hood-mounted spare tire?

[RoofPrints]

Has anybody done this? I am considering putting a spare tire on the hood, like on some old Land Rovers. I am curious how it would affect visibility, and if anyone has made mounts. I will have a 32x11.5, so I am a little concerned that it might block too much of my view.

“There’s a Wocket in my Pocket!
Dr. Seuss

[oldjeepr]

well put it up there and get in look around i bet the law would frown on it, i luv the look ,you want ot get it out of the back?or just custom look.some sort of rear swingout mount would be better

[The Hound]

how about on the front bumper

[billyrb]

On the hood, you are faced with a few problems.

1. Visibility would be greatly reduced. The old land rovers used much skinnier tires, and the hood was slightly recessed between the fenders, making it lower & not really impacting visibility. Also, they were made for the outback & the safari's, so on-road / traffic driving wasn't a concern near as much.

2. The hood is flimsy in the center. The supports run front to back just over the inner parts of the wheel wells. This means there would be no support under the thin sheet metal at the center of the hood. With the weight of a wheel / tire combo, it would bow in. Once you hit a bump, your hood would be resting on the air-cleaner housing.

3. Front mount on the bumper would be not as good either, as of impeding the air flow to the radiator / tranny cooler, etc. Your temps would SKYROCKET once you mounted that puppy up there.

My recommendations would be one of 3 things:
1. Mount on roof rack. This is quite easy to do, with the exception of getting it up there & back down. If you have a bad back, this SUCKS. I can attest to that. Plus side is that it looks cool.

2. Mount on swing away tire carrier rear bumper. We have 2 options at BJ's Off-Road (http://www.bjsoffroad.com). The Cliffhanger and the Dozer. The Cliffhanger can support at least a 42" tire & steel wheel combo. The Dozer option is still a little ways out, but will be there soon.

3. Mount on tire carrier inside the cargo area. There is a member here who makes a mounting, and it looks pretty sweet. It will carry max. of a 33" or 35", if I recall correctly. Do a search in general discussion to find it.

These 3 options would be the easiest, least destructive, and most legal options. Not saying you can't do what you suggested, as we all know the creativeness of Jeep owners is limitless. But these might be easier / cheaper options in the long run.

[83 WagDriver]

Not to mention the resistance to air drag ( I think its called air drag) when travelling at high speeds. Might kill whatever gas mileage you currently have.

[joe]

I agree with the possible visibilty and the strength of the hood issues. Also with a 32" tire(in your sig file) up there what'cha gonna carry around with you to prop the hood up with when you have to work in the eng bay...a piece of rebar? smile.gif

[ January 03, 2004, 11:42 PM: Message edited by: -joe ]

[RoofPrints]

I'm just kicking around long-term ideas, as it will be a while before this rig is driveable. I love the look of the hood-mount. I will set a tire up there and check out the view, but it's hard to get a clear picture of potential problems when it doesn't move. Most likely I will have a roof-mount (yes, I have a strong back), but I will be driving in some REALLY remote locations, and would like it to carry two spares. The under-rig option would interfere with mounting a good-sized air tank, and I need the cargo space for tools.
As for the hood issues, I have a wild thought about doing a tilt front end (still lots of details to figure out there). It would have a couple of hydraulic arms to aid in opening and staying open, so I wouldn't need any rebar. For this to work I would need to seriously reinforce the hood anyway, so the weight might be okay.
Did someone mention high speeds and gas mileage? This would be a combination workhorse/play rig on mud tires and probably minor lift, hauling a fair amount of weight. I'm sure there are more aerodynamic busses, and ones that get better mileage. That's just the nature of the (FSJ) beast...
Any other issues I need to consider? Thanks.

“There’s madness to my method.”