When I bought my Disco, the rear tire was in the "boot" and some wonky hitch mounted bike rack was installed. After removing the bike rack (which had a bolt that was threaded into through the pin hole of the hitch - took a while to figure that one out...), I turned my sights to the rear tire carrier. One stud was missing and one was fairly bent, leaving just one stud in decent condition. I ordered a rear tire carrier from RoverLandParts.com with a set of 5 lugnuts for the Disco II (who knows where the old ones went...).

After getting the new tire carrier on, I proceeded to fit the spare tire. The lug nuts threaded on easily and turned around the studs easily for about an inch. Things got tight, I'd guess about 20 ft-lbs of torque (I hadn't broken out the torque wrench yet), so I decided to wiggle the spare tire to see how much play was there. Way too much (the top of the tire could shift about 2 inches back and forth), so I torqued the nights a bit more and they seemed to be quite hard to turn, yet there's still plenty of play. I turned one nut off of the stud and it backed out hard the whole way - crap, did I strip something?

I guess my question is: is there a spacer of some sort that is supposed to go on between the spare wheel and the spare tire carrier? Are there different lug nuts that are supposed to be used for the spare? Something just doesn't seem right here. I'm really hoping I didn't strip out the studs on the tire carrier...

 

The spare tire uses different lug nuts, it uses the nuts for "steelies" (steel rims), they do not have a cover on them.
http://www.roverparts.com/Parts/ANR4851G.cfmas oppossed to http://www.roverparts.com/Parts/ANR3679G.cfm

 

Alright then... Hopefully I didn't strip the studs, I guess I'll have to make another trip to the local LR dealer (Fields Land Rover Volvo Jaguar, I really don't like going there...).

 

I dont think you stripped the studs, they wouldnt turn because they were bottomed out.

 

No, I could still turn the lug nuts, but they were turning very hard, even when I backed them off the studs. The studs do not looked striped however. I don't see the point in using different lug nuts for the spare.

 

Now that I got a closer look at the studs in some light, I can see that the first 2 mm or so have been stripped, but it shouldn't be an issue with the spare specific lug nuts. Hopefully the rover dealer doesn't charge some outrageous price for 'em. Usually, I print out the RoverParts.com page for the part I need, then give the page to them and say, "I need that part." The price I pay after that has been pretty close to or better than RoverParts.com so far...

 

Well the lugs for the spare are supposed to be the same thread as the wheels, that way you can use them for the wheels if you need to.
Since you will be getting your nuts from the dealer make sure that they will work before you leave.
Maybe you got the wrong spare tire carrier or the wrong lugs the first time?

 

It is the right spare tire carrier, however, I bought a set of 5 normal wheel lug nuts - I assumed they were the same for the spare tire carrier - I didn't see any reason for having different lug nuts for the spare, and I still don't.

 

I agree 100%, I do not see any reason for a different spare tier lug either, and I do not know for a fact if they are different or not.
My DI has three of the "steelie" type of lug nuts on it.
I have not tried putting one on the wheel to see if they work.

 

You're right. I should have read the owners manual before refitting the spare wheel:



All it would take to use the normal lug nuts is shorter studs.