Hi guys
New to the world of land rovers but my journey has began.
Got a mint CSW 1990 Land Rover 90.
Question is
1. I am putting on 285 75 16 modular 16 inch wheels on the back door. I think it weights 35kg.
Are the rear doors strong n stable to carry spare wheel of this weight? Any upgrades I need to do to the door to make it more sturdy?

Thank you..
I have the alloys on my Def 90 TD5 and a three bolt wheel carrier was on the rear safari door. The weight of the heavy wheel/tyre destroyed the rear door totally and it bent the door a lot from the top to the door handle area. I bought a new rear door and painted it and then bought a swingaway wheel carrier made by Britpart for it as i dont fancy seeing the new door damaged again. Not only this is the problem but the weight of the wheel on the three bolt carrier also destroys the three door hinges too. In the short term i have not kept the wheel in or on the car but in the garage. I cant bring myself to drill the door plate holes in my new door with it nice fresh paint and no white signs of door rot along the bottom edge either. So the new s'away carrier is still inn its box in the garage but there again its only a week since the door was painted!!!!! I am now thinking of using the old rear door mount in some way to mount the spare wheel in the back loading area against the seat rear panel' Then the weight is on the main floor in the rear and if its upright i wont lose much space and can still have the two 2 seats in the back as well. Then i can sell the new s'away to someone.
 
I just use one of the old steel wheels as a spare, with a set of cone nuts to suit.
 
I have the alloys on my Def 90 TD5 and a three bolt wheel carrier was on the rear safari door. The weight of the heavy wheel/tyre destroyed the rear door totally and it bent the door a lot from the top to the door handle area. I bought a new rear door and painted it and then bought a swingaway wheel carrier made by Britpart for it as i dont fancy seeing the new door damaged again. Not only this is the problem but the weight of the wheel on the three bolt carrier also destroys the three door hinges too. In the short term i have not kept the wheel in or on the car but in the garage. I cant bring myself to drill the door plate holes in my new door with it nice fresh paint and no white signs of door rot along the bottom edge either. So the new s'away carrier is still inn its box in the garage but there again its only a week since the door was painted!!!!! I am now thinking of using the old rear door mount in some way to mount the spare wheel in the back loading area against the seat rear panel' Then the weight is on the main floor in the rear and if its upright i wont lose much space and can still have the two 2 seats in the back as well. Then i can sell the new s'away to someone.
You could drill an external panel with countersunk bolts to mount the carrier to and then mount that plate using the original wheel mounting holes. I have done this to fit an early style swing away to a later style one piece door. Used some 4mm ali plate in a square the size of the old carrier and mounted using the old carrier bolts. Then the swing away bracket is mounted in the correct position with countersunk bolts going though the plate and into the bracket. No drilling needed then on the door itself.
 
You could drill an external panel with countersunk bolts to mount the carrier to and then mount that plate using the original wheel mounting holes. I have done this to fit an early style swing away to a later style one piece door. Used some 4mm ali plate in a square the size of the old carrier and mounted using the old carrier bolts. Then the swing away bracket is mounted in the correct position with countersunk bolts going though the plate and into the bracket. No drilling needed then on the door itself.
Did you mean drill the holes in the new door or in the internal panel behind the the two front seats? Cos if i put it on the internal panel and use a bit of space up inside it wont then mean i have to ruin the rear door which is brand new and freshly spray painted. If i go the internal way, i can then sell my new Britpart swingaway carrier i bought. I just can bring myself to ruin lovely looking paint job and door panel.
cheers
 
I think that is my poblem I regualalry travel long distance and do abotu 25/30k a year so i spend a lot of time far enough away if i got a puncture it would be a big issue.
Why not just carry a runflat kit as supplied with most new cars nowadays?
 
I bought a Britpart made carrier from Paddocks. It has a sliding fitting that has to be bolted to the rear door panel that slides in and out when the door is opened/closed. So too late to get a different one now. I bought part number DA2232 .
 
I bought a Britpart made carrier from Paddocks. It has a sliding fitting that has to be bolted to the rear door panel that slides in and out when the door is opened/closed. So too late to get a different one now. I bought part number DA2232 .
Steel Wheels only on that one apparently….return for refund?
 
Why would you mount a wheel on the rear door that will destroy the door?
The hood mount is a much betta place.
 
Did you mean drill the holes in the new door or in the internal panel behind the the two front seats? Cos if i put it on the internal panel and use a bit of space up inside it wont then mean i have to ruin the rear door which is brand new and freshly spray painted. If i go the internal way, i can then sell my new Britpart swingaway carrier i bought. I just can bring myself to ruin lovely looking paint job and door panel.
cheers
Neither. I mean make an additional panel that is then bolted to the outside face of the rear door using the original wheel carrier mounting holes. Below is a picture of that I have. It is a piece of 3/4mm ali (cant remember which). The bolt heads you can see go through the original wheel mount holes in the door (if you have the older style door they will be a small square in the center) and the pivot for the swing away is then bolted to this panel only using countersunk bolts. They come from the behind this additional panel and sit flush due to the countersink so the panel can be bolted flat against the door. The rubber stopper is mounted in the same way with a small counter sunk bolt. The black panel is the additional panel I made. I didn’t paint it green because I don’t have colour matched green paint, the wheel carrier is black and I do have black paint. Plus with a wheel on you don’t see it.

6ED9C013-E92F-47CD-AAEE-9F9D22946246.jpeg
 
That plate black has six bolts in the rear door which is exactly what i dont want to do. I took off the old three stud wheel carrier from my old rear door as it was pupping the ali off the frame and cracking. My new rear door is freshly painted and i dont want to drill holes in it for the siz mounting bolts or the rear wiper.
I am now thinking of how to use the old three stud mount by bolting it to the metal panel behind the front seats. If i mount the wheel upright there i will only lose the width of the tyre in terms of space so 235mm of the rear loading area and not a lot at all. I hardly ever use the rear of the vehicle so wont miss the space taken.
Anyone done similar?
 
That plate black has six bolts in the rear door which is exactly what i dont want to do. I took off the old three stud wheel carrier from my old rear door as it was pupping the ali off the frame and cracking. My new rear door is freshly painted and i dont want to drill holes in it for the siz mounting bolts or the rear wiper.
I am now thinking of how to use the old three stud mount by bolting it to the metal panel behind the front seats. If i mount the wheel upright there i will only lose the width of the tyre in terms of space so 235mm of the rear loading area and not a lot at all. I hardly ever use the rear of the vehicle so wont miss the space taken.
Anyone done similar?
There are two different factory mounts for spare wheel mounts to the door depending on the age of your door.

Below is the later model one peice doors with the 6bolt mounting pattern i have on mine:

YRM155-2.jpg


Earlier doors have a smaller central square mounting pattern and are an ali skin over a steel frame:


upload_2022-3-21_16-4-27.png
upload_2022-3-21_16-4-52.png


Either way if it originally had a wheel mounting you just use the original holes and a suitable sized piece of ali plate to become the correct sized "black plate" for your door.

If you have a replacement rear door that does not have a wheel mounting:

upload_2022-3-21_16-7-9.png



This leaves you with three options if you will not drill the door:
  1. Do not carry a door mounted spare
  2. Drill the tub (both sides) to mount a pickup style swing away that is not linked to the door and has the disadvantage of being opened separately from the door
  3. Splash out over £1000 on the only swing away I am aware of that does only has a single mounting point on the tub and does not require a second on the door (still has the disadvantage of being opened separately from the door)
  4. Drill the door in appropriate places to mount a plate for a normal swing away
As you have said you are looking at option 1 to mount it to the bulkhead rather than the rear door I would personally not use the original mounting plate. i would instead be looking at a series style mounting on the bulkhead. This is hinged bolt that allows the wheel to sit on the floor regardless of tyre size or if it flat, and just holds it against the bulkhead. By doing this you take nearly all of the load bearing stress stress off the mounting bolts. If you use the original carrier if your tyre was flat or you changed sizes the carrier would then be carrying the weight of the wheel and the bulkhead is only thin ali plate.

A series bulkhead mount:

upload_2022-3-21_16-19-49.png
upload_2022-3-21_16-20-7.png
upload_2022-3-21_16-20-22.png


But you could easily make your own with an eye bolt, some angled metal, and a flat bar to hold the wheel.
 
I have the old three stud carrier that i took off the old rear door going spare now i have a new back door fitted and painted. It looks like the Maroon Defender above in another post on here. I am not prepared to drill any holes in it as it came with none at all not even for the wiper or the bolts for a carrier. I dont like it on the door anyway as it makes getting to the rear door handle harder.
If i take the long studs off the old carrier and drill the interior panel behind the front seats i can use the bolts through the panel to hold the wheel upright and not have to buy anything new. Three largish holes and its done or the four smaller holes can be used from the original backplate like on the Maroon defender picture and four new 10mm bolts and a bit of carpet or a block of thin wood to stand wheel on in the upright position against the panel. It stands 31 inches high with a 238/85x16 tyre on it and you can still see over it easily from the drivers seat. I will need to move the middle seat seat belt mounting though as it is on the panel where the wheel needs to lean against it. Simple just two bolts to do.
Thats how i plan to carry a spare wheel, not on a carrier that will ruin the new door, not on the bonnet making the driving worse as you can hardly see over it and i can easily remove the wheel for a trip if i want to carry something large in the back. Or i can simply leave it where it is and has been for six months in my garage.
If i do mount it inside, i will have a brand new swing away from Britpart for sale still in its cardboard box part no DA2232.
All i need is a warmer day and i will get it done.....
 
I think you should mount your spare wheel on the door and get on with your life. When the rear door develops a problem, sort it out (resolve it, find a solution). I think the way we think about life has changed. A 25 year mortgage isn't a ball and chain for that length of time anymore. See it as renting for three years and sell up. Same with tratters. Who the f*&%wants to do everything they can to safeguard their back door from a hinge problem for the next 30 years (or for eternity even)???/
 
I think you should mount your spare wheel on the door and get on with your life. When the rear door develops a problem, sort it out (resolve it, find a solution). I think the way we think about life has changed. A 25 year mortgage isn't a ball and chain for that length of time anymore. See it as renting for three years and sell up. Same with tratters. Who the f*&%wants to do everything they can to safeguard their back door from a hinge problem for the next 30 years (or for eternity even)???/
The problem is not with the hinges, the problem is that a door mounted spare wheel destroys the door.
 
If i take the long studs off the old carrier and drill the interior panel behind the front seats i can use the bolts through the panel to hold the wheel upright and not have to buy anything new. Three largish holes and its done or the four smaller holes can be used from the original backplate like on the Maroon defender picture and four new 10mm bolts and a bit of carpet or a block of thin wood to stand wheel on in the upright position against the panel. It stands 31 inches high with a 238/85x16 tyre on it and you can still see over it easily from the drivers seat. I will need to move the middle seat seat belt mounting though as it is on the panel where the wheel needs to lean against it. Simple just two bolts to do.

As mentioned above you do not want it bolted directly to the bulkhead, you want a hinged bolt as both the series design and the correct 110 design posted by @slomofo. The reason for this is so the weight of the wheel is taken by the floor not bolts through the bulkhead. Even if you position the bolts such that the wheel is on the floor now as the tyre wears, or you when you get a puncture and the tyre is flat the weight will transfer to the bolts which will then either pull through or crack the bulkhead, it is only a thin aluminum panel. On the landrover bulkhead mount design all the bolts on the bulkhead do is stop it falling backwards, all of the weight of the wheel is sat on the floor.

I have the bulkhead mount in my series and am in the process of fitting one to my sankey because the current bolt through method it came with (same as you are describing) has done exactly that and cracked the tub where the bolts are (pic below).


upload_2022-3-22_14-53-10.png
upload_2022-3-22_14-54-6.png
 
Last edited:

Similar threads