Spare wheel...

I was advised to put the spare off my Defender TD5 in either the back or on the roof rack to save the rear door hinges. Has anyone else done this and did you blank off the spare wheel bracket with anything? Cheers

It's not normally the hinges that go, it's the rear door itself that splits ...

Look at the cracks (circled in yellow) on mine... there were more too higher up on the frame.



I took off the carrier and just filled the holes with silicone. One day .... I will cover it all with a sheet of stainless I bought about 6 moons ago ...

tweedandbriar said:

I was advised to put the spare off my Defender TD5 in either the back or on the roof rack to save the rear door hinges. Has anyone else done this and did you blank off the spare wheel bracket with anything? Cheers

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Wouldn’t worry if it isn’t a problem. Putting it on a roof rack is not great. Very heavy to lift up/down and causes body roll.

It is usually the door that goes helped along by the rust bug. Later versions of door have an extra stiffener frame inside.

Get a swing away spare wheel carrier. It keeps the spare on the rear but takes the weight off of the back door.

Knappster said:

Get a swing away spare wheel carrier. It keeps the spare on the rear but takes the weight off of the back door.

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This one^^

But you can also get stiffener brackets that rivet tot he uprights of the door to add extra strength, I have only ever seen them on a second hand door I bought but have transferred them onto every subsequent door I have fitted.

if you fit a swing away the mounting plate to the rear door will cover the holes. but if you go with just putting it in the back a square of ali cut to the same size as the carrier ad with the same hols drilled can just be bolted up using all the same hardware and covers the wheel mounting holes. You can then paint it body or contrast colours depending on your preference.