Securing tyre and drawers in rear of Rangie...

[McDisco]

Ok, here my dilemma. Stick with me here as I am just sort of unloading my thoughts in the hope that you guys can give some comments or suggestions.:D

I need to sort out a way of securing the spare tyre in the rear of the rangie and how to secure my timber drawers. I want to be able to bolt the spare (a 35 inch simex) flat on the floor when on day trips and to put the drawers in for longer high country trips.

I have a swing away tyre carrier attached to the rear bar, but the weight of the tyre bends the bar a lot and puts a lot of stress on it. I will use this when I have to on longer trips but I will strengthen the bar and the arm (this can be a later job). For day trips I prefer the tyre in the car and close to over the rear axle.

So, I currently have the rear bar off and the fuel tank out (as it has a leak and I have to replace it and the fuel pump which went kaput) so I thought it would be a good time to sort out some mounts through the rear floor as it is very accessible now.

I thought about just drilling holes in it and putting bolts through, but I want to be able to swap things in and out and also I would be worried about water proofing these holes. I also thought that I would need steel plates under the floor to make a secure mount and distribute the load.

The rear floor is corrugated so my thinking now is to secure the steel plates on the inside top of the floor with steel pop rivets (4-8 each plate) and welding a captive nut on the under side (laying in one of the corrugations). This would allow me to not have bolts sticking out of the floor and would mean that I could change things around. I would just bolt everything down.

I have a tyre mount for my roof rack that I can adapt and bolt to the floor through into the captive nuts to secure the tyre. And then I can have some L bracket angle iron attached to the bottom of the timber drawer to secure them with bolts through to their own captive nuts.

Im thinking that this option (pop rivetted plates and captive nuts) would be a nice water proof option (with small holes drilled into the floor) and relatively secure. If I use 4-8 steel pop rivets I imagine it would be secure enough.

What do people reckon? What have you guys done?

Angus

p.s- if you made it this far...thanks for reading it all cause its a bit of a ramble.

[Tank]

My solution and what I have done is to install a cargo barrier the top shelf of my drawers is bolted to the cargo barrier and the bottom just rests against the barrier, undo a couple of bolts and it's out. I would strengthen the wheel carrier and keep the tyre out of the back, Regards Frank.

[ytt105]

I have a similar issue in my P38.

The spare wheel has been replaced by the donut LPG tank so the spare used to live on the floor.

I've made a steel base across the entire floor. It bolts to existing bolts in the floor at the extreme edges. On top of that I have a fridge slider on one side and a sliding floor with the spare on, on the other side. This floor has to slide to allow me to have access to the gas bottle for annual inspection, also makes it easier to remove the spare. Over the spare I have a plywood cover permanantly mounted. This allows me to leave the spare in its place and put camping gear on the top.

My next addition will be a draw system that will replace the spare when I make a spare wheel carrier or the spare is mounted on the roof rack for longer trips.

[p38arover]

This is how I secured the drawers in my RRC (click on pix for larger image):

Ron's Range Rover Classic Modifications (http://p38arover.com/rover/rovermod.html#storage)

[McDisco]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Ron - thats pretty much the same idea I had, but in reverse. I think mounting the plate on the underside of the floor and pop rivetted it on with a captive nut is a good idea.

Angus

[bee utey]

When I mount a spare tyre in the back of a wagon I usually use a plate with a captive nut under the floor, with 2 small bolts to hold the plate on (and silicone sealant). I don't really like rivets in cars, bolts can be undone.

To waterproof the hole, glue a rubber chair tip under the nut. Or use a capped wheel nut. I usually use threaded rod, with a lock nut at floor level, to retain the wheel. It's then easier to tighten the wheel down without punching a hole into your fuel tank.

[BigJon]

. I don't really like rivets in cars, bolts can be undone.



I have a drill for undoing rivets! :p

[PhilipA]

And I bought myself a Rivnut tool and selection of Rivnuts for Christmas which I am itching to try out.

Just looking at your idea of the plate, I think you would have to be careful of the depth under the floor or start touching the tank.

I would maybe weld the nut to a plate ( which is under the floor )but place the nut on top of the plate in one of the corrugations. Maybe you would have to grind the nut a bit to fit in a channel. Then be sure to measure the length of the bolt by trialling with a tyre so that it does not protrude past the plate, seeing you have the tank out.
Just be sure you use the same height tyre every time, or maybe weld a collar on the bolt so that you cannot insert it too far.

Regards Philip A