Spare tire hood mount

[bd90]

I talked to George at RDS and he said there are two diff kits to mount spares on the hood. One alloy and the other steel. Also stated that if the hood is alloy you have to buy the alloy kit and vice versa. Didn't think to ask why at the time so now is a good time. Why? He charges @ $250 for the alloy which I guess is okay but was wondering if steel would be cheaper and stronger even if it isn't alloy like I suspect my 94 hood is. Anybody got any idea why it would matter? THanks in advance.

[wicks]

Never heard of such a thing. The bonnet is made of aluminum, and all of them I should think. The kit is a bunch of parts, none of which should or would be aluminum...

Here's what the parts look like...

[Glenn_Guinto]

I think what he means was one kit is for an alloy wheel and the other is for a steelie. If you have a spare alloy wheel, you wouldn't be able to fit it in a kit made for a steelie and vice versa. I did hear that before but never had any experiences with them. Price-wise shouldn't be a big difference (if any).

[Tawayama]

I have an old-skool hood mounted spare on the CrewCab. Parts are series-esque and parts are pure 127 (pre-Defender).

There's an entire hood frame made out of steel that's very heavy guage. I removed it and had it galvanized, then reinstalled it. Then there's a 3-post thingie that comes up through the hood. Two of the posts are threaded inside for the series bolts to go through and clamp the wheel down with these funky square-S shaped clamps. I am using a tire/rim combo that is too wide, so I made a piece of flat-bar to span the inside of the rim which holds the tire down with the same bolts. The third post is long enough to stick through one of the lugnut holes, and has a hole in it for a small padlock.

My tire is too wide to use the padlock, it just barely clears the lugnut hole.

[Buckon37s]

Glenn is right, he meant that there are two different types of bonnet mount. One that works with steel wheels and one that works with the alloys. The steel one is less expensive, it is a simple design. I would not recommend putting the tire on there though. You can't see a damn thing, its hard on the hood, and believe it or not, it makes the 90 even less aerodynamic

[bd90]

Thanks all for the advice. And thanks, David, for the vote no on the hood spare. That's the first negative thing I have heard about the arrangement. Anyone else have - or + to say about it. Wicks had one mounted at one time and if I remember correctly he liked it. Wicks, am I right? Anyway, currently my 90 is a third vehicle and so the aerodynamic problem is not an issue nor is the visibility. I basically want it for the overall look. I Also plan on switching to the black wheels so the kit for the steel wheels is for me. Thanks also, for clearing up the confusion on the alloy/steel kits.

I am curious about the weight on the hood. Any stories about that?

[wicks]

Brian, the weight on the hood is not little, so the hood flexes when hitting bumps. I love having the setup, but don't use it often. Only when going on a long or nasty run where there's a remote possibility of needing two spares. It is designed as a military bolt-on component, and is not engineered perfectly. The earlier bonnets had stiffer frames, but the Defender hood was not designed as such, thus the flexing. I plan to reinforce mine at some point.

The aerodynamic thing is debatable. Mine is quiter (air) when tire on bonnet.

The visibility thing is less an issue if you run proper wheels (steel 6.5" or less) and standard size tires (7.50x16 or 225/85/16, etc).

[Tawayama]

Brian, don't do it for the looks. Do it because you need to put it there.

I've had spares on the hoods of all my series LR's (a '66 88-inch, a '70 109, a '53 80-inch and now the CrewCab).

I've never had a problem with visibility, but I'm used to it.

Aerodynamics are the LAST thing you should be worrying about when putting the spare on the hood.

If you have a rear mount for the spare tire, use it. If you need 2 spares like Wicks said, then the hood mounted spare is a good reason to do that. I've never been on a run that needed 2 spares, but can see the wisdom in doing so. I take comfort in knowing that my trailer uses the same wheel/tire combo that the CC does, so essentially when I take the trailer I have 2 spares (one on the trailer).

Also, consider the extra weight on your front springs, which may already be overloaded or nearly so if you run a big bullbar/winch.

If you're going to run bigger tires, then you might want to see if you can find an earlier hood with the beefier hood-frame. Mine flexes even though it's the earlier beefier style.

DON'T do it just because it looks good. Can I say that enough? :)

EDIT: Also don't forget that the tire is HEAVY. Lifting the hood is made MUCH harder with the tire on there. I have smashed my thumb before when the hood came down on it unexpectedly (my hands were wet and the hood slipped out and WHAMO!).

[wicks]

I am a little confused on the while look thing. I wouldn't buy a Defender if it didn't look like it does. One of the things that makes a landy look cool is the tire on the hood.

:hmm

[Tawayama]

True. But, the reason they put the tire on the hood was because they didn't want to sacrifice room in the bed.

Originally the spare tire was bolted behind the center bulkhead in the cargo area. LR saw fit to offer a spare tire carrier on the hood and many took advantage of it.

Yeah, it's one of the things that makes a series or defender LR unique, but it wasn't done originally to make it 'look cool'.

It ends up 'looking cool' because of it's honest function IMO.

If you want to recreate that look on your truck simply because it does look cool, then that's well within your right to do so. Personally I think that's the wrong reason, but that's just me.

But, I do end up being the pot that calls the kettle black, because there are certain things on my own vehicles that have been done to aid in the 'look'.

I could have gotten by with an F-350 Crew Cab with a utility box on the back and done just fine on the safaris I run. BUT, I wanted 'the look', so I stuck with LR's.

That's kind of an extreme example, but given to show that I am aware of my own hypocracy. It's OK to be a hypocrite as long as you know you're being one.

:)

Oh, another one that happened to me today. I had a wing-mounted shovel on the 109 SW I had. I put it there partly because I thought it would 'look cool', and partly because I thought it would be handy there.

On the CC I specifically have not put one there because I thought it would be a little too poseur-ish.

Today I actually NEEDED to have access to a shovel and couldn't get into the rear cargo box to get mine. I was thinking that this would have been the perfect time to have had a pick and shovel on the wings.

Now I'm reassesing that particular item.

So, even I am a bit wishy-washy in that regard.

[wicks]

Put the pick and shovel on the bonnet - much better config. Leaves the wintops clear for tools, etc. (function!) ;)

My series had the bonnet mount, the rear door mount, AND the interior mount. I loved tossing the spare all around as needed. Yehaw!

[Tawayama]

Hey, take some pics of your shovel/pick setup on your hood. I want to see how they're mounted and what shovell/pick you have.

[wicks]

All Genuine/M0D ingredients...

[wicks]

And...

[Tawayama]

Is that all stuff from Rovers North? I got the same shovel kit for my 109 and thought I could make a better one after getting the pieces, realizing how simple they were and how much they wanted to charge for them.