West Life

Originally Published: February 2010 Words: Olly Sack Pictures: Steve Taylor

A 90 of this spec is soon going to be put in positions where it’s likely to end up going over. WM4x4’s own design of cage is built using MSA-approved CDS tube and incorporates front and rear external hoops. Braced to the rear tray, it’s all mounted on MSA-spec chassis plates

Protecting the bodywork is good, but when the protection actually becomes the bodywork it’s better still. WM4x4’s own wing bars do exactly that, becoming part of the overall cage structure and providing a fairly indestructible home for the headlamps in the process

Further in-house protection comes in the shape of WM4x4’s own rock sliders. These prevent damage to a set of the company’s own low-level challenge doors – though with braced box-section frames, these are handy enough themselves at shrugging off impacts

Rear of the new chassis was modified to carry a winch mount – and, it stands to reason, a winch. The eagle-eyed will have spotted that it’s a Warn 8274, just as at the front. Interestingly shaped winch protection and tail-light cluster mounts are in lieu of a back bumper, and could feasibly be used as an anti-bunching aid in some situations

Front end does away with the need for a bumper by leading with an in-house winch tray. Built on to the dumb irons, this keeps the Warn 8274 out of harm’s way and makes sure it doesn’t screw up the vehicle’s approach angle. With the leading edge of the ‘wing’ being a WM4x4 protector bar, there’s no need for any further armouring across the front

Steering is well protected behind an unusual three-tube guard. Good at shrugging off impacts and, we’d be bound, avoiding getting clagged with too much mud. Needless to say, the drag link and tie rod behind it are heavy-duty items too, so anything that gets through still shouldn’t do them any harm

The 90’s chassis dates from the days before even the old TD engine, but it’s now fitted with a 300Tdi. This is still mounted in the original position. In many people’s view, the 300 is still the best diesel engine Land Rover ever made, though the transmission they fitted to it in Solihull was at the opposite end of the scale. Hence the use of a ZF auto here (engine and box both came from the same Discovery) which is mated to a 1.6:1 transfer case from an early 110

We never get tired of hearing about the most random parts getting harvested from old cars to start a new life in modified 4x4s. That’s why the 90’s fuel tank brought a smile to our faces – mounted in the rear tray, immediately aft of the centre winch, it started life in, would you believe, a Triumph Spitfire

Like more and more dedicated challenge motors now, the front and rear winches are augmented by a third centre-mounted unit. A Superwinch EP9, this is tucked in right behind the rear roll hoop, feeding out through a dedicated loop on the top of the cage. Despite not being fully rounded off, this should allow the Plasma rope to slide smoothly out for winching in any direction

Three winches are three times as good as one, but use them all at once and they’re much more than three times as likely to turn your battery into an expensive paperweight. Currently, the vehicle has two batteries running the engine and front winch, with a third in the rear tray for the other two winches. These are kept healthy by two alternators, the second being dedicated to battery number three. At the time of writing, however, Ian was working on a new system which will use a 24-volt alternator to power the three winches, leaving a second 12-volt unit to take care of the engine and ancillaries

When the rest of your vehicle is armoured to the max, your diffs had better be too. Diff guards are Equipe units from Italy – among the very few items on the vehicle not fabricated by WM4x4 itself

A bank of three switches like this almost always signifies the presence of ARB Air-Lockers. In this case, however, they’re internal controls for the three winches. Ian had better be careful not to use the console as a leaning post when he’s got his hand on the auto shifter in front of them...

There are traybacks, and there are traybacks. This design uses rakishly sloped ‘wings’, constructed from CDS and chequer plate, to allow for the rear wheels’ full articulation. Mounting kit on them isn’t as easy as it would be if they were flat, but an angled high-lift bracket and neatly stowed tree strop show that it’s still possible

35x10.50R16 Simex Extreme Trekkers are a common sight on challenge motors. Black modular rims are less so, but here it’s the beadlocks that’ll really catch your eye. Another WM4x4 product, these use two rings, one welded to the rim, to clamp the tyre’s bead in place using nylocks and rubber seals

Typically of traybacks, the 90 isn’t lifted by as much as it looks. Suspension is a Gwyn Lewis set-up featuring +2” springs and +5” Rough Country shocks, mounted using Flo-Flex polyurethane bushes. It follows the standard 90 set-up with coil-over mounting at the front, while the shocks are angled at the rear – where the springs are non-captive at the top, with Gwyn Lewis guides allowing them to re-seat correctly after dislocating

West Mids 4x4 is a comparative newcomer to the off-road industry. But the company’s demo truck shows that it already has a wide variety of products to show off – and the vehicle’s owner, co-director Ian Moulsdale, has many years’ experience of modifying, off-roading and Land Rover re-inventing behind him.

Some people get into off-roading for fun. Some get into it through their work. And for a lucky few, it’s a hobby that pays.

Ian Moulsdale is well on the way to joining that elite latter category. Co-owner of Wolverhampton-based West Mids 4x4, he says he’s ‘always been interested in Land Rovers from an early age’ – though until recently, his efforts as a modifier were directed at, of all things, a Renault 5.

Not to worry, he’s seen the light now. As West Mids 4x4’s dramatic looking 90 goes to show. Built from a chassis in a breathless four and a half month period leading up to last year’s British Indoor 4x4 Show, it’s designed to demonstrate what the company can do in the field of challenge prep. No small amount, by the looks of it.

The company is still young, but already carries a range of branded kit from well known suppliers as well as selling its own fabricated items. Not surprisingly, Ian’s 90 is a bit of a showcase for the latter, which include the cage, trayback, winch mounts and beadlocks, as well as almost all of its armour.

But it wasn’t always like this. Ian had already owned the vehicle for many years before pulling it apart and starting again from a bare chassis. He bought it in standard form, then challenge-prepped it as a hard-top before cutting it down into a king-cab. Finally, with West Mids 4x4 representing a new beginning in his working life, he took the plunge and rebuilt it completely in the form you see here.

Starting afresh with a new chassis, Ian and a team of helpers, among whom Jon Brett and Tom get special mentions, modified its rear to mate up to a six-point cage and trayback frame. In went a 300Tdi engine and ZF four-speed auto box from a Discovery, with a 1.6:1 transfer case from an early 110 backed up by a Disco handbrake (‘because,’ says Ian, ‘they work’).

Beyond this are custom props with wide-angle UJs and extended sliders (the front is a double-cardon unit), which feed into Salisbury axles front and rear. Yes, you read that right: the Salisbury rear, as fitted as standard issue on the 110, is a very common conversion, but front units are super-rare and very sought after indeed.

The reason for this is that Salisburys are way stronger than a standard Landy axle, which is good as they’ve got a set of 35-inch Simexes bolted to the end of them. When we say ‘bolted’, that’s what we mean, because each is clamped to its rim by a WM4x4 beadlock, allowing Ian to dump most of the air out of it without having to worry about dumping everything else too.

Peace of mind of a different kind comes from a whole range of the company’s own protection kit, including CDS wings, box-framed doors, rock sliders, winch mounts and a nifty tubular front guard. With heavy-duty steering bars behind this, and Equipe guards on the diffs, this is a vehicle that’s not going to be getting dented in a hurry.

We mentioned the winch mounts, and each of these is home to a Warn 8274. With a third winch, a Superwinch EP9, tucked away at the front of the tray, it stands to reason that the vehicle is going to need some pretty serious electrics, and a system with three batteries and two alternators definitely fits that billing.

So does the suspension, which uses plus-two springs and plus-five shocks with dislocation guides from Gwyn Lewis. Location remains standard, albeit with Flo-Flex polyurethane bushing and bump stops all round, but the steeply raked shape of the rear tray means that even with such a mild lift, the back axle can articulate to its heart’s content without those tall Simexes finding any bodywork to foul.

Despite its shape, the tray is also home to all the recovery gear you’ll ever need on a challenge event, including shackles, strops and even a high-lift and ground anchor. There’s clearly been a lot of thought put into the practicalities of how everything was going to be carried; remember, there’s also a fuel tank in here, as well as not one but two winches.

Not bad, then, considering Ian only had four and a half months to do it in. He admits that with more time on his side, he’d have extended the chassis to a 100” wheelbase – but needs must, and with a deadline at the 2009 British Indoor 4x4 Show to meet, that was a corner that had to be cut. First and foremost, after all, this vehicle is a showcase for what Ian and his colleagues at West Mids 4x4 can do – and looking at it, we think it’s safe to assume that the opportunity to build that 100-incher will be coming along before not too much more time has passed.

WEST MIDS 4X4 ROLL CAGE, WEST MIDS 4X4 ROCK SLIDERS, WARN 8274, HEAVY-DUTY STEERING, EQUIPE DIFF GUARDS, SIMEX EXTREME TREKKERS, SUPERWINCH EP9, TRAYBACK, 90, DEFENDER