Are you talking about the 6 wheeled (but only 4wd) disco 4, or their 5th wheel defender 130(s)?
Also, thats interesting, what are the rules regarding 5th wheel towing in the uk? Is it the same as normal towing?
 
Are you talking about the 6 wheeled (but only 4wd) disco 4, or their 5th wheel defender 130(s)?
Also, thats interesting, what are the rules regarding 5th wheel towing in the uk? Is it the same as normal towing?

The Discovery and if you read the article it had to go through IVA because of chassis alterations...
 
Yes, chassis extension will need IVA. But if thats the route I pick, I can get it tested at the flatbed stage. Also, if I do do a chassis extension, and upgrade brakes, suspension,aube even fit a different rear axle, and certainly reinforce the chassis, can I increase the payload?
 
Yes, chassis extension will need IVA. But if thats the route I pick, I can get it tested at the flatbed stage. Also, if I do do a chassis extension, and upgrade brakes, suspension,aube even fit a different rear axle, and certainly reinforce the chassis, can I increase the payload?

And then when you build/fit the demountable camper you go back and get it tested again to see if the mounting points pass and in between you keep your insurance company informed as well...I wouldn't be concerned about payload till you actually start building something and realise the amount of work and cost is involved...
 
Yeah, the benefit with doing it this way is that it can be done bit-by bit, so I can buy the car (I dont fancy chopping mine up, its too reliable and original, and not rotten, and too thirsty) so Ill buy a rotted discovery (not hard or expensive to find) then cut the rust out, repair if that bit is needed, then finish the "cab" and then drive it about as a bare frame, maybe with a custom rear bumper, making sure the lights all work and its reliable etc etc. All very labour intensive, but not the expensive bit at all. Then it can be MoTed, and maybe now would be the time to do any upgrades like a front bumper, brakes, snorkel, etc. Then I can plan, measure, plan, measure, and plan again exactly how to extend the chassis and reinforce it sufficiently, and get a custom prop made. Then do the flatbed and under-flatbed boxes, and any suspension changes I decide upon later, then IVA test it. The camping arrangement will simply be carried as a load, but I agree the load mounting/tie down points must be approved too, so will be installed on the flatbed before the IVA test.
Insurance isnt a major problem,.so long as the IVA dont insist that it is now a commercial vehicle, because then it might get more complex. (I dont KNOW if it will, but I can see how it might)
Trust me, the last person who wants me to be sued and probably go to prison for injuring/killing someone because their cowboy camper fell off their cowboy cut up truck is me, that would not be fun.
 
agree the load mounting/tie down points must be approved too, so will be installed on the flatbed before the IVA test.
Insurance isnt a major problem,.so long as the IVA dont insist that it is now a commercial vehicle,

How do you think they will class a flatbed crewcab and they will ask what the mounting points are for...
 
Okay, Ill bring an empty box with a big sticker that says "max load Xkg" and put it on the flatbed when it gets tested, or fill it with the appropriate amount of bricks, or whatever. The box will fit inside the footprint of the bed (i.e. no overhangs) and of course Ill highball the weight. If I plan it around carrying a small car, like an MX5 or a micra or something, I struggle to see how it wont be able to carry my imaginary box of camping stuff. (Of course, if I do decide I want to be able to carry a car on the back, Ill need to think very carefully about the suspension, and quite how I would load a car onto a bed that high, without massively long ramps, but just for size/dimensions/payload etc)
 
Don’t think you will be able to extend the chassis long enough to put a car on the back.
Measure a car from bumper to bumper. With this figure measure from the rear of the door pillar & this will show the chassis size.
Now ramps… you need to figure out the length so the sills don’t catch at the top of the ramp when loading

Here’s a few ideas(yes that mini is in a van)
186304BD-0543-415C-8429-327F0D759275.jpeg 058CFFB0-A843-4D1F-9E4C-F1D01233703C.jpeg
 
Don’t think you will be able to extend the chassis long enough to put a car on the back.
Measure a car from bumper to bumper. With this figure measure from the rear of the door pillar & this will show the chassis size.
Now ramps… you need to figure out the length so the sills don’t catch at the top of the ramp when loading

Here’s a few ideas(yes that mini is in a van)
View attachment 263517 View attachment 263518

Most non rollback flatbed's have a sloped rear section for ramps to attatch to which would be usless for green laning,you need it to slop up not down...
 
Don’t think you will be able to extend the chassis long enough to put a car on the back.
Measure a car from bumper to bumper. With this figure measure from the rear of the door pillar & this will show the chassis size.
Now ramps… you need to figure out the length so the sills don’t catch at the top of the ramp when loading

Here’s a few ideas(yes that mini is in a van)
View attachment 263517 View attachment 263518
Oops, must be an Italian jobby!!!;););):D:D:D
 
Most non rollback flatbed's have a sloped rear section for ramps to attatch to which would be usless for green laning,you need it to slop up not down...
Personally I think a greenlaning campervan is an oxymoron, (is that right?)
Unless you can detach the camper bit and hang it on a tree or summat to await your return!!
But a converted Disco for camping, yup you could green lane with that, well at least the "softer" green lanes. ;)
 
Alright. Ive given this some more thorough thought, and I can only see 2 ways of achieving what Im after, and both are far more complex than any reasonable person would deem necessary, but then I do like land rovers, so Im sure you lot will understand.
Option 1 - A completely custom pop up roof, leaving the rest of the disco relatively as-is, so it can be used as a 7 seater, or a 5 door with a decent boot, or a 2 seater with a big boot. O think the easiest way to do this is to buy a pop up roof tent from a campervan, and graft it into the discovery roof. Possibly using the cut out bit of the roof to replace the van roof, or not, depends on what works best.
Option 2 - The chop. Chopping it to a single cab, with maybe some storage space behind the seats, and extending the chassis. Personally, I would make it a flatbed, with all the land rover related stuff going into lockable boxes under the flatbed (i.e. tools, spares, recovery stuff) and then have a demountable camping thing, with all the camping stuff. Probably not the thing that looks like a cut up caravan tacked onto the back of a pickup, more like a steel box with a bed in it, with some draws and a bit of space left for camping chairs, firewood, whatever. Even better if in flatbed form it could be made to accomodate a small car, but that wouldnt be a priority.
Both are very versatile in very different ways. The extended one is of course no use in carrying more than 1 passanger, but is better at everything else.
I keep rereading this and trying to make sense of it.
In version one, the pop-up roof, why would you want to do that unless you were going to make it into a camper and have bed, seats, cooking and washing facitlities in it? and maybe a bog-in-a-box?
Why not just chuck a load of camping stuff, including a tent, into the back of an ordinary Disco and get on with it? Maybe modifying the Disco to take a load of storage and maybe one of those swing out awnings?
Only other thing to make it even better would be a roof tent then even you, Johnny-Longshanks could kip in/on it. while the interior has the living space as descibed. Not so much need for a pop-up then.
UNLESS you somehow make a pop-up you can kip in, like the ones they have or used to have on VW T2s etc.
Still don't really get it.
My problem I know.
But I cannot help but think you are taking a sledge to crack a walnut.
 
By the way.
load bearing capacity is down to design.
Chassis strength, springing, axle strength, axle and spring location etc. etc.
Not something to go into lightly, I'd have thought.
And it doesn't just affect the rear of the vehicle.

EDIT
Oh and braking and shock absorption.
 
Okay, many responses.
Small car, say (for dimensions only) an 88inch landy. Lets high ball it and say that the front bumper sticks out 12 inches. This gives us plenty of room in case the car is a different shape. So do you agree that I need 100 inches of flatbed? (Because the rear section can overhang) so the cab will use about half the stock wheelbase, leaving me only 50 inches of bed between the wheels, Ide say that 75% would be much better, so if we extend the chassis by 25 inches, the 100inch bed now sits 75% between the axles, with 25% overhanging the rear.
Popup roof. The point of it is that its long enough to lie down in, because the roof of the disco is comfortably longer than my height. And its better than a ground tent because a.) You can sleep in say a paved carpark, and b.)you dont feel every rock under you whilst you try to sleep.
As for other camping stuff, I might make a very clever draw system, with draws under the 2 rear seats, and then like a bix with a lid in between, so I can put stuff in the box, or if ive got passengers there, take the lid off and they can put their feet there. I am leaning further towards this option, because it does seem much simpler.
 

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