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Rye54



Member Since: 09 Jul 2017
Location: Scotland
Posts: 48
United Kingdom 
Door mounted spare - Bad Idea?
Afternoon,

Last weekend I spent a bit of time adjusting the strike plate, tightening the hinges etc. on the rear door of my 90 puma to reduce the amount of rattling coming from it, especially when going over bumpy ground. Whilst I was there I removed the door card off the rear door to see if there were any stress fractures but the door looks to be in great condition, even after 13 years carrying a boost alloy on it. I plan on replacing my boost alloys with wolf wheels in the near future and had planned on fitting a spare wheel carrier to take the extra weight (~3kg difference) but now I'm questioning whether I really need to?

I know there are a lot of advocates for spare wheel carriers which surely says something, but does anyone have any experience of mounting a wolf wheel directly onto the door and if so how did the door fare in the long run?



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Post #811619 23rd Jan 2020 2:00pm
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Matt110



Member Since: 29 Jun 2014
Location: UK
Posts: 673
United Kingdom 
Its not the door that suffers. (although if you fit bigger and bigger offset wheels with wider and wider tyres you'll stress it more, but with your proposed wheel that won't be an issue.)

It's the hinges. The hinges wear, then the door drops and starts to foul the closing strip on the bottom of the door, then corrosion etc and the drop makes the latch and the lock start to wear at the same time.

So you may find the door is fine but the hinges aren't. That's why people tend to fit them.
Post #811620 23rd Jan 2020 2:08pm
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markb110



Member Since: 22 May 2010
Location: Guildford
Posts: 2520
England 2002 Defender 90 Td5 HT Epsom Green
Rye

Something worth doing is to get some Silent Coat from the Sound Deading Shop, direct or EBay.

Cut it to fit the panel where it sounds tinny, you don’t need to cover the entire door. Then add some to the inside of the door panel.

It will make a difference even for not too much money.

Good luck
Post #811643 23rd Jan 2020 6:33pm
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BogMonster



Member Since: 05 Feb 2008
Location: Stanley
Posts: 389
Falkland Islands 2015 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 USW Corris Grey
Several things influence this including

Size/weight of spare
Whether you travel on rough roads a lot
How you and the passengers treat the door

The last one is surprisingly significant. If you treat it like a squaddie and hurl the door shut with maximum force from fully open "because you always need to slam Land Rover doors" it will eventually break even with a 7.50 on it. If you close it firmly but gently then no problems. I've not had a problem with my 13 year old Tdi nor the 5 year old Puma but I treat it sensibly. ---
2006 Defender 110 SW 300Tdi • 2011 Ford Ranger XLT crewcab • 2015 Defender 110 Station Wagon Utility TDCi
Post #811897 25th Jan 2020 4:29pm
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