Building a spare tire carrier

moonlitcoyote · December 01, 2012, 03:35 PM

While I was cleaning the Homebago I emptied out the storage compartment the holds the spare tire and realized I could have quite a bit more storage if the tire wasn't in there. So unless I want to cruise without a spare tire, which would not be a good idea, my only other option would be to mount the spare tire elsewhere. So hubby and I got to wondering if we could build or buy a spare tire carrier for the back bumper. The problem I see is that my bumper is chrome with no steel behind it. So I was hoping that one of the many ingenious people on here would come up with a good idea for me. Any and all ideas are more than welcome.

MJ

eddie · December 01, 2012, 03:44 PM

I've seen several pics of people that put them on the roof at the back area. If you have the safari storage rack up there, it should be easy to fab a brace to hold it!! John

LJ-TJ · December 01, 2012, 04:47 PM

i?? Well it's dark here right now. But if you can wait until tomorrow I have a tire carrier off my bago right now which has a bumper on it and I'll get you some pic's. If it's what you think will work for you I'll get the measurements for you.

Froggy1936 · December 01, 2012, 05:04 PM

Spare tire on the roof ?? this thing is very heavy I have a hard time lifting mine chest high and its only a 8/75/16 approx 50 lbs there is no way i could get it to the roof

eddie · December 01, 2012, 05:44 PM

Lol, I didn't say it looked easy! Figuring it isn't used often, it may or may not be worth it. I'll look for that pix....actually, I thing one of the for sale pix that LJ-TJ posted has it on there. John

rustyescott1 · December 01, 2012, 06:20 PM

i've got a crank up spare tire winch from a late model chevy pu under mine

bluebird · December 01, 2012, 06:55 PM

That's what my Challenger came from the factory with. While it would be tuff to wrestle it out from under, I can not lift my spare, 8r19.5. Don't how much it weighs but I can't lift it. I just put all new tires on and had to have my son come out and put them in the pickup for me. That crankup spare is the way to go if you have the room under neath. My buddy just bought a 96 Southwind Storm and it's on the back bumper, he is going to mount his under also.

moonlitcoyote · December 01, 2012, 07:10 PM

Quote from: LJ-TJ on December 01, 2012, 04:47 PM

i?? Well it's dark here right now. But if you can wait until tomorrow I have a tire carrier off my bago right now which has a bumper on it and I'll get you some pic's. If it's what you think will work for you I'll get the measurements for you.

Thank you, I would like to get it done but I'm not in a super rush. Pics would be great!

As far as putting it on the roof, yeah, I dont think so. I could see me tossing it down and having it land on hubbys head..Well it might knock some sense into him, but I dont think he'd like me too much afterwards. Besides, I want to get some storage totes of some sort and tie them down on the roof.

LJ-TJ · December 01, 2012, 08:04 PM

Have you got a picture of the rear of your rig.

jkilbert · December 01, 2012, 08:22 PM

If you're not pulling a toad, then the hitch works well to hold the spare...kinda like a bike carrier

John

Oz · December 01, 2012, 09:58 PM

The earlier Life Time Premiers on the Ford chassis actually had a slide out rack mounted underneath which would hold 2 spare tires!

Since you pull a toad, It think the suggestions by Rusty and Charlie to use a crank-up, undercarriage tire carrier from a pick-up truck would be a good way to go.

DaveVA78Chieftain · December 02, 2012, 10:03 AM

I suppose I have to ask a dumb question. You want to move the spare tire from the current "underneath" storage compartment to say a rear bumper mount style of tire carrier. Do you even have another space available for a undercarriage style of carrier. It will take up as much space as your existing storage compartment. Typically the crank up style is mounted between the frame rails all the way aft. This is the type of carrier used on pickups.
A picture of the rear of your rig would help a lot.

Dave

Froggy1936 · December 02, 2012, 12:24 PM

The crank up spare is between the rear frame rails And that is where most R/V fuel tanks are located . Another possibility is a front bumper mount But then a cover is not a good idea as the radiator cooling air is already suppressed just by the tire and wheel if extra storage space is desired a roof carrier is the best way !! And you cannot throw a spare tire from the roof as it will bounce almost as high as the roof and be a very hard to control /heavy missile Frank

Roof Carrier from Sears , Original spare tire carrier Frank

moonlitcoyote · December 02, 2012, 01:12 PM

I am going to try and get a picture uploaded today or this evening, the internet is still pretty shotty here. Hubby really wants the tire mounted on the back bumper and after looking closer at the bumper he said that it is a steel bumper with a chrome finish. I dont want to spend alot of money on one and hubby likes to make things so if it would be cheaper to make one that is the direction we would like to go. I will post the pic of the back as soon as I can.

ClydesdaleKevin · December 02, 2012, 08:19 PM

Well, I know you guys pull a towed vehicle behind you...so I had a brainstorm. If you could find one cheap enough, like on craigslist, what about a motorcycle carrier that slides into your hitch? The kind that still has a receiver ball on the back of it so you can also pull a vehicle? If you could find a used one cheap, maybe even one that was pretty shabby for really cheap, you could cut it down to size with a grinder and instead of carrying a motorcycle, it would be carrying your spare tire!

Another thought, inspired by the silly one above, is to have a metal shop fabricate for you a receiver hitch with an upright square steel piece welded to the top of it, tall enough for your tire and with 2 threaded rods welded in place. one over the other, with just the right spacing for your lug pattern to hold a spare. Below the tire the receiver can extend outward with a ball mount. Heck, if you are fabricating anyways, you could have that ball mount set at any height or drop for your current tow setup/bumper height of your tow vehicle. Now it it was me that was going to do it, I'd also have 2 angled crossmembers welded on to the upright that would bolt through the bumper for lateral stability.

Since you want it bumper mounted, its the easiest way to do it I can think of. Unless you put a crossmember on your tow bar and flat mount it to the top of the tow bar, like some utility trailer spare tire mounts I have seen.

Or heck...if you have a roof rack on your tow vehicle, you could always carry the spare up there, since its way lower than the roof of the RV...lol!

Kev

DaveVA78Chieftain · December 02, 2012, 10:44 PM

Maybe some sort of variation of the hitch mount spare tire carrier shown on this page.
http://www.hitchcorner.com/ball_mounts.htm#front

Dave

LJ-TJ · December 03, 2012, 11:38 AM

Check out Page C 23-24 you'll see a picture of the spare wheel carrier on the 21'er. It slides into your frame rails on your motorhome and bolts to your frame. The spare wheel swings out to the left to give you access to the rear of the motorhome if you need it. I'm going to head down and see if I can get some pic's

http://www.winnebagoind.com/service/wincd/1975/75wd21.pdf

LJ-TJ · December 03, 2012, 02:22 PM

Here are some actual photos as to what it looks like in real life. Let me know if you want measurements. You might best just look for someone that's scraping an old Winnebago and but the one off the back of theirs. Shouldn't cost anymore than a few bucks and cheaper than buying the raw stock.

LJ-TJ · December 03, 2012, 02:23 PM

Here's a few more.

LJ-TJ · December 03, 2012, 02:25 PM

Last One.

moonlitcoyote · December 03, 2012, 04:59 PM

Thank you LJ, that looks like what I need and it does look do-able. I'll talk to hubby and see what he might need for measurements. We have searched everywhere for old RV's to get parts from with no luck and the junk yards wont let you go and look at what they have which makes it difficult when you want to see if they have something that might possibly work.

cosmic · December 03, 2012, 05:06 PM

That's the same one i have. strong very strong. i stand on mine all the time. its way stronger then the ladder.lol,

LJ-TJ · December 03, 2012, 05:54 PM

OK! Just saw the pictures of your rig. I strongly believe that this wheel carrier is very adaptable to your rig. I have one off I'll see if I can get some pictures of how the bumper mounts to the tire carrier. I'm pretty sure it will work for you. You guys are up around Main some were aren't you. We got anybody up close that might have one of these laying around the back yard?

moonlitcoyote · December 03, 2012, 09:13 PM

Actually we are in Georgia until the end of winter

LJ-TJ · December 03, 2012, 09:38 PM

Even better. There's got to be places in Georgia to pick one of these tire racks up. I was sure someone said there was a Magic Junk Yard around there.