Assuming that an OEM alloy wheel with factory tire is a baseline, I’m curious to what might be a “safe” amount of extra weight that the rear door can handle (understanding that closed weight and open weight limits will be different). It seems robustly built, but I don’t want to push it beyond build limits.
My BFG spare is already 15 lbs heavier than
the factory spare.

Experiences? Thoughts?

 

SpaceX considers it a "Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly". No idea what the limit is. I'm sure you won't know until you have an RUD. Also pretty sure Land Rover won't post a limit. I hope to be proven wrong, though.

 

Just found this ... According to New Defender Mods website:

"NDM suggests only lighter items on rear tire of the vehicle, alloy wheels are lighter than steel so if you have steel wheels you will have less tolerance. Rear wheel carier has approx 42kg load rating according to Landrover."

So this is roughly 92 lbs. I wonder if this means an extra 92 lbs beyond a baseline allow wheel and factory tire?

 

Somewhat off-topic, but those recovery boards BA Tents has in their photo - does anyone know which ones these are? I ask because they must be around 33"-36" (based on the tire for comparison), which would sort of be nice to have a board that wouldn't get in the way of the Clearsight mirror.

 

Those are offered for sale on their website (link). But I think I'll attempt to recreate a Maxtrax mount, a little simpler (and cheaper) with my heavy duty ratchet strap and some DIY hardware... and move my WaterPort back to the rear corner of the roof rack.

From what I'm gathering, the spare and rear door really shouldn't be pushed much beyond their weight limit. And if NDM's info is correct above, that's around 90 lbs total. This appears to be an age-old issue with older Defenders and their rear door mounted spares as well.

 

I think I saw a post/pic of a WaterPort on the tow receiver. If you have that option, it may be a more secure/beefy site for the water container.

 

There was a guy on one of the boards back in ‘21 who said he was on the design team for the rear door. Said it’s really not designed to carry much more than a spare, and the risk would be bending the hinges over time if the door is opened with weight on it. Can never find his post now though.

 

At $106.60 per, I say you just go for it and then GoFundMe the replacement costs from everyone on the edge of their seats waiting for the true weight limit! Just make sure you weight everything when you finally bend it so we know the number. It's only ~$220 for the Community knowledge!

Just kidding. I suspect that a lot more will happen during a "Rapid Unplanned Disassembly". When they break, the door falls off, an edge bends, and the glass breaks. Worse, it happens on the highway when you hit a pothole and the G's suddenly 2x all the weight. Then you may have an insurance claim from another damaged vehicle. Personally, I'd be pretty cautious about putting a lot on those tires. I may lean on it when working on the rack, but I'm not cruising down the road. Maybe once Copart has enough L663's we can all get together to buy one for a series of experiments....