Bonnet Mount - Should I?

[Jock The Rock]

Gday

Met a fella today with a '98 Defender with a bonnet mount for a spare.

I had a chat to him, and he told me it is his old mans. I was interested in the bonnet mount as it looked like he had never used it. So I asked and he said he would chat to his old man tonight and tell me tomorrow.

So just a quick question before I go swapping bonnets

To the people with bonnet mounts; do they get in the way? I'm not talking about the spare but instead the bolts when a tyre isn't on the bonnet.

I'll only be mounting a tyre on it when I really need to, not all the time

What do you reckon?

Thanks

[ellard]

Hi there

There must have been a kit made to put tyres on the bonnet at some stage available for the Defenders......

As our Defender 130 (Fire Truck) QAV 1-4 and for the non firey related people stands for Quick Attack Vehicle 1000lt water and 4wd has the spare tyre on the bonnet and works well....

Wayne

[justinc]

Hi there

There must have been a kit made to put tyres on the bonnet at some stage available for the Defenders......

As our Defender 130 (Fire Truck) QAV 1-4 and for the non firey related people stands for Quick Attack Vehicle 1000lt water and 4wd has the spare tyre on the bonnet and works well....

Wayne

Yes Wayne, I have fitted 2 of them, it hurt drilling a near new bonnet I can tell you

Jock, I wouldn't do it, it is a pain to lift the bonnet, it wears the hinge inserts and the striker etc. I would possibly fit one for long distance touring etc, but wouldn't leave it on there 24/7.

JC

[weeds]

i have one fitted and carry the spare all the time, yep takes a bit of effort to lift the bonnet and when off road it can obstruct ones vision a bit, touring no dramas at all

[jimbo110]

With no wheel on it you don't even notice it's there, best of all you can wrap your legs around it when you go shooting, you can't slide off the bonnet and your bum stays warm too...................

[Mick-Kelly]

Is it practical.............no
Does it look good and very landrover ish..............YES
Did i do it with my old one.........YES

[Jock The Rock]

Jock, I wouldn't do it, it is a pain to lift the bonnet, it wears the hinge inserts and the striker etc. I would possibly fit one for long distance touring etc, but wouldn't leave it on there 24/7.

JC

I'm not planning to have a spare on there all the time. My main spare is always on the roof rack.

I was just thinking of having it there in case I ever did need it. Save having to drill a hole in my bonnet

I was thinking if this fella is prepared to do a straight bonnet swap then I would just have the option of mounting a spare there if I ever needed too

[idletorque]

A Land Rover's not complete without a spare wheel mount on the bonnet!!!

I fitted one to my Defender's bonnet and just as you plan to do, only ever use it for touring trips. After the first day you forget its there!

Just do it!!

Regards,
Greg

[rangieman]

No i would,nt , they are a pain in the butt when cresting a hill and i hope your fit to lift that bonnet

[camel_landy]

Do the swap.

I've got the mount on mine & I don't really notice it.

The only thing of note is to make sure you've got the correct bonnet support. You'll need the rigid one rather than the hinged one otherwise it'll collapse under the weight of the spare.

HTH

M