Thread: Bonnet mounted spare

Originally Posted by Floydo

Hi
Can someone please take a photo of a reinforced bonnet and strut. So I can see if mine is reinforced or not. Cheers

I once toyed with the same idea for our Td5 and bought this Tdi bonnet, which according to the seller is of the military, reinforced type. I didn't verify it, but maybe someone here can confirm.





You can also see that the strut bracket is bent.
At the time, several people told me that the bonnet & tyre combo is very heavy to open. Also, keep in mind that visibility is compromised - you can't see the front corner at the passenger side - and that aerodynamics are behaving strangely: IIRC it is as good as impossible to use the windscreen washers.




This type of mount should be completed with two bolts and some Z-shaped brackets, and a goes trough one of the holes of the rim.



In the end I decided not to proceed, due to the limited space between the Td5 engine and this type of bonnet and the fact that the HD/Wolf rims are quite heavy. I'm not really convinced that the whole structure is solid enough to resist the stresses induced by vibrations and corrugated roads.

Hope this helps,

Originally Posted by Vogler

, and a goes trough one of the holes of the rim.

That should have read '...a pin goes through one of the holes...'

J

Originally Posted by Vin Rouge

Attachment 158074Attachment 158076
Steel plate underneath, chequerplate on top. Rubber buffers from Bunnings and a home made clamp bent up from steel bar to hold the wheel in place. Total cost about $25. Mod added in 2013. Been all around Australia,done most of the tracks and the Simpson. Still going strong.

Hi mate do you have any photos of the reinforcing you added on the underside of the bonnet?

This is, under my Tdi bonnet. Is it the reinforced one?

i3_old_bonnet_stay.jpg

Originally Posted by Floydo

This is, under my Tdi bonnet. Is it the reinforced one?

Yes mate it is. You just need the spare wheel mounting hardware.

Your bonnet will look like this under the insulation.

i3_old_bonnet_stay.jpg

I recently fitted a genuine land rover spare wheel kit to my 200tdi, the kit comes with bonnet braces sort of look like hockey sticks and the other required brackets. The bonnet really isnt heavy to open, i still need to get a solid bonnet stay i still have the folding style one. I have a wolf rim and a decent size tyre mounted on it and it only blocks a small amount of the front of the bullbar. I personally also noticed when i first drove it after fitment the steering felt different due to the weight, but now i dont notice it. If you do mount the tyre on the bonnet you will need to buy a heavier duty bonnet latch spring, in order for it to pop with out someone or vice grips holding the cable out. That being said if my defender was in mint condition i wouldnt fit it, i have no doubt it will end up damaging my bonnet with the weight on dirt roads,my defender has had a hard life so it doenst really bother me. Also for the money the kit is steep, but i dont really like the chequer plate look on the bonnet. Hence why i went for the genuine kit.

Originally Posted by MJA

Hi mate do you have any photos of the reinforcing you added on the underside of the bonnet?

Unfortunately not and the plate is now covered with sound absorbing material. It's nothing special. Just a sheet (2mm offcut from the local supplier if I recall correctly) that fitted under the reinforcing bars. A couple of coats of paint and bolted it through the rubber buffers and the centre bracket. Haven't really given it much of a thought since fitting it.