Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

I see no problem with carrying 2 wheels and Jerry cans on the rear bumper. If it is a proper item you should be able to safely do a snatch recovery with the bumper... And I see plenty of vehicles here in Nam with two spares on the back... Land Cruisers (and we all know how weak they are), volksie busses, Landies... here a second tyre is almost considered a must even by the locals.

I have my second tyre on the roofrack and I can almost feel how much it slows me down.

Having 2 tyres and a Jerry can holder though is going to be a problem space wise.

On th eroof rack. You don't need a full item you can get a small roofrack big enough for a wheel and some Jerry cans. I have the small Hannibal unit that does me well.

Overdrive wrote: That is a pain because it looks like its going to cost me about R8 grand. Unless someone can tell me where to get a light roof rack with 8 legs for less than that?

If you are prepared to go the home-made route (i.e. made custom by a someone who does for it for a living, as opposed to the Frontrunners of this world) , then you can get much cheaper than that. PM me if you consider that.

TPMS is definitely on my to do list. But my personal risk tolerance remains towards 2 tyres. Given space and stress on rear issues, I will probably opt for larger tanks in the bottom.
But this is expensive. Which is why having an overlander is a lifelong project!

I suppose it comes down to the person and like you guys say, how much risk are you willing to take. Cuase it seems like no tyre is puncture proof or more puncture resistant then the other. From nankan's to BFG muds. Just a pitty one cannot carry 6 spares just for incase.

For myself I will carry on as is for know. Untill live proofs me wrong. I am not willing to put every mechanism in my car under stress deu to unneeded weight or extra weight that is there for incase. If your suspension fails or something brakes off in the middel of nowhere, a puncture wil seem like a tiny problem. As for heavy duty suspensions, i have seen ladder chassis cracking, because of heavy rated coils. At the end of the day something will pay for the weight. That was the point I have been trying to make. One should limit weight as far as posibble. After the food and clothing and camping stuff is loaded, you are already under heavy load.

In 15 years of my Outreach travels i have had ONE pncture and ONE blow out [on a BFG A/T nogal] Thepuncture was my own stupidity for not looking where i was driving [staring at the Sunset in Richtersveldt] .. left the track and cut a brand new Dueller ..
Since, if i go like BABOONS PASS I will take two spares .. and the Road to Hell trippi now in April .. else i might take an extra tyre and maybe a tube or tw and some gators and snotplugs .. but thats that -- I am with JoshJ on his view

I have 2 spares but the main logic is slightly different.

Every 10 000 km I rotate, balance and align and the 2 tyres with the most tread become the rears and the 2 with the least tread become the spares.

By doing this I am not going to land up with 4 evenly worn tyres and an unused spare.

Only carry the 2nd spare on remote trips, have never needed it but it is good to know it's there.

Goes on the roofrack together with the boat trailers spare.

JoshJ wrote:For myself I will carry on as is for know. Untill live proofs me wrong. I am not willing to put every mechanism in my car under stress deu to unneeded weight or extra weight that is there for incase. If your suspension fails or something brakes off in the middel of nowhere, a puncture wil seem like a tiny problem. As for heavy duty suspensions, i have seen ladder chassis cracking, because of heavy rated coils. At the end of the day something will pay for the weight. That was the point I have been trying to make. One should limit weight as far as posibble. After the food and clothing and camping stuff is loaded, you are already under heavy load.

That Josh is exactly my concern. The bumper can carry the weight no doubt but where that weight is located and its effect on the suspension and the resultant stresses on the chassis is the problem. The further the weight is projected out beyond the back wheels, the more stress there is on components. It's simply the old principle of the lever working against you as a force multiplier in this context.

I am persuaded by the drift here. i.e. Carry 2 spares & jerry cans when you think you will need them. And it has to be a roof rack not hanging out the back. Except you can probably put one jerry can on the left hand small door of the Troll if it comes fitted with the brackets - but even that will put some leverage stress on places one might not realise.

So shifting to roof racks. Which design? What criteria? Here is my first pass.
1) weight - as low as possible but this can be a trade off with strength.
2) Number of legs: My experience suggests that more legs for the roof rack will spread the weight and reduce the risk if one comes lose. Most full length racks I have seen have 6. A few have 8.
3) Tie down: ease with which things can be tied down.
4) Brackets: how its held onto the roofing gutters.
Of course price comes into it and thats a trade off with all of the above.

Assuming one is going to put one spare wheel and 2 jerry cans on the roof. Where is the best location? Front? Middle? Rear? My guess is to spread the weight as evenly as possible taking account of the location of weight elsewhere in the vehicle.

Any advice will be appreciated.

Hannibal's brackets are the best, they have full-length rails running in the gutters.

But to my mind the African Outback/Outback rack is the best in terms of tying things on, and the rack itself is very strong. Mine has six feet, and I regularly overload it badly without any signs of damage.

The rear roof pillars are the stongest, so I think that's where the heaviest load should be.

In my opinion the African Outback roofrack is the strongest.
Have mine for three years now and I have had no issues

Thanks Jorrie. Sad thing is they closed about 2 years ago.