Rear tub repair: Part 2

Corrosion around the front of the rear tub and its seat belt mountings could have disastrous consequences in an accident. Steve Miller explains the fix.

Repairing the forward structure and seat belt mountings

CORROSION really can take hold of our Land Rover’s body parts, especially after a few years’ hard graft. After replacing the rear body tub’s floor structure last month, I now need to address the rest of my Ninety’s rear tub issues, especially around the safety-critical seatbelt mounting areas. Repairing these will ensure its structural integrity and offer safer motoring for many more years to come.

The main issue is where any steel parts come directly into contact with aluminium. On a rear tub such as this, the more concerning area is around the seatbelt anchor points. Originally, a piece of angled steel is bolted to the underside of the tub with captive bolts coming up through the aluminium tub so the inertia seatbelt reels can be fitted. Again, the seatbelt stalks are also bolted from the cab and into much larger angled steel plates on the underside.

Over time, the two dissimilar metals react with one another. In the worst case, and in the event of an accident, the additional strain on the seatbelt could cause the entire seatbelt reel to pull through the floor.

In order to carry out these repairs with the rear tub fitted to the vehicle, you would need to remove the seatbox from the vehicle to gain access. With the extensive repairs needed on this particular truck, it has been made all the easier having all parts, including the rear tub removed.