Straightening warped wing-tops

Classic4X4

Well-known member
Scoured for a thread on several forums but cant fine one.

I never trust my truck with mechanics - I do everything myself if I can. That being said, sometimes I just cannot make time to do certain tasks.

I had a mechanic work on the 90 a couple years ago and despite working on Defenders, and my constant reminder to keep the F away from the wing tops - they were clearly leaned on, and used as a tool bench!

So I've got a bit of a dip in the wings now - barely noticeable but super frustrating. I can remember looking at the front-end while driving and admiring how the wing-tops had remained flat for 30+ years.

Anyway, aside from checker plating them, does anyone have any solutions? I was thinking about cutting particle board to the shape of the flat surface x2 and clamping together. I know aluminum stretches as it bends, unlike steel. But Damn there must be a way to rectify this.

Cheers
 

erover82

Well-known member
Checker plate works well. Don't go for SP's 1.5mm wing tops. They're actually only the standard 1.2mm. They fed me a lame excuse when I confronted them about it. Their wing sides are actually 1.5mm though. I'd consider having the tops reinforced underneath with additional layers of bonded aluminum sheet.
 

jymmiejamz

Founding Member
Callsign: KN4JHI
Not to derail the thread too much, but all Land Rover dealerships had fender covers for Defenders that had a piece of board or plastic inside to prevent this. I was thinking about getting some made. I wonder if there is any market for that
 

erover82

Well-known member
Not to derail the thread too much, but all Land Rover dealerships had fender covers for Defenders that had a piece of board or plastic inside to prevent this. I was thinking about getting some made. I wonder if there is any market for that


Looks like these might have such a protective sheet in them. Available from your favorite vendor.
 

jymmiejamz

Founding Member
Callsign: KN4JHI

Looks like these might have such a protective sheet in them. Available from your favorite vendor.
Those look pretty similar to the factory ones. The factory ones fit better and have a cutout for the antenna (none for the cage). The inner liner is velcroed in place so that it can removed and washed. I’ll take some pics of them tomorrow.
 

Classic4X4

Well-known member
Anyone ever tried clamping aluminum between nice straight/flat wood? I know this works very well with steel.
 

Napalm00

Technical Excellence Contributor
yea a good shop could do it without. Local to me there is a jag specific shop that could do it. not cheap tho, they are $300 an hour
 

Frenglish

Well-known member
Really sorry to hear that. That sucks it was so good for so long.. on the bright side.. with that dip the 10mm is less likely to roll off and get lost.

Options.
1)Hammer and dolly
2)replace wingtops

Future proof it.. the military FFR's (Fitted for Radio) had a steel plate that went under the wingtop and bolted in on both sides, they were shaped to the underside of the wingtop. This is what supported those big heavy radio boxes. I have those bolted up underneath (with a good amount of gasket and paint seperating the aluminum and steel parts) and you can stand on the wingtops without any deflection. I personally don't like the checker plate, so this is an option to keep it looking clean but reinforced as necessary.
 

Frenglish

Well-known member
@Classic4X4
I love this idea - uses all existing holes? - Also, look like they only made one for the RHS with radio
Hi Classic, I've spent that last minuts trying to find the LH side but I can't seem to dig it up and I forgot how LR part numbers work to just type in the number, and I blasted off the part number sticker when I painted them.

I know they make both sides as I have them, and I have seen them for sale in the past. They are just mirrored versions of each other and work great! I suppose a metal fab shop could make these from some Cardboard Assisted Design, (CAD) templates if it was really necessary.
 

John Z

Well-known member
I'm curious about these wingstop addons also.. mine are already dented but I'd like to make them stronger to stand on.
 

sgo70

Member
It's hard to say without seeing it and I imagine it's painted. I would assume it was stretched when leaned on so my first thought would be to shrink it. A heat gun or sometimes a hot hair dryer can be used to heat it up and then a rag soaked in cold water to quench it. Sometimes it can take a number of tries but it's worth trying before getting the hammer.

Sean
 
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