The heavier spare wheel also required fitment of a Mantec spare-wheel carrier to prevent damage to my cargo door. The factory spare-wheel carrier on the Defender is mounted directly to the cargo door. The cargo door's hinges are not up to the task of carrying a 100-pound spare wheel and will eventually fail. The separate wheel carrier solves this problem.
A four-wheel-drive vehicle requires greater underbody strength than what Land Rover provided on my Defender. I've added the usual protection pieces that most four-wheelers fit to their vehicles, including rock sliders to protect the doors, a heavy-duty winch bumper and brushguard, frame sliders to protect the framerails from teetering damage, differential guards, heavy-duty suspension links to prevent bending under load, pinion guards to protect the driveshaft yokes, and heavy-duty steering rods. I listed heavy steering rods last, but not because steering rods are unimportant. In fact, I believe that steering is one of the most important abilities of a vehicle and must be reinforced. Steering is more important than a running engine. A vehicle without steering but with a running engine still can't go anywhere. A vehicle without steering and a dead engine can't even be towed anywhere. Do not underestimate the importance of steering when reinforcing your vehicle. Most people overlook this when strengthening their vehicles; it's a mistake.
The Safety Devices Expedition roof rack provides greater load-carrying ability than the smaller Defender 90 stock rack does.
I have replaced my factory drag link and track rod with heavy-duty sleeved pieces from Rock Ware. My track rod is the offset type, where the steering rod bumps upward for additional clearance. I've been fortunate enough never to have bent my track rod on the trail, whereas others in my group with similar vehicles have bent theirs. My heavy-duty Rock Ware steering rods all employ the Land Rover factory ball joints, and I carry spare ball joints in my vehicle at all times. If I should break my spares, others in my group will likely have their factory spares. If I had prototype joints, I would be in jeopardy of having no steering or replacements available on the trail.
Something else four-wheelers often forget is to properly outfit their vehicle for safe recovery and security. Often, we all see trail trucks with huge tires and lockers but no winch or recovery points. When you're ready to purchase your winch, get the largest and strongest winch your vehicle's mounting and bumper options will allow. My winch is a Superwinch Husky 10, which is a superb performer. An added bonus is that the Husky's worm gearing makes unnecessary the brake inside the drum that's required on planetary designs. Thus, the Husky may be winched out without generating heat on the drum, and it is fully compatible with all of the latest synthetic winch lines.