Spare wheel location

[Rockall]

Afternoon

Just working on ideas for fitting out my proposed overland vehicle.
Just interested to know if anybody has fitted a spare wheel to the bonnet - as was common on the Land Rovers. Looking at the spare wheel holder it would not be difficult to modify it. I have yet to see one in any 90/95 photo's I have come across.

Thoughts and views welcome and yes I do realise that the bonnet will be heavy to lift. I have placed a wheel on the bonnet and no my vision is not impaired much at all. The bonnet is a large surface are doing nothing.

Regards

Bill

 

[MarkW]

whats wrong with the rear door?

 

[Michael Montgomery]

The rears looks & functions the best I guess hence why no ones fits to the bonnet / hood. Would also obstruct the driving view for sure, be unsafe & unpractical.

 

[clivehorridge]

I know I wouldn't want one on the bonnet of my 80

I don't see the need TBH, but given the arguments put forward, there seems to be nothing against it.

Remember these wheels and tyres can be heavy, but you'll know that already with your 'try-out' positioning.

I'd try to spread the load as much as possible. IIRC, LRs had a slight recess in the bonnet panel to give it more strength.

Again, IMO, the weight should be supported around the wall of the tyre and not in the centre of the panel, so some pads evenly distributed around the circumference would be necessary.

I fear that all will look well for the first 1000 miles or so, then it may end in tears when you find the hinge pins worn, or the bonnet panel distorted, or some other damage that you hadn't thought would happen.

 

[Sag]

Another point lr tyres aren't no where near as wide as lc's,hope your tall enough to see over it

 

[Rockall]

whats wrong with the rear door?

There is nothing wrong with the rear door location as is.

However I may decide to take two spare wheels and even if I only take one, I want to move the wheel to the bonnet as the back door is more useful for camping gear etc that is used daily

 

[Rockall]

The rears looks & functions the best I guess hence why no ones fits to the bonnet / hood. Would also obstruct the driving view for sure, be unsafe & unpractical.

No, it does not obstruct the view and actually obstructs much less than a land rover bonnet mounted wheel does.

 

[Rockall]

Another point lr tyres aren't no where near as wide as lc's,hope your tall enough to see over it

Yes, I stated in my posting that my vision is hardly impaired at all.

 

[Rockall]

I know I wouldn't want one on the bonnet of my 80

I don't see the need TBH, but given the arguments put forward, there seems to be nothing against it.

Remember these wheels and tyres can be heavy, but you'll know that already with your 'try-out' positioning.

I'd try to spread the load as much as possible. IIRC, LRs had a slight recess in the bonnet panel to give it more strength.

Again, IMO, the weight should be supported around the wall of the tyre and not in the centre of the panel, so some pads evenly distributed around the circumference would be necessary.

I fear that all will look well for the first 1000 miles or so, then it may end in tears when you find the hinge pins worn, or the bonnet panel distorted, or some other damage that you hadn't thought would happen.

Thanks Clive
I would be putting a backing /strengthening plate on both sides of the bonnet skin and then mounting the wheel holder to that and as you have mentioned some sort of pad strip under the contact points. Dont worry - everything will be well road tested before I head away.

Just surprised that I have yet to see one.
Regards
Bill

 

[diggerdave]

Not sure if it would affect your MOT (you could always take it off)

Land Rover bonnets up to 300Tdi were specially strengthened (although I bet they still broke/sagged). Is the LC90 bonnet strong enough? It certainly looks pretty strong but there's at least a chance it will distort first time you go off tarmac (ten miles of washboard gravel?) unless your reinforcing panels can spread the weight to the edges.

You will need to strengthen/upgrade the bonnet stay (obviously). Land Rovers apparently had special tubular steel ones if fitted with a bonnet mounted spare. You would NOT want the bonnet falling on you!

I'm sure I've read that bonnet mounted spares were discontinued due to cases of the spare wheel flying back through the windscreen in frontal crashes with unpleasant consequences. I guess this may be a compromise you're willing to make especially considering that there are/have been vast numbers of Land Rovers used for expeditions/military work that have bonnet-mounted spares

 

[froggy Steve]

I can hardly lift my wheel / tyre combo as it is, with the lift I think It would be near impossible to get into the bonnet area! Get a trailer and mount them on that

 

[flint]

As already said, I think any strengthening would need to be fairly major and perhaps beefing up the bonnet catch might be a good thing too.

 

[Bob]

If it's a D4D engine, or a KZ with an intercooler, then I reckon fitting the spare to the bonnet would be very difficult, if not impossible. The air ducting for the intercooler runs right up through the centre of the bonnet. Any reinforcing etc, would surely restrict air flow.

It seems you really want to do this, but I can't help thinking its a really bad idea. I would imagine it's why you can get rear bumpers with dual spare carriers, or stick it on a roof rack.

 

[SafariTecPeter]

Spot on Bob!
With a top mounted IC it would foul the air flow.
Even on the newer Land Rover Defenders (post`94) the bonnet mounted spare wheel is gone.

I for once used to find it COOL but we used to take it off most of the time...
As far as kitting out an overland vehicle goes, I`d opt for either a dual spare wheel carrier on the back or fit one to the rear door & another one to the roof.
I have seen "interesting" setups in Australie where theu have fitted dual spare wheels to the rear of a LC uwing only 1 carrier... Don`t know if that would be my first choice tbh...

 

[Rockall]

Not sure if it would affect your MOT (you could always take it off)

Land Rover bonnets up to 300Tdi were specially strengthened (although I bet they still broke/sagged). Is the LC90 bonnet strong enough? It certainly looks pretty strong but there's at least a chance it will distort first time you go off tarmac (ten miles of washboard gravel?) unless your reinforcing panels can spread the weight to the edges.

You will need to strengthen/upgrade the bonnet stay (obviously). Land Rovers apparently had special tubular steel ones if fitted with a bonnet mounted spare. You would NOT want the bonnet falling on you!

I'm sure I've read that bonnet mounted spares were discontinued due to cases of the spare wheel flying back through the windscreen in frontal crashes with unpleasant consequences. I guess this may be a compromise you're willing to make especially considering that there are/have been vast numbers of Land Rovers used for expeditions/military work that have bonnet-mounted spares

Dave

Thanks for you input.
I had a LR high capacity pick up many years ago on a big construction job and got the wheel retro fitted to the bonnet as we needed the load space. The bonnet was not altered other than fitting of the spare wheel mount. The LR went everywhere and even places it shouldn't have - never one bit of bother with it in 10 months of 24 hr use.
Naturally if going ahead with this I would examine what needs to be beefed up.

Regards

Bill

 

[Rockall]

I can hardly lift my wheel / tyre combo as it is, with the lift I think It would be near impossible to get into the bonnet area! Get a trailer and mount them on that

Steve, I have already tried it out, strapped it to the bonnet and I can lift it without too much grunting - remember other makes have had them on the bonnet for years.

Regards

Bill

 

[Rockall]

If it's a D4D engine, or a KZ with an intercooler, then I reckon fitting the spare to the bonnet would be very difficult, if not impossible. The air ducting for the intercooler runs right up through the centre of the bonnet. Any reinforcing etc, would surely restrict air flow.

It seems you really want to do this, but I can't help thinking its a really bad idea. I would imagine it's why you can get rear bumpers with dual spare carriers, or stick it on a roof rack.

Bob

Good evening and thanks for input
No mine is a bog standard non intercooled 1997 model.
I have stated above that I want the rear door space for other ideas regarding my camping equipment so this is why I am looking at moving the wheel somewhere else. I intend to fit a roof tent of some sort so will have no extra space and either way I would not consider putting a wheel on a roof rack as I want to keep the weight low down so as to keep centre of gravity at a minimum.

Regards

Bill

 

[Rockall]

Spot on Bob!
With a top mounted IC it would foul the air flow.
Even on the newer Land Rover Defenders (post`94) the bonnet mounted spare wheel is gone.

I for once used to find it COOL but we used to take it off most of the time...
As far as kitting out an overland vehicle goes, I`d opt for either a dual spare wheel carrier on the back or fit one to the rear door & another one to the roof.
I have seen "interesting" setups in Australie where theu have fitted dual spare wheels to the rear of a LC uwing only 1 carrier... Don`t know if that would be my first choice tbh...

Thanks Peter.

It is just an idea at the moment - but basically I want to free up the back door area - no wheels etc.

Regards

Bill

 

[Bob]

That's fair enough, intrigued to see what you do with the back door. I travel all over the continent without much if any exterior mods, bar a homemade awning, though mines a commercial and there's only 2 of us. Best of luck with it and we want pics of it when it's done!

 

[diggerdave]

If you get this right and it works, you could start a whole new trend. Good luck.