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Can Defender wheel arches fit on a series?

dsj1979

dsj1979

Trekker
Hi,

As above, can Defender wheel arches fit onto a series landrover. If not, what is required to make them fit?

Thanks,

Daniel
 
You need to cut the wheels arch to the same shape as a Ninety / OneTen / Defender.. Fitting later front wings eases the process. Or buy the wheel arch flares for series vehicle...

TBH, these will be the first things that break off should you come into proximity with any countryside.
 
Why would you want to fit such things any way?
The defender axels are wider than the series Land rover, and with extended arches the series rover will look like a bloated skate board!
The only reason land rover added the arches was so they could ues range rover running gear and make production easier.. They kept the standard width land rover body because they didnt have the money to make the body wider. The side spats then became the new craze that every other 4x4 maker then copied.
If you add wheel spacers to make the track wider you'll knacker king pins and wheel bearings at an even grater rate!.. Dont do it. If you want a defender, buy one.
Have you seen the shape of the standard series wheel arches, they're a nice shape and have a traditional look to them. The defender ones look ugly and are simply that shape to miss the tyres on full travel.
 
Tony, I was looking at my landy the other day, and realised if i want to fit some larger tyres some day I willl have to trim the front wings a bit, the neatest solution being defender arches!

Not that I am going to fit bigger tyres, it was an observation!
 
You can either fit Series spats, or you can fit defender spats by cutting the wings with a jigsaw to match the Defender wing appertures. You need to leave tabs in line with the spat fasteners, to be bent inward 90 degrees and drilled for plastic rivets. You can also fit Defender front wings (get the ones for an early 2.5nad or petrol and they won't have the side intake for the engine, and they'll be the same thickness as the SII/SIII wings).

I did it with the cutting and tabs initially, but when the front wing outer skins were replaced, I used Defender skins.

Tony's comments about the wheels not filling out the arches and looking a little daft are quite right. I already had 7" rims with greater offset when I did it, and have subsequently fitted spacers too because of the increased height of the LR post-rebuild. Running on standard rims with spats would look very odd. I also did it in 1993, when SIIIs were two-a-penny and 90s/110s were still not that common. Nowdays, SIIIs are becoming classics, and I would be loathe to repeat the mod.
 
Wheel arch spats tend to look a bit of a dog's dinner on Series motors, IMHO. It's rare to see one that looks ok. They usually get fitted by the budget-conscious Series owner in the misguided belief that a bit of plastic will turn a £1k S3 into a £10k Defender and no-one will notice the difference. The effect looks particularly bizarre on an 88", slightly less so on a 109". Along with chequerplate overload and too wide tyres on ugly looking rims, wheel arch spats are my LR pet hates.....
 
crashbox said:
Wheel arch spats tend to look a bit of a dog's dinner on Series motors, IMHO. It's rare to see one that looks ok. They usually get fitted by the budget-conscious Series owner in the misguided belief that a bit of plastic will turn a £1k S3 into a £10k Defender and no-one will notice the difference. The effect looks particularly bizarre on an 88", slightly less so on a 109". Along with chequerplate overload and too wide tyres on ugly looking rims, wheel arch spats are my LR pet hates.....
Click to expand...
So you won't like mine then!:D
 
Snagger said:
So you won't like mine then!:D
Click to expand...

Well, if I'm honest, no. :o I appreciate the obviously high standard of the workmanship - it's clearly no low budget Defender wannabe bodge job - but the overall effect is the complete opposite to how I would want a Land Rover to look. Sorry!:D
 
crashbox said:
Well, if I'm honest, no. :o I appreciate the obviously high standard of the workmanship - it's clearly no low budget Defender wannabe bodge job - but the overall effect is the complete opposite to how I would want a Land Rover to look. Sorry!:D
Click to expand...
Don't be so apologetic - the thing with LRs is that there are as many ways of tailoring them as there are owners. Everyone likes something different, and every cherished LR is different. That's part of what makes them so interesting.
 
Satancom said:
Tony, I was looking at my landy the other day, and realised if i want to fit some larger tyres some day I willl have to trim the front wings a bit, the neatest solution being defender arches!

Not that I am going to fit bigger tyres, it was an observation!
Click to expand...


You can fit larger tyres under the standard wings without a problem... Depending on what you call larger tyres, 34"/35"? Of course if your springs are flat and sagging the room you may have to play with will be greatly reduced.
 
There` little enough power as it is with diesel engine.....34 or 35s would sap it even more. I think the Series is a classic as it is. Every "improvement" you make has a knockon effect..........but tinkering keeps us all happy:D

Alex
 
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