Spare wheel carrier on bonnet for bigger tyres.

**rijidij** · 27th October 2010, 11:41 AM

When we do longer trips, one of my mates likes to carry an extra spare on the bonnet of his County. The trouble is, we all run 255/85/16 tyres which are obviously heavy and the extra weight ended up bending the bonnet so it was touching the oil filler cap on the Isuzu.
So, to go about fixing the problem, we straightened the bonnet and took some inspiration from this design which was posted in another thread.

I thought this was a good idea, but as with a lot of accessories built overseas, they just don’t appear to be built strong enough for Australian conditions, so this is how I beefed it up a bit………

5mm steel plate hinge brackets.

Weld up the main frame. I used 25x25x2 Gal SHS and some 2mm checkerplate. (I wont bore you with all the measuring etc)

Fitted some longer bolts to accommodate the hinge bracket on top of the original hinge, and the checkerplate is fixed with stainless steel rivets. All the bolts and rivets go through the aluminium skin as well as the steel frame underneath.

This particular bonnet came from a Pommie import County and had the original wheel mount fitted. The four bolts through the middle part of the frame go through the holes where the rubber buffers were. I used some 6mm and 9mm rubber sheet to make some washers to pack between the frame and bonnet.

The new frame stiffened up the bonnet significantly (scientifically tested by jumping up and down on it

) The bottom face of the tyre sits approximately 10mm higher than with the original mount.

Overall, we’re pretty happy with how it turned out. We’ll test it out next weekend on a trip to the desert in NW Victoria.

Cheers, Murray

McBrain · 27th October 2010, 01:53 PM

Hi Murray,

It looks great, nice job as usual!

Personally I reckon it looks good having the reinforcement on the top surface of the bonnet like that but you must have considered fitting the frame under the bonnet? This would have given you 10mm extra view over the tyre.

Were there space limitations to putting it on the lower surface of the bonnet? More complex going through the existing bonnet beams?

That'll get a good workout this weekend for sure!

Cheers
Nick

**weeds** · 27th October 2010, 02:32 PM

nice work....having a 255 on would cut vision down. i have a 235 on the bonnet and for touring/deserts etc i don't have problem, can be a pain for weekend 4wding where wheel placement is required

**rijidij** · 27th October 2010, 04:59 PM

Originally Posted by McBrain

...........you must have considered fitting the frame under the bonnet? This would have given you 10mm extra view over the tyre.

Were there space limitations to putting it on the lower surface of the bonnet? More complex going through the existing bonnet beams?

Cheers
Nick

Yeah, we certainly did consider re-inforcing the bonnet frame underneath, but apart from being a little more complex and time consuming, there's the sound proofing to contend with. As it's glued on, it would've been a pain in the bum.
As usual with these sort of things, there are options to consider. We thought we'd give the top mount a go for now as it was the least hassle. Also, as it wasn't being fitted to my car, I didn't have any issues with drilling the rivets through the bonnet

Cheers, Murray

**rijidij** · 27th October 2010, 05:02 PM

Originally Posted by weeds

nice work....having a 255 on would cut vision down. i have a 235 on the bonnet and for touring/deserts etc i don't have problem, can be a pain for weekend 4wding where wheel placement is required

I agree, it is a bit restrictive to the vision of the front of the car, but most of the trips we do these days are touring/deserts, so that's what it will mostly be used for. Just the trips where you really need that second spare.

Cheers, Murray

**dullbird** · 27th October 2010, 07:56 PM

Murry

If it is a case of just needing a second spare for when in the desert etc...if you wanted to avoid blocking field of view...you could always design a bracket from the roof rack down to hold the tyre on the side of the car perhaps.

I think there is legality issues with it on the side..however iif you had something coming down from the roof rack you could always have something that will store in the roof rack and then when on the dirt folds down from the roof rack to the side of the car to take the weight from the top...

hahahahahha sorry getting carried away with myself as I suddenly got a pic and idea in my head of what it would look like while typing,,hahahah

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