Land Rover ideas for Jeeps

[Mc Jedi]

The problem with a hood mounted spare on a Jeep is that it would greatly impede the already small windshield view. On a Defender, you have about 6 inches from the bottom of the windshield to the top of the hood, not so with a Jeep.

On the topic of carrying Jerry cans on the side, I am actually working on a design that will utilize the unique structure of my MBRP roof rack.

 

[jscherb]

The problem with a hood mounted spare on a Jeep is that it would greatly impede the already small windshield view. On a Defender, you have about 6 inches from the bottom of the windshield to the top of the hood, not so with a Jeep.

On the JK, the distance from the top of the hood to the visible part of the windshield is about 4".

On my LJ, the distance from the top of the hood to the visible part of the windshield is 6.5". My LJ has a CJ hood, which doesn't have a raised center section, so there's more distance on mine than on a stock TJ, where the distance would still be a little over 5".

I haven't measured the distance on a Land Rover, but if it's 6" as you say, that's less than on my LJ.

 

[jscherb]

I think old Rovers used to have tires sized around the equivalent of 205/80R16 back in those safari days. A whole lot easier to manage a tire like that then thirty sevens.

The factory tire size for a Land Rover Defender is 265/75R16, which is about the same size that came on the JK Wrangler Sport model (255/75R17 used from 2010-2017) ) and Sahara models came with 255/70R18. Very few of the Land Rovers I've seen in the magazines, even the ones use for extreme expedition use, have tires more than one size over. Land Rover owners outside of the US seem very conservative about tire size.

I use my Jeeps more for overland-style trail exploration than rock crawling so all three have 32" tires (265/75-16 on the LJs and 255/75-17 on the JKU) - I think a spare of that size would work fine on the hood.

37's would not be a good fit on a hood or either a Land Rover or a Jeep.

 

[jscherb]

Maybe storage on the bonnet?

Not sure this one is a great idea, it may be ok on a Land Rover hood, but Jeep hoods are much less structural than LR hoods. Also this apparently isn't waterproof, so it's only good for nice days?

This one seems like a better idea (but not on the bonnet), and definitely would be useful for Jeeps with roof racks.

I sewed something similar a while back, it's come in handy on long trips:

 

[jscherb]

A little more about Land Rover conservatism with tire sizes - the Defenders used in for the Camel Trophy, one of the most challenging offroad competitions in the world, were fitted with 7.50x16 Michelin ZXL tires. There were two spares, one on the rear door and one on the bonnet.

BTW I regularly carry two spares on expeditions, usually on the roof rack. When I'm also carrying the roof top tent, a spare won't fit in my rack basket, which is why I was thinking about a different place to carry the second spare. Maybe I'll lengthen my rack basket to cover the entire roof like many of the Land Rover ones.

 

[Bluest]

There a plenty of us Landy drivers looking back the other way enviously at all the accessories you Jeep owners have access to. Quality of Jeep stuff generally looks a lot better than Land Rover stuff. There are many many Landy products that are a good idea in principle ruined by terrible quality problems due to the cottage industry nature of the suppliers.

At least 2 of the pictures on this thread are of cars belonging to friends of mine. It’s a small world.

 

[jscherb]

... There are many many Landy products that are a good idea in principle ruined by terrible quality problems due to the cottage industry nature of the suppliers...

Seems to me Jeep and Land Rover people share this problem, there's a lot of poorly executed stuff in the Jeep market too.

 

[Bluest]

In the military Landy picture you posted above, there is an interesting accessory you may not have noticed. You see the straps coming from the centre of the spare wheel that wrap underneath? They are a product called TuffLift that allows one person to more easily lift a wheel on and off the mount. I have one on my rear door mounted spare and it is a life saver if having to change a wheel on your own. There is a video below of how it works. They are no longer available as the company ceased trading a few years ago.

 

[ratled]

View attachment 607914

In the military Landy picture you posted above, there is an interesting accessory you may not have noticed. You see the straps coming from the centre of the spare wheel that wrap underneath? They are a product called TuffLift that allows one person to more easily lift a wheel on and off the mount. I have one on my rear door mounted spare and it is a life saver if having to change a wheel on your own. There is a video below of how it works. They are no longer available as the company ceased trading a few years ago.

Do you know off hand if that works for Jeeps too? Being a disabled Jeep that could be a game changer for me!

 

[Bluest]

The one I have (same as the video) is specifically designed to fit the wheel carrier I have on the back. The concept it very simple though, so I'm sure someone could replicate it with some camlock buckles, straps and some other bits of hardware .

 

[jscherb]

This Series 1 107" is outfitted as a family overlander - two roof top tents. I've seen a few Land Rovers outfitted that way but I don't think I've ever seen a Jeep with two tents.

 

[jscherb]

This photo was in the second post in this thread, it was part of an article about a well-equipped overlander. In that post I commented on the roof rack extending over the windshield.

One interesting detail is the onboard hot water shower. The article says it's plumbed into the engine heater, has a pump and two stainless steel tanks for water storage although none of those details are pictured or described in detail in the text. I'd definitely like to know more about his setup.

Winches at both ends.

And security. Many of the expeditions covered in articles in the magazines are in Africa and often describe bribes required to cross borders, bandits and other risks we wouldn't have while exploring the mountains around Silverton, Colorado for example.

 

[Ghetto Fab.]

I see all these ideas and all I can think is, "how much crap do you need?"!

I think its really the differences in how people are traveling that your seeing. I mean most folks in the US don't do month long expeditions to africa or other very remote locations. I surely wouldn't want to put gas cans on the side of my vehicle. I just don't think its safe, but it might be reasonable if I'm going somewhere where there literally are no gas stations. That is not the case in the US. There is usually some small town somewhere not far from where your at that has fuel.

Ironically I have mounted two gas cans between the spare tire and the rear tailgate on my old CJ5. It really only came in usefull when wheeling the Dusy Ershim which is 33miles of rockcrawling. Gas mileage gets pretty bad when crawling and my main tank was only 15gals.

I could mount water cans on the sides, but once again I simply can't stay out long enough to really need that much water.

I think most of the stuff your seeing is advertising in one form or another that is showcasing a vehicle built for an extreme use to entice buyers in.

Out of curiousity, I know the Austrailian market has a lot of camp trailers, does the UK market do trailers as well? There is a fairly decent US market for trailers as well.

Some interesting ideas, please keep posting them up. I just don't think many apply for use in this country. I'm also not familiar with any jeep based large expeditions that have happened in the recent past. Thats probably more of a testament to the capabilities of the rovers than anything else.

Kevin

 

[Bluest]

Off road camp trailers are not a big thing in the UK, and most that are around are converted from ex-military trailers. Offroad driving opportunities are extremely limited here, with publicly accessible tracks rarely being more than a few miles long. Spain is probably the nearest place where you can cover any significant distances off tarmac. You are right that some Land Rovers above are at the extreme end, but they are around. And there are those amongst us that just like to attach as much stuff as possible, for that extreme apocalypse survival look, even if they neve go anywhere interesting. I’m sure you get that with Jeeps too.

I’ve been to Morocco twice in mine from the UK and didn’t even take a fuel can!

 

[jscherb]

It's true that there are so few places in the lower 48 where fuel isn't readily available that carrying jerry cans or Rotopax for fuel on a Jeep is more of a fashion statement than a necessary accessory, but judging by the number of Jeeps at events like Easter Jeep Safari that carry cans or Rotopax it's an extremely popular fashion accessory, which to me doesn't make it wrong.

There are places in North America though that fuel isn't readily available and carrying extra is a very good idea. Alaska, for example, the last gas before Prudhoe Bay at the Arctic Ocean on the north end of the Dalton Highway is 250 miles south at Coldfoot Camp. That's just about the comfortable limit of my LJ depending on speed and other factors, so when I did that trip I carried extra fuel.

The Dalton is also very well known for tire punctures, lots of bolts and assorted crap fall of the trucks on that road so extra spares are also a very good idea. I carried extra fuel and spares on the Dalton, and I'm planning more extended expeditions like that, so better ways to carry extra fuel and spares does interest me.

And carrying extra fuel on that Alaska trip gave me the flexibility to explore off the main road, like this side trip to the Koyukuk River.

I'm planning exploring northern Canada and extra fuel will be a good idea there too. And occasionally on trips off road in Colorado I carry a 5 liter "just in case" extra supply of gas. A 5 liter can is pretty small and can be 25 miles or so of extra range so it can be nice to have when the gauge approaches "E".