Range Rover Spare Wheel Carrier

The spare wheel on the Range Rover consumes an immense amount of rear load space.  The Rover engineers have shoe horned the original 30x9.5x16 size tire between the tailgate support and rear wheel arch.  If you change your tire size to a 31x10.5x15 or larger, the shoe no longer fits.  The storage of the spare wheel would have to be one of the greatest Rover owner's complaints.

The only real solution is to remove the tire from inside the vehicle, and mount it externally.  Even here the options are limited.  The only satisfactorily option in my opinion, was to design and build a swing away wheel carrier.

I did a lot of research into how the after market manufacturers of off road products were designing their swing away wheel carrier's, as well as the OME designs on the likes of the Nissan's and Toyota's.  I even looked at purchasing an OME one and modifying it, but at $400 to $500 a throw from the wreckers, the price was a bit over the top.

Because of the lack of suitable mounting points the carrier could only have a single point hinge.  This means that the hinge had to be able to carry the full weight of the carrier and the spare tire.  I also wanted a hinge that had no, or minimal play, so that there were no rattles when driving.  The best solution I could come up with was to use a trailer stab axle complete with its cup and cone bearings, mounted in a purpose machine boss.

I purchased a stub axle new, and Andrew Findlay of MGE (club member) machined up a suitable boss.  For my mark 1 version of the carrier, I welded the stub axle directly on top of the galv water pipe used for the rear bull bar.  I knew that this was a temporary fix but I needed to test the design.  It actually worked really well!  The carrier had no rattles and was very smooth to open and close.  To hold the assembly shut I fitted a small cam-over type latch.

After a period of 8-10 months and a fair bit of vibration, the galv water pipe finally gave way to the repetitive stresses and the carrier fell off! (on a club trip to SF70 no less).  So mark II was born.  This time I mounted the stub between two 10mm plates welded to double rear bull bar tubes, and that is how it has stayed to this day.

The carrier is simple in design, can be removed from the bull bar without having to remove the bar from the vehicle, is smooth and easy in operation, and now carries some auxiliary lighting.  Further developments on the drawing board are a gas strut to keep the carrier open when required, and the mounting of the radio communication aerials.  I also plan to fabricate one for the other side of the truck for the mounting of a water canister and all the necessary recovery equipment.