Last updated:  2004.08.05

 ©  Text and Photo: Frode H. Haaland

 

Vehicle Comforts:

Installing a Fire Extinguisher and a Mag Lite Holder

Vehicle: 3 door Discovery

 

Any offroader should have an fire extinguisher on board. If there's a fire while far out in the forest, there will never be any fire engine following in your tracks to save the remains of your precious vehicle. Most vehicle fires leaves you with a very short time to fight the fire - it will soon grow too big to handle for any but the fire brigade. At least 2kg are generally recommended, and this is the size demanded by many offroad sites - though a bigger one would have been better. Problem is: Where do you keep this heavy and bulky item in your vehicle? 

 

In this article, we look at installing a fire extinguisher and also a Mag Lite holder to keep its company; the torchlight probably and hopefully something you'll need more often than the fire fighting equipment!

 

Searching for safe mounting alternatives
In a 4/5 door Discovery, the extinguisher can be safely mounted on one of the front seats (onto the seat bracket), but in a 2/3 door the front seats are tilting, so this is not a viable option... 

It might also sit somewhere in the luggage area, but that leaves the extinguisher far away from where it is most needed: between driver and the engine... 

A fire extinguisher is a heavy lump, and should be mounted in a way that it will stay safe even in a massive crash - there's no need for airbags, seatbelts and a strong chassis if you're knocked out from behind by your "lifesaving" fire extinguisher...
I found there's a very convenient spot behind the driver side B-pillar (where the rear doors come in a 4/5 door vehicle). 

In a crash, most of the forces involved will push the extinguisher forward onto the pillar, so this should be pretty safe. However it need to be strapped down to a bracket that's safely secured. 

 

Removing the trim
Take care to mark exactly where the extinguisher fits most nicely before removing the trim from the vehicle.

As seen on the picture, some heat- and soundproofing foam were installed while the trim were out.

The fibretrim isn't too strong in itself, and I doubt it would be up to the job of holding the lump while offroading. So a loadspreading plate only is probably not enough. But an easy solution was found!

 

The loadspreader/holding bracket

A rather long piece of metal were chosen as a load-spreading plate, and cut to a size where the weight of the extinguisher will in fact rest on metal, as it reaches the floor on the rear side of the interior trim. So the loadspreader transfers the weight not only onto a larger fibreboard area, but also over to the vehicle's floor!

The Mag Lite will find it's place close to the fire extinguisher using a special clamp.
Marking the holes from the fire extinguishers mounting bracket onto the metal loadspreader...then punching to get ready for...
...drilling the five holes. A few drops of oil onto the metal makes the drill bite better, and also keeps it cooler - run the drill as slow as possible when drilling metal, or it will overheat and destroy your twisted drill.

After a thorough clean, the loadspreader were treated with several coats of paint to prevent future rusting.
Fitted

Using a big loadspreader transfers the weight onto a larger area of the trim. As can be seen on the pictures, the bracket/loadspreader is made tall enough to go all the way down to the floor (where it rests), effectively transfering all the weight onto the floor. Nice touch!

Finished result 

This is how the finished result looks like. 

A strong, nice fitment of a fireextinguisher and a holder for the Maglite. Strong enough for a crash and for offroading. Still out of the way. Everything lined up and ready for use.