Thread: Good spot for 2nd spare wheel on CCCCC trip?

What about building yourself a rear wheel carrier that can take two wheels. There was an article in 4wd monthly recently where they built a rear bar with a wheel carrier for the project rangie.

Originally Posted by Treads

So now the quandry, do we:
1> Buy a full length roof rack? ($$$$$$ )
this is what i have and i carried a second spare on it for my simpson trip....getting if up and down was no major issue, i also had two jerries of diesel and one jerry of water
2> Try to find a second hand bonnet and put a bonnet mount spare on just for our big trips?
we could swap bonnets for the trip if you like, yes bonnet mounts are a little ennoying but you get to live with it
3> Mount the spare on some sort of bracket attached to the load side of the cargo barrier?
nah....means you have to unpack the car just to get the spare out
4> Some other way?
something like what Psimpson7 done for his trip. somebody on the forum has there roof top tent right up the front, it folds out over the bonnet and the ladder rested on the bullbar, this allows bar att he reat to hold a spare, save climbing over the folded tent to get at it
5> dual wheel carrier
Foz in OZ has one he got made up, he also has drawings....

Thanks in advance for any help/advice/experiences

I'm afraid I am a lazy type and will carry two spares when going bush just so I can whack them on as necessary and then drop them off at the next town and have them repaired. A holiday is precisely that. Tyre repair stuff is for your third and fourth flat.

I've even semi-growled at people in another Defender, who after their 2nd flat (he's just unlucky in that respect) got the gear out to patch the tube, along the lines of "Here use one of my spares and let's get moving, we can still make Kunnunurra before Happy Hour ends. And we can get it repaired by some bloke while we have a long breakfast"

I have a bonnet mount on my car and it does restrict vision but not to any extent that a stretch and a lean when sort out when rock hopping through really rough stuff. Knock on wood, 1000's of km of corrugations have not stuffed the bonnet yet. Another negative is i think it does slightly increas fuel consumption. But I like the bonnet mount and think it has had too bad a wrap on this thread.

I stow the 2nd tyre in the back (don't trust the standard door fitting, never have, those fittings are long gone) and this is the tyre that's a pia for me. It is not neatly stowed like Reads', it just sits in the back with the recorvery box sitting on it and perhaps another box both of which have been known to fall off on rough tracks and spill contents.

For me the ideal solution would be a Bearmach type carrier which opens with the rear door for one and the bonnet mount for the other. That or get the in car stowage properly sorted like Reads has done. I just haven't got round to opening the wallet to get one. There's always some other bill to be paid.

Oh and standard steel rims and 7.5R16 tyres have always worked fine for me. I don't do a lot of mud plugging though, just dry rough roads and tracks

Did the lap of Oz (including the cape) in 2001 with my County.

Took one spare, but didn't like the rear door carrier so welded up a frame that sat in the rear space behind the cargo barrier and held the spare vertical.

It mounted via tabs under the middle bench seat restraint bolts.

I still have the frame and see no reason why it would not fit a later model.

You are welcome to borrow it for your trip if you pass Brisbane.

I never had a flat on that tripo so never needed to get the tyre out.

The need for a second spare is a bit dependant on where you are going, do you have a bead breaker? if so you could consider just carrying a second tyre carcase without the rim, as well as a couple of tubes, in case plugging doesn't work

The Numpties did that on our Madigan trip - they were also the only ones unfortunate enough to destroy a tyre.

One of the other guys carried his spare on a bonnet mount (750R16) I had one on a rear carrier and the other on the roof rack, as in previous desert trips. As others have said getting them up/down isn't the easiest but is easier IF you have a roof monkey (17yo son is a good substitute).

Personally in your situation I'd be looking at a pair of good quality roof bars towards the front and get the spare onto that. Fingers crossed that you don't need it.

The other option if there are other landies in the group is to share the spares that way you could maybe get away without taking the second one.

Martyn

This is worth a repost, food for thought:

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/shopping-t...e+wheel+bonnet

Regards
Max P

if you dont already have a draw system, and your running 7.5r16 or similar then lay the tyre down in the back and push it up to the barrier (tie a rope through it first and leave the end hanging out)
put the highlift or jack in with it along side it and chuck your recovery bag behind it... now measure up and make up a floor plate to go over all of that...

once the floor plate is in (last one I did used 13mm ply) dunnage out the back end with bags of rags, jumper leads and anything else thats heavy.

Ever thought about having it mounted in the back of the Defender? Like the original spot on the Panelvans[/QUOTE]

I have done this in the RH side of my county,7.50X16 on STD.rim fits,I think a 235/85X16 on disco rim may be too wide to fit in the base,on full upwards travel the RH rear road wheel only just touches the base plate.It solved my problem of where to carry my second spare.