Spare wheel in way of pintle for no 5 trailer

[gng1]

Hi there,
I'm looking for some advice about how to set up to tow our no 5 ex-military trailer.

Recently we got a new 7 seat silver defender 110 (2012) trading in the old 5 seat one(expanding family!). On the old defender the pintle hook was bolted to a hayman Reece style extension bar and the spare wheel was no problem because we had a front runner(?) swing-away style carrier which held the spare wheel up high and to the right hand side. It was fine but the trailer would have towed better if the pintle hook was higher up. There are actually holes on the bumper that would be a good fit but the hayman Reece installation per-dated our trailer purchase and I didn't want to remove it to bolt the pintle directly to the rear. I had thought on the new defender this is what I would do(which would also serve as a permanent recovery point), but it is clear that if I did that, the jaws would not be able to open because of the location of the spare wheel.

Getting a similar swing away wheel carrier is not an option because the folk riding in the third row seats need to be able to open the rear door from the inside. The spare wheel sits quite low (below the bottom of the barn door) and I don't know how best to set up to tow the trailer.

The options seem to be:
- bolt the hook to the bumper and remove the spare wheel every time we tow the trailer and put it elsewhere (not attractive)
- bolt the hook to the bumper and get a spare wheel carrier that opens with the rear door and hope the gap between the door and the wheel allows enough space to open and close the pintle jaws (not sure if wheel would be in way of draw bar at high departure angles?)
- just got the hayman Reece option again and maybe get a longer bar if available?

Many thanks for anyone who has any thoughts!

[Sth65pacific]

Is there a possibility of a photo? That will help everyone in the forum help solve the dilemma.

My thought is:
Have you considered welding a spare bracket on the front wall of the #5 to suit the Defender 110 stud pattern? That would remove the spare from the back of the vehicle. It may not sold your problem though.

Ian

[juddy]

The UK MOD Pumas, have a rear tyre fitted with Pintle hook... So they must be a part available..

[gng1]

Never posted a pic before! First time for everything. Hopefully this should illustrate that the pintle can't go where it should go with the wheel staying where it is! I have considered moving the wheel to the trailer but its not an ideal solution. One of the great things about the pintle connection is how quick it is to hook up and having to move the wheel detracts from this somewhat!

[juddy]

Theres a drop plate adaptor for this issue...

[gng1]

@juddy you mean like this pic from the web?

It seems this might have some disadvantages including:
- lower pintle point so trailer draw bar not level
- security? Looks like plate with pintle hook would detach with one pin so couldn't be left on
- reduced departure angle?

This doesn't seem much different from a hayman Reece type set up? I was thinking it would be good if there was a wheel carrier that opened with the door and can be opened from inside and could hold the wheel up and out of the way...

[isuzutoo-eh]

Just what you want, Rijidij swing away wheel carriers swing with the door and don't have any extra locking when the door is closed, so egress by the far back seat passengers won't be inhibited. The carrier also raises the spare a bit, at least relative to the door mount on my 110. So that might solve all your problems in one fell swoop.

[gng1]

Just what you want, Rijidij swing away wheel carriers swing with the door and don't have any extra locking when the door is closed, so egress by the far back seat passengers won't be inhibited. The carrier also raises the spare a bit, at least relative to the door mount on my 110. So that might solve all your problems in one fell swoop.

The Rijidij looked like it would be too low and had some sort of handle on the outside, but I may be wrong? I was looking at this pic on the Rijidiji website:

[isuzutoo-eh]

The handle is to unlock it from the fully open position, so it may be a little harder to close the door but easy to get out from inside.
I have a poor-man's pintle that has a vertical pin through two holes, with the original spare wheel holder i couldn't remove the pin, with the Rijidij carrier I can remove the pin. Not sure how much difference but there is some!

[gng1]

Thanks isuzutoo-eh. Good to know about the handle. But I'm still unsure about the Rijidij fitting with a pintle hook if the pintle is bolted into the four holes designed for said purpose. This photo looks like the Rijidij carrier has something bolted into the top two holes?
http://http://rijidijoffroad.bounce.com.au/communities/3/004/008/944/023/images/4567146148.jpg
Wouldn't the horizontal bar prevent the pintle jaws opening in any event? I can't visualise what you are describing re "poor-man's pintle". Do you mean one that doesn't rotate? If so wouldn't it have the same trouble? perhaps yours is bolted lower down?