Ideas for Re-purposing spare tire storage?

jdlobb

Adventurer
I'm going to be putting a full-sized spare on my roof rack soon, and looking to do some serious upgrades to the storage area of my 5-seat 2016 Land Rover Discovery Sport.

Once the spare is on the roof, this leaves a TON of empty space below the load area, and given that the Disco Sport already has so little interior storage, I don't want it to go to waste.

Other than just dumping stuff in there that has to be dug out, what are some ideas?

I'm thinking about possibly putting a water tank in there that would be plumbed to somewhere accessible for input and output, so I can build a permanent box in the load area, and don't need to access it.

Anybody done anything similar, or anything else?

The area in question stores a 30.5" x 10.7" tire and wheel snuggly, there's only a small flange in the bottom center for securing the rod that holds in the wheel. Or all the styrofoam bits can come out, leaving an open area about 38" x 34" x 11", but support would need to be added for the floor deck.

IMG_3398.jpg
 

Todd n Natalie

OverCamper


 

krick3tt

Adventurer
Noticing your avatar it appears that you just might be able to heft a spare on and off the roof of your vehicle but many cannot do that. I also thought about doing that for my LR3 but the 100 pound tire was a bit much to handle so it went on a bumper swing out. The location of the spare in an LR3 is under not inside so it becomes an issue when off road that crawling under to retrieve the tire is not something I want to do. There are so many options to an inside storage place that it boggles the mind especially if using that space for seldom used items and creating the bit of support required to keep the load area floor from sinking is really not much of an issue for the problem. A water tank might be a great solution but how much water might you need? Wouldn't an aux fuel tank be a more judicious use of the space?
I am sure that there will be some interesting solutions on here for you and I eagerly await the responses you will receive.
 

jdlobb

Adventurer
Noticing your avatar it appears that you just might be able to heft a spare on and off the roof of your vehicle but many cannot do that. I also thought about doing that for my LR3 but the 100 pound tire was a bit much to handle so it went on a bumper swing out. The location of the spare in an LR3 is under not inside so it becomes an issue when off road that crawling under to retrieve the tire is not something I want to do. There are so many options to an inside storage place that it boggles the mind especially if using that space for seldom used items and creating the bit of support required to keep the load area floor from sinking is really not much of an issue for the problem. A water tank might be a great solution but how much water might you need? Wouldn't an aux fuel tank be a more judicious use of the space?
I am sure that there will be some interesting solutions on here for you and I eagerly await the responses you will receive.

Right now I'm doing preliminary planning for a water system as a start. I think I can get a 10 gallon tank and a pump in there with room to spare. Possibly enough room for an air compressor and small reservoir as well.

I would LOVE an auxiliary fuel tank, the Disco Sport has an abysmally small fuel tank, but that might be beyond my abilities. I would need to enlist help.

I have a couple months before needing to do any of this, so I've got time to plan. It'll probably go in at the same time I build my storage solution for the back, mainly because if I put in water and air I will need somewhere to have the fixtures, and there's no good options right now, but they would go easily in as part of my storage cabinetry.
 

krick3tt

Adventurer
I think one of the main issues with an aux fuel tank is getting the fuel to your main tank. A pump would not be a major stumbling block. Lots of them around. You could have a custom tank made up and not have so many issues. Many locations to have a pump located, especially exterior to the body. As I recall from my exploring the long range tanks for the LR3 was the closed fuel/air portion of the system so I decided to just use Nato cans. I think the best way to develop a plan is to put it out there and listen to suggestions and use the best one.
Water tank is even less of an issue as the drain would be low for gravity drain, no pump required. Needs a vacuum release though. I recall hearing of a round tank that might just work using a ball valve for the drain. Maybe a way to pressurize it for a camp shower?
RotoPax seem to work for many and can be mounted to the exterior somewhere. I use Scepter cans for water, they are portable to be carried to the remote part of the camp or to another vehicle.
Very exciting fitting out a new vehicle to your specific needs.
 
Last edited:

alanymarce

Well-known member
We used the space created by taking out our third row seats for stuff we take but don't plan on using often - jumper cables, tow sling and shackles, compressor, and a few other bits and pieces. This has worked well for us. We di think about installing a long range fuel tank, however have decided that the need for extra fuel is very (very infrequent) and it makes more sense to use fuel cans (on the roof rack) on the occasions we need extra fuel. We have a potable water tank inside the vehicle (Frontrunner 44L) and since we are only two when we're doing "big trips" this works well for us.
 

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