ne of the smartest and cheaper modifications you can make to your Land Rover (or any vehicle for that matter) is to add a fire extinguisher… just in case. Buying the fire extinguisher is the easy part. The hard part is figuring out where to put it so it looks nice, is out of the way, yet easy to get to at the same time, and doesn’t require you to do excessive drilling to your vehicle. The following is a recommendation of where and how to install your fire extinguisher.

As you can see in the picture, I bought a KIDDE dry chemical extinguisher. It is about 11” tall and fits perfectly for this application.

In contemplating where to put my fire extinguisher, I tried many locations in the rear of my Discovery II and wasn’t really too thrilled with any of them. It seemed to me the fire extinguisher would be in the way in most of the locations I tried.

After more searching, I decided to place it near the floor on the driver’s side of the vehicle—right where the footrest for your left foot is located. (If you use the footrest a lot, you may want to consider another location because chances are you’ll be tempted to rest your foot on your newly installed fire extinguisher.) I ensured I could still open the hood with the fire extinguisher in this location and was able to without any problem.

The first thing you’ll have to do is remove the panel from the vehicle. This is a pretty easy process.

There are two plastic screw “things” that hold the panel on: one requires you to unscrew it with a flat-head screwdriver, the other simply pulls out.

Remove the lower one (the one with the screwdriver slot) first.

Then grab the upper part of the panel and pull it out a bit so you can get the screwdriver under the head of the second one and pull it out.

Remove the panel from your vehicle.

On the back of the panel you will see the two nuts holding the plastic footrest in place.

Remove these two nuts and remove the footrest.

Once the footrest is removed, put the panel back in the vehicle so you can line up where your fire extinguisher is to be installed.

Place the fire extinguisher and fire extinguisher mount in the vehicle with the back of the fire extinguisher mount where the footrest used to be. Line it up so the bottom of the extinguisher “rests” on the floor mat; this will provide a more “solid” installation. (Don’t worry; to take your floor mat out, simple remove the fire extinguisher… while you are at it you can ensure the gauge still reads full.)

Once the fire extinguisher is where you want it, use a pencil to mark the position of the fire extinguisher mount.

Once you have it marked, remove everything from the vehicle again.

In my Disco II, one of the bolt holes from the footrest lined up perfectly with one of the holes in the fire extinguisher mount; hence, I only had to drill one additional hole. Use the fire extinguisher mount as a template and mark the hole with your pencil.

Drill the hole to the required diameter for your fire extinguisher mount.

Once the holes are drilled, reposition the fire extinguisher mount on the panel and attach with nuts and bolts. (My fire extinguisher didn’t have any included, so I went to the local hardware store and purchased the appropriate size.)

Reinstall the panel in your vehicle and reattach the plastic screw “things.”

One requires you to screw it back in and the other needs to be pushed back in.

Make sure the one requiring you to screw it back in is lined up properly with the screw behind it and do not over tighten it.

Also, make sure you line up the upper holes properly before you push in the upper plastic screw “thing.”

Use the straps that came with your extinguisher and strap it into position.

That’s it.

I’m sure there are other places to mount your fire extinguisher; this is one choice that works well in a Disco II; it’s out of the way, yet easy to get to should you need it.

If you have any questions or need any help, let me know.

- Bill Mallin

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