checker plate which will work great as a table base with spare left over for a couple of fold out wind breaks. I'm wondering if the net pocket should be replaced with more space for molle but it came free with the door so I kind of want to use it. The new strut cover can actually be a fair bit shorter than the old one. I can either reduce the depth of the tray so it doesn't conflict with the cover or incorporate it into the tray hinge mechanism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted December 20, 2022 Share Posted December 20, 2022 Thanks for the offer - very kind of you. I have one of those Mobile Storage cooker boxes mounted low on the door, below the wiper motor, so it looks like that’d get in the way of the strut. I’m going to have to think of another way of mounting things or an entirely different way of holding the door open more securely. 🤔 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolarBlair Posted December 20, 2022 Author Share Posted December 20, 2022 50 minutes ago, Snagger said: Thanks for the offer - very kind of you. I have one of those Mobile Storage cooker boxes mounted low on the door, below the wiper motor, so it looks like that’d get in the way of the strut. I’m going to have to think of another way of mounting things or an entirely different way of holding the door open more securely. 🤔 Sounds like this is what you want! https://www.4x4overlander.com/product/nakatanenga-land-rover-rear-door-gas-strut-top-mounted/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA14WdBhD8ARIsANao07hEVknHaKrikEbJrxhd81k6S2AT3ROJOekYYwOV0Izqaj4i0XEJyPkaAkE4EALw_wcB 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolarBlair Posted December 20, 2022 Author Share Posted December 20, 2022 Have the first section of the strut cover printing to check clearance. Now working on the fold down tray. I think I'll do some support legs to fold out of the purple hinge section. The cyan part is just a frame which should provide a lip to stop things sliding off the smooth side of the checker plate. I'll do a similar hinge on the sides for the wind breaks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolarBlair Posted December 21, 2022 Author Share Posted December 21, 2022 Looks like it might work. Time to sleep then spot the flaws with a fresh look tomorrow. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted December 21, 2022 Share Posted December 21, 2022 16 hours ago, PolarBlair said: Sounds like this is what you want! https://www.4x4overlander.com/product/nakatanenga-land-rover-rear-door-gas-strut-top-mounted/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA14WdBhD8ARIsANao07hEVknHaKrikEbJrxhd81k6S2AT3ROJOekYYwOV0Izqaj4i0XEJyPkaAkE4EALw_wcB That could work. Good find, and thanks for posting it up! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolarBlair Posted December 21, 2022 Author Share Posted December 21, 2022 All cuts made and ready for riveting. The 3mm checker plate even gives me a bit more storage depth to the pocket 😁 Delicious metal and plastic sandwich. You can see how well the previous paint job has held. Comes off with tape so some acetone should get that panel gleaming. Bit of a delay on the strut cover. Had two ASA prints fail and lift off the build plate. Redesigned the part for better adhesion and my 3rd attempt seems to be holding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolarBlair Posted December 22, 2022 Author Share Posted December 22, 2022 Acetone is lovely stuff 😁 Ran out of rivets but it's good enough to mount on the door while I wait for the strut cover to finish printing. Feels a lot more sturdy now. Contemplated a cutout in the bottom corner for the Mud UK badge but I don't think they deserve the advertisement! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolarBlair Posted December 22, 2022 Author Share Posted December 22, 2022 The wiring grommet arrived just in time. Somehow managed to order the newer version too - free to a good home. The instructions from Mud UK are actually excellent and fitting the support brackets and making some minor adjustments was a doddle. Shame about the fitment but got there in the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverik Posted December 23, 2022 Share Posted December 23, 2022 On 12/18/2022 at 12:11 PM, PolarBlair said: Got a new rear door panel from Mud-Uk but not sure where they got their dimensions from. The space for their latch is far too low so the snib cutout doesn't line up either. If you do line up the panel using their cutout, it hangs off the bottom of the door. Maybe it's my door or I ordered the wrong panel? I clearly have the older style door 🤔 They glue in solid spacer blocks for the big pull bar under the window but these protrude from the panel and will need to be cut down to let everything sit flush against the door. I must have the wrong panel but it's here now so I'm cracking on. You can see the snib cutout is too high as well as being too far to the left. I'll 3D print a new cover for the snib at some point. Locked and unlocked positions. The central locking mechanism nearly fits but not quite. A small cover panel will sort this too. A bigger concern is going to be the gas strutt cover. My old one is useless now so it's free to a good home for postage along with the old checker plate rear panel. New strut cover will be a little more tricky as the door has a curved recess to take a storage net. Will have to see if this can be retained. Rather than try to get the new strutt cover to fit into the recess I'm thinking about cutting out the recess and moving it up to the crease above. Should hide the top edge of the cut line. The other three I can hide behind the trim for the storage net. While I'm polishing this turd of a panel I think I'll try add in an idea I've seen elsewhere but can't find the image for now. Recessed LED strip along the bottom edge of the trim panel (possibly printed into strutt cover), small one in the handle recess and a red light above the latch. Should be able to make them all run off a bog standard courtesy light switch. I must have missed this when you installed the door card, but for info, I had to do pretty much every small modification you had to do also, its great once its in and sized correctly, but I had to do a good bit of chopping and cropping in the first instance. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolarBlair Posted December 23, 2022 Author Share Posted December 23, 2022 (edited) 4 hours ago, Maverik said: I must have missed this when you installed the door card, but for info, I had to do pretty much every small modification you had to do also, its great once its in and sized correctly, but I had to do a good bit of chopping and cropping in the first instance. Glad to know I'm not the only one! Their pictures suggest it's a perfect fit but with all the variances in defenders who knows. I may have an aftermarket rear door for all I know but I doubt it. If you've had all the same trouble it suggest the panel might just be carp. Its on now at any rate. Looks like the fold down table idea should work well too. Edited December 23, 2022 by PolarBlair Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolarBlair Posted December 30, 2022 Author Share Posted December 30, 2022 I collected some Amazon gift cards this Christmas and did a bad thing 😅 Decent looking kit from Gear America packs neatly into a winch line dampener. All ready for the truck to come back from the garage. Apparently each shakle is rated at 4.75t but if I needed pulled out, I would of course split the load between the two. They do an all in one package which includes the longer leads for Defenders but are only 35mm². I don't know if it's just belt and braces, but most advice I've seen reccommends 50mm². I also bought the winch isolator winchmax sell but I think I'll send it back. It looks very similar to other isolators I've seen only rated at 100A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolarBlair Posted January 4, 2023 Author Share Posted January 4, 2023 This thread started with some cargo cages and has since gone off the rails a little. Not sure if it's the right place but I started this over in tools and fabrication: The truck is in the shop until early February and I would like to have this printed and assembled ready for the winch installation when I get her back. I just need to know the available height under the wing so i know if my box will fit with the isolator I've chosen, or if I need to go for a smaller unit. I would prefer not to orient the isolator horizontally if I can avoid it. Anyone fancy going into the cold with their tape measure? 🙏 Ignore the nose - fat fingers and can't delete it on mobile👃 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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