spare wheel no fitting on the rear door mount

Hi, I have recently tried to fit my spare wheel on the door instead of on the inside (need more space in there) and it doesn't fit! at first I thought the spare wheel mount was too low, but looking at pics on the net it seems normal. the problem is that the towball gets in the way of it. they seem to be too close together

as far as I know its stock, doesn't look like it was ever altered.




*edit the topic name has a typo in it :doh:

that's not the usual towball arrangement we see in the UK.
the norm here is to have a flat drop plate attached to the X-member with a towing ball attached lower down, which gives more clearance.

there are several types of door some with spare wheel attachment and some without, yours has been converted badly the wheel bracket should fit a lot further up so that wheel wouldnt hang below door bottom, doors with wheel attchment come with holes for bracket to fasten through around handle hieght

The hole where someone has obviously removed a spare wheel hanger is in the bottom of my rear door, but the tow hitch is on a drop plate. Mind you, the back end is a bit higher on mine - that looks really saggy.

theres no lr door with wheel bracket holes at bottom ive never seen wheel that protudes below door level some ones ****ed about that dosent know what there doing, have a look next time your out at either series or defeners

my door has several sets of holes where someone moved that bracket around but no matter where I put it I always found it a pain hitching/unhitching trailers, and now I have a nato hitch mounted at xmember level its not really an option without blocking most of the rear window. Ended up putting it on the bonnet, not ideal but used to it now. You do lose line of sight of one front corner but very little loss of view forwards so long as you get a dished bonnet.
Some peeps use swingaways on the back to save the door hinges and it gives you a bit of an option moveing it out the way as you hitch up but always seemed a bit of a faff to me.
Unusual hitch you have there.

the thing is the rear door doesn't look original to the car so the p o who owned the rear door may not of had a tow ball fitted so on his landy the set up was probably fine for him and your tow hitch looks a bit odd ball so if you plan to keep the tow hitch the way it is then you need to either move the spare wheel carrier higher or fit another door with the holes or carrier fitted in the right place, sometimes it depends on tyre size aswell the bigger the tyre the carrier needs moving up but be carefull as not to cover the door handle.

graham
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98 d1 300tdi auto.

i dont believe it look at the door look at the bracket even my wife spotted the problem

oxides said:

The hole where someone has obviously removed a spare wheel hanger is in the bottom of my rear door, but the tow hitch is on a drop plate. Mind you, the back end is a bit higher on mine - that looks really saggy.

Click to expand...

what exactly looks saggy?


I might just put it on the bonnet, but with 7.50 x 16 tires it seemed to block a fair bit of the view. and that is with a dished bonnet as well

the odd looking mark on the door is not from a spare wheel mount, if I look on the inside there are no holes drilled, except for the ones being used already.

as for the tow ball, I like it as it is

The back end looks a bit low and that tow ball looks a bit high on the vehicle.

oxides said:

The back end looks a bit low and that tow ball looks a bit high on the vehicle.

Click to expand...

it might just look low because I am tall (im 6'2") so the camera is pointing downwards.

it certainly doesn't look low in the rear when I see it on a flat surface. oh and its not on a flat surface in that picture either.

Hmm, the camera never lies, huh?

oxides said:

Hmm, the camera never lies, huh?

Click to expand...

hmm well I don't have much to compare it to. but here is another pic

the wheel bracket is obviously put on too down every thing else is fine cant anybody see that

Ah, that looks better. Now the tow hitch looks a bit high! My spare is mounted behind the internal bulkhead but it takes up a lot of space in a swb. I'm thinking of making up a pivlock style of carrier to sit it on the back.

Maybe it's for a spacesaver spare?

The only thing that is wrong with your vehicle is the spare sweel carrier has been mounted in the bottom " centre square" of the door frame viewed from inside and should have been mounted further up ie in the centre of the door . This should enable the tow hitch with a ball height of 19" which on a 109 with standard ride height on 750 x16 tyres to be accessed (just) for connecting and disconecting . The normal 2 bolt fixing tow ball (without pin in centre) mounts in the tow plate holes just below the cross member and the tow plate mounts to the other bolt holes in the cross member .

Re bonnet mount spare wheel , on 109 with 750 x16 tyre a dished deluxe bonnet was usually specified 88 with smaller 650x16 tyre not so often specced.
You soon get used to having on bonnet , and it does not really affect driving view except when close manoevering , when you rely on your mental spacial image ! HTSH

ps I see you dont have a rear wiper so how close in to door you mount your wheel (by using inner 3 nuts on studs ) should not be a problem just check clearance on your tow plate