Defender Rear Door??

I have had some conversations with the fellows who test Toyotas here in South Africa. Their pet hate is people who put spotlights and winches in front of the radiator. They say this has a huge effect on radiator performace.

I can just imagine the effect of a whole wheel in front of the rad. A much better solution is to get an aftermarket wheel carrier that mounts the wheel near the rear door or stash it on the roof rack like me.

I have just rebuilt the Nissan LD 28 in my SerIII and I can tell you that I definitely saw a difference in running temp before and after the installation of my Warn 8274.

Regards Stephen

I don't doubt what you say, but Derry is a few miles north of the nearest big game reserve and I doubt he'd have a big problem with overheating....

Tim Hobbs wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Too true. Have to take a stick with me in the mornings to break the icicles so I can get into the cab. And that's in the summer!

It's just that I saw an MOD Land Rover with the front mounted spare. Seemed a good idea. As for roof mounting, knocked the roof mounted spot light the other day when I went into the multi-story car park. A roof mounted spare might have been interesting...

Derry (100 miles south of John O'Groats)

In article , Tim Hobbs writes

You will find that with the spare wheel Mounted in front of the radiator will cause it to overheat even in the UK.

It will also stop/hinder the flow of air through the intercooler.

In all it is a pretty bad idea.

On or around 8 Jan 2004 07:39:31 GMT, Derry Argue enlightened us thusly:

put it on the bonnet where it belongs...

and yes, if the door's sound but cracked you can weld it or get it welded.

Austin Shackles wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Erm, i's a 1997 300Tdi. Won't it just go straight through??

I have my victim already lined up. The price is an evening's duck flighting

Derry

The pinkies used to have the spare horizontally mounted for that very reason (overheating) I suppose. Always thought that the swing away carrier thing was a "good idea" as Christopher Robin used to say.

On or around 8 Jan 2004 19:50:16 GMT, Derry Argue enlightened us thusly:

dunno, I've not actually studied one in detail.

someone had some proper "spare wheel" bonnets up for grabs a bit back, the kind the military use. But on mine, which may not be the same bonnet as yours, I fitted the thing off the back door to the bonnet and put the wheel on it. Helps stop the bonnet form rattling. The framework on my bonnet is fairly light-looking.

Austin Shackles wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

My 300 is an ex-gamekeeper's vehicle and my pals never tire of remarking that it's got all the right dents in the right places

-- dented wings where he has lent on it, then dents from the tripod on the bonnet for the rifle! I don't think it would support a spare.

The extra wheel carrier on the door hinges sounds a good idea though.

Derry

On or around 9 Jan 2004 09:53:01 GMT, Derry Argue enlightened us thusly:

works fine on mine. I thought it was only the TD5s that had no bracing on the bonnet.

Bracing on the underside of the bonnet on mine is something in the region of

If it's nice and I get the tuits, I'll photograph it and stick it on the web somewhere.

I usually carry two spares, one on the back and one on the bonnet, but even being six feet tall I must admit that it can be difficult to see over big BF tyres. I've looked at the idea of mounting one on the front bumper, but the only time I've seen them are on SAS vehicles.

Mind you, with all those traffic wardens with new powers lurking around it would be useful to have the right type of bumper, complete with smoke pots, fitted. Unfortunately I don't think my local constabulary would like the idea of twin machine guns on ring mounts sitting next to my roof tent and executing a J turn in a 110 probably wouldn't win me any friends in the local pedestrian zone.

Coming back to reality, there must be some of these brackets around in military stores, because I think I've seen these on the new SAS vehicles. Cheers, John