SLROC Forum

I think I need to chat/learn about bonnet springs. Since mounting the spare on the bonnet the spring is no longer strong enough to 'pop' the bonnet up. Is this just cause my spring in old and knackered or do I need summit else. I've half looked at gas struts. Any thoughts appreciated.

I just keep the bonnet catch lever open with one hand while I lift the edge of the bonnet up an inch or so, then use both hands to lift the bonnet all the way up. I don't think you'll ever see the bonnet spring up the way it does on an unloaded one, even with gas struts.

Just eat a couple more weetabix   

G. 

ah perhaps I should have explained better. Lifting the bonnet with the wheel on is not a problem. When I pull the bonnet release in the cab, however, nothing happens. I need someone to be at the front to lift it that first inch or so onto the catch.

Aha, I see the problem. I saw the "Ex MOD" tag and thought it would have the lever through the grille. One option would be to engineer your own lever - I've done that before, cutting a slot in the panel round the grille, another is to pull the release cable from the front grille, not impossible if its got some slack. The expensive option is to replace the whole front grille/catch gubbins with the "right" parts. Probably the simplest is to create some slack in the cable so you can pull it while at the front of the vehicle ?

Just thought of another option - Make a bit of wood of a size to jam between the end of the cable and the bracket it runs through in the cab, so when pulled it can be kept "pulled".

hi Colin, I'm not wanting to sound dopey or sarcastic here - do you get the same thing happening when the wheel is removed from your bonnet? I had the same thing with my old series 3 at one point (funnily enough I've got it with my 90 too)- in that when you pull the lever the bonnet does not "pop", but the mechanism is still open. Hence, to open the bonnet I needed to lift quite hard to get the bonnet to move.

As it turned out the bonnet was just not quite on/sitting correctly (in the bushes, I couldn't tell the difference by looking at it). Try taking the whole bonnet off and putting it on again, and giving the mechanism the obligitory squirt with WD40). It's probably worth 5 mins of your time to see if that works.
jamie

Hi gemen, I like the block of wood idea, could well go with that.

elegia, I have not tried the bonnet release without the spare since I refitted the bonnet. I'll see if I have time in the morning before work to take the tyre off and have a go.

I've got a bonnet mounted spare on the 90 and it doesn't pop up either. I cut out a piece of one of the horizontal ?blades? of the grill in between the two verticals. This makes a hole that your hand can comfortably fit through. Feel for the lever that the cable attaches to, push it and lift the bonnet with the other hand. Job done 5 mins tops. 

Every landrover I've ever had has been like that. I used to have to get a second person to lift the bonnet while I pulled the cable... Then none day when I had to try and get the bonnet open on my own i discovered that my fire extinguisher fits under the handle perfectly!

I have a bonnet mounted spare wheel, originally RAF so it's had it since built. I've no problems opening the bonnet for some reason, it doesn't pop up but clears the catch fine. Without the wheel in place and the military bonnet catches undone the bonnet jumps up under quite a bit of pressure when the release is pulled, it does take quite a bang to get it shut even with the wheel in place. Biggest pain I have is straightening the bonnet every few months as the weight of the wheel bends the bonnet.

To my mind there is no perfect solution to the "spare" problem.

On the back-door - Knackers the hinges and the doorframe and obstructs access to a hitch - especially NATO hitches or needs a swing-away mount (??).
On a roof-rack - A beggar to shift and moves the Centre of Gravity up, uses most of the recommended weight allowance too and needs a rack (??), which makes it even harder to fit in a car-park.
Inside the vehicle - reduces usable storage space, guarenteed that when required it will be hardest to reach !.
On the bonnet - Heavy to lift, some reduction in vision just in front of the vehicle.

On the whole, I prefer mine on the bonnet. I'm used to it being there - and it looks "right".

MOD took H&S to heart when spec-ing the WOLF, which comes with a side mounted spare held in a fabric sling arrangement that lowers the spare to the ground. This mod adds 6-9 inches to the effective width of the vehicle and requires extra long mirror arms so you can see past it. A line I heard was that this was because otherwise a bonnet mounted spare hits the top of the engine on a 300 Tdi - which I doubt, mine certainly hasn't in several tens of thousands of miles. More money wasted on "gold-plating" in an MOD contract