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Chassis Damage - Thoughts needed on integrity


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A fellow LR owner has suffered some damage to his 110's chassis. It was, I think, lowered down but with the full weight of the vehicle on to one stand by accident. The owner can't post as they need to stay anonymous for the moment.

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My thoughts are that it doesn't look too bad at all and I've seen worse from offroading damage.

I'd like the thoughts of you lot though! Fire away with the comments.

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For what it's worth I would cut it out and fix it.

It would be advisable to go over the remainder of the chassis for other soft areas. Check along the top part of the chassis as best you can, take out the floor panels for peace of mind.

I've had my 110 for 11 years. When can I have my medal. lol

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strength wise, itll be fine, although the steel is probably a bit thinner than it used to be there, it doesent seem to be that weak if it was only supported with that single stand, if majorly fussed the quickest repair would probably be to cut either the bottom part or the side part out, assess the thickness of the remaining part (side or bottom) replace if neccesary, if not, you could quite easily straighten the one remaining part out. and weld the replacement piece of steel in flush.

interested to know why the owner wants to stay anon though as its not exactly embarrasing or bad practise these things happen and it wont harm the safety of the vehicle.

the fact there is still what seems to be paint on the chassis surrounding area suggests that the chassis wouldnt be in too bad a shape, and would definately benefit from a cleaning up, coat of paint and some underseal and of course a thorough check for any tinworm while you have the welder out.

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It will be fine, keep an eye on it but other than that, I've got deeper dints in my chasis rails from the previous thug who had my 90. I'll take a photo.

Unless you've got some good quality plate, an adequate mig unit and a good welder and lots of spare time and a nervous itch of the perfectionist that is....

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I just can't help thinking it shouldn't have bent like that unless it is thin from rust? But I'm kind of on the fence, as I don't what the truck weighs.

I'd put a flat bit of steel plate along side and lump hammer it back into shape. It could be welded, but in reality that will probably replace a 'bend' stressed area with a 'thermal' stressed area, so no gain.

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In pic 4 it looks like the curve caused by the deformation at the bottom goes all the way to the top of the chassis. At least it look thats way to me. No idea if that's bad or not though but its hard to spot from the photos but there seems to be a curve/bulge all the way tot he top.

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I'd hammer the side back in, this should push the bottom out a bit and marginaly restore a bit of rigidity?

If a 110 chassis is anything like a RRC then it bent cos it is made from tin with bent tin angle in the arched bits.

Any impact from the front (like an accident) that could bend it further would bend it anyway.

My ten penneth of ammature thought.

And yes I think I did similar to my hybred once.

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It looks ignorable to me, if the metal was thin it would have punched through, if it was anywhere near the structural bits such as radius or trailing arms then you may need to worry, but could be worse. The dents look fairly rounded and no pinched or sharp pieces which could maybe fatigue and crack.

The crossmember for the gearbox is more in shear force and the weight will be hanging from the top side not the underneath.

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Seen much worse than that, I would ignore it. I helped rebuild a 110 from the ground up that had a bigger dent in the chassis and was therefore very cheap. We didn't bother straightening it, just replaced the rusty sections and painted and waxoyled it.

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Looks fine to me. The defender chassis is a forgiving structure (it's not very rigid) and can easily cope with that minor dinge.

I WOULD advise your mate to get the entire chassis waxoiled, though, inside and out, as it's the key to long term health of the chassis.

G.

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Any paint that existed on the inside has probably blistered off so I'd squirt a bit of cavity wax inside for peace of mind. Quick wire brush then wipe over the outside with a shutz gun.

Underseal looks quite scabby anyway so if the truck is a keeper - he knows he's in for a dirty weekend or two.

Now if you felt compelled to repair it .. it looks like an easy job to let in a couple of bits of plate

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  • 2 weeks later...

For those that posted thanks a million. It gave me the confidence to go to the culprit which was Costco to get some compensation in line with the damage and not go after a new chassis which would have involved lawers. Although i'd like a new $3700 galv chassis its not required and i can repair the section if needed. They gave me $500usd. Which i think is fare enough although not amazing.

Special thanks to Landroversforever (and to Defenders Northwest in the USA) for helpiong me out with this. I didn't want to start plastering the web as it could have got legal and so I couldn't post anything as it might have compromised my case.

I've also painted it (in part) to cover over some of the areas where the previous paint was coming off. I've not done it all is using a brush is a LONG job.....i've noticed only one area that needs attention and its pretty minor. Not bad for an old girl.

THANKS ALL.

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For those that posted thanks a million. It gave me the confidence to go to the culprit which was Costco to get some compensation in line with the damage and not go after a new chassis which would have involved lawers. Although i'd like a new $3700 galv chassis its not required and i can repair the section if needed. They gave me $500usd. Which i think is fare enough although not amazing.

Special thanks to Landroversforever (and to Defenders Northwest in the USA) for helpiong me out with this. I didn't want to start plastering the web as it could have got legal and so I couldn't post anything as it might have compromised my case.

I've also painted it (in part) to cover over some of the areas where the previous paint was coming off. I've not done it all is using a brush is a LONG job.....i've noticed only one area that needs attention and its pretty minor. Not bad for an old girl.

THANKS ALL.

I take it it was a costco tyre fitters? accidents happen and glad you got reimbursed!

glad to hear you are all sorted though

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