 | Home > Wheels & Tyres > How many of you have back door issues due to spare wheel |
 
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| K9F Member Since: 12 Nov 2009 Location: Bournemouth Posts: 9610   
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I have seen many Defenders including new ones with the tell-tale dent in the offside quarter panel where the spare wheel has impinged on the panel and/or the light and dented it. Only real ideal solution is a combination of a swingaway wheel carrier and a rear door strut.
Related threads: http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic11916....=rear+dent http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic5732.html?highlight=rear+dent If you go through life with your head in the sand....all people will see is an ar5e!! Treat every day as if it is your last....one day you will be right!! Last edited by K9F on 28th Sep 2015 6:03pm. Edited 1 time in total |
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28th Sep 2015 5:19pm |
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| GREENI Member Since: 22 Aug 2010 Location: staffs Posts: 10381
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With the weight of the wheel on the door, they rattle like crazy. I honestly take my spare wheel off, as well as the mount and dump them in the garage, unless I'm going any lonnnng distance, then I spanner it back on, or strap the wheel in the back..
Plus we usually park on a hill when shooting, so I get sick of the door self closing. I'll get a wheel carrier one day. But I'm not in any rush. |
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28th Sep 2015 5:39pm |
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| ian series 1 Member Since: 17 Nov 2014 Location: south Posts: 3127 
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When I brought mine it was fitted with 18" alloys.
The woman I brought from mentioned to me when on a test drive the spare wheel rattled! And it did, badly! After buying it, I took the rear door card off to find where the loud crunching noise was coming from. The inner door frame had cracked from one side to the other, also breaking the seam sealer that fixes the outer skin to the frame. It was quite a mess! After seeing this, and welding the door frame back together, I decided on a spare wheel holder to give the door a rest. Once the frame breaks, there is very little strength in the rear doors. 80" 80" 86" 88" 90" Wanted, Forward Control Anything considered. |
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28th Sep 2015 7:37pm |
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| X4SKP Member Since: 29 Nov 2013 Location: Berkshire Posts: 2295 
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Hello RRUK
I would say that the problem area is less to do with the hinges, and more to do with the inherent strength of the Defender rear door, particularity pre-Puma 2006/7. The Puma rear door is strengthened with better internal load bearing ribs and spread washers than the 200 and 300 tdi's. I don't know if the TD5 had this improvement, but I wouldn't mind betting that they were business as usual. The door hinges, in my opinion, are probably up to the job of carrying a normal or even bigger Spare Wheel unless the door gets real abuse. The two most likely effects of an oversized or heavier Spare Wheel mounted directly on the standard (Land Rover OEM) Spare Wheel carrier is this weight being 'flexed' into the Door on repeated shutting, progressively breaking down the structure of the door and as K9F pointed out the Tyre pushing in the off-side bodywork when opened fully. A swing away carrier, transfers almost all of the weight of the Spare Wheel off the rear door hinges, mainly to the rear cross member. There remains the 'push effect' into the rear door when closed, but this is significantly reduced. I have just tackled this with a Mantec Carrier. A bonus I wasn't expecting is that the 'piston arrangement' on the Mantec also 'slows down' the door movement, probably not as good as a rear door damper (strut), but the whole feel of the rear door opening and closing is improved.  Click image to enlarge Inside a 2010 Rear Door with Spare Wheel Carrier Bolts and Spread Washers X6 Click image to enlarge Mantec Spare Wheel Carrier (with adapter and security modifications) SKIP https://www.defender2.net/forum/topic83242.html |
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29th Sep 2015 9:10am |
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| Eduardo Member Since: 28 Aug 2008 Location: Región Metropolitana Posts: 2110  
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My rear door develop a severe crack after 1 year of use.
Click image to enlarge Was changed under guarantee. After that I install a spare wheel carrier. I must said that the door is used everyday... Eduardo MY 2007 110 SW PUMA 2.4: Big Fog of 64' MY 1994 Jayco 1207 Folding camper: "El Tremendo" Click image to enlarge |
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29th Sep 2015 10:51am |
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| Birdy Member Since: 07 Oct 2011 Location: Côte d'Azur Posts: 865  
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“tell-tale dent in the offside quarter”
Every single one of mine had - and has - it*. The accompanying bangs and rattles from the rear door too. But to repeat myself yet again: we knew that when we bought 'em. As to the OP's question “How many times does it happen in real life that the rear door, hinges and bracket scenario fail, break, buckle or whatever?”, if you mean “How many times has a door/wheel fallen off?”, I'd hazard a guess: NEVER. No Blood, No Foul. Peter *Edited to add: actually, not quite true: one of mine had a bonnet-mounted spare wheel and I'd blocked off the holes in the rear door with a square of aluminium |
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29th Sep 2015 10:19pm |
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| AndyS Member Since: 18 Aug 2012 Location: London Posts: 595 
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I don't think you're getting the point, Birdy.
You buy a rear wheel carrier for £200 and it'll save you replacing the door hinges every decade for £45. In only 40 years the carrier would have paid for itself (assuming it hasn't rusted away). Got to say, though, the rattles are a bit annoying but that's what the radio is for. |
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30th Sep 2015 7:03am |
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| K9F Member Since: 12 Nov 2009 Location: Bournemouth Posts: 9610
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I tend to agree about missing the point, the seam splitting and door cracking are very valid points and definitely fall into the category.
I think the key three words here are;
I don't think the OP meant anything but what was asked;
As a footnote I have absolutely no rattles, bangs or squeaks from the rear door. Took a while and a lot of fettling but got there in the end thankfully. If you go through life with your head in the sand....all people will see is an ar5e!! Treat every day as if it is your last....one day you will be right!! |
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30th Sep 2015 7:26am |
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| mikeh501 Member Since: 07 Jan 2013 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 1142
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my rear door (pre puma) was completely trashed by the spare wheel. its a stupid design which puts too much load through the door which eventually then starts breaking seams and letting rot in. cue more fractures until its completely knackered.
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30th Sep 2015 7:41am |
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| Martin Site Admin Member Since: 02 Apr 2007 Location: Hook Norton Posts: 6605 
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The new rear door came in during Td5 production, 2002MY
1988 90 Td5 NAS soft top
2015 D90 XS SW |
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30th Sep 2015 9:55am |
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| Birdy Member Since: 07 Oct 2011 Location: Côte d'Azur Posts: 865
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AndyS,
No, YOU'RE not getting the point… At the same time as buying a rear wheel carrier, one is obliged to replace the door hinges with stainless steel ones and use only the finest s/s nuts and bolts to fix them with. And start a discussion as to whether they're marine grade 316 like wot I uses on me boat, and if that makes 'em suitable for automotive use. And that lot will have paid for itself in only 60 years, by which time my brain will have rusted away. Seriously though, I'm talking standard door/standard wheels. Bigger, heavier wheels a different kettle of fish. And mounting the spare wheel further out from the door to give clearance for the rear screen wiper is contributory to a problem which didn't occur so much with smaller wheels bolted directly to the rear door. Peter |
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30th Sep 2015 11:21am |
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| Cupboard Member Since: 21 Mar 2014 Location: Suffolk Posts: 2971 
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I don't know if it's anything to do with the spare, but I have issues closing my rear door and getting the latch to latch properly.
Without the spare on, it just clonks shut. With the spare, I have to firmly push it - not slam it, that's worse. If I don't, it sort of rattles when I shut it and doesn't latch properly. |
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30th Sep 2015 12:12pm |
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| 1978 Member Since: 04 Aug 2015 Location: Lancashire Posts: 519 
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My rear door rattles like hell and I'm yet to discover the cause.... Is it likely to be related to the HD wheel hanging off it?!
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1st Oct 2015 3:13pm |
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| 1978 Member Since: 04 Aug 2015 Location: Lancashire Posts: 519
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My rear door rattle has now been cured and was not specifically spare wheel related after all. The check strap was rattling around like mad in its runner. I have removed it completely for now and will order a gas strut to replace it.
Not of particular relevance to the thread but I thought I'd mention it in case it helps others. |
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5th Oct 2015 1:23pm |
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