Spare tire, location preference

[klahanie]

Kicking around designs for a new rig and wondering about the membership's own preferences re where to store a standard size spare tire(s).

Infront of camper. We have a chassis cab with no provision for under frame placement and so chose infront . This has it's own merits but our version requires manual lifting of the 100# wheel and tire to deck height, something not practical for everyone.

Underneath. Next truck might be a pick up. It's been a while since I had one and I do like the idea of shorter truck length but may have forgotten the quirks of the spare being underneath. Around my area some company pick ups, run by logging, mining, ministry of conservation etc, carry a spare in the box, usually against a headache rack. These might be a second spare, but I suspect it is a convenience thing. Anyone know about this ?

Rear mount. No experience here but seems to me best suited for a side entry camper. Lots of swing out carriers around. Some I imagine are needed because of oversize tires but wonder about other considerations.

Ideal would be a location and system that is easy for both travelling adults to use.

Thoughts and experiences welcome.

~David

 

[Ace!]

If you're considering a new truck, under the bed. The tire almost never gets used and that spot is consistent with keeping a low center of gravity, and it is usually otherwise out of the way.

 

[DavidGraves]

Hi David

I just cannot imagine out engineering the factories on this one.

The under frame mount at rear with a handy winch to lift and lower it just works out pretty well for me.

I sometimes cheat and carry my recovery cable etc on top of the spare.

I know a lot of folks like the outback aussie look of a spare on the roof or hood but those mountings need some serious thought and fabrication work and they each have their drawbacks...and amount to window dressing... like a snorkel.

Biggest drawback to the rear frame undermount is if you bury the rig first and then get a flat tire....oh well....thats just an all around bad day.

David Graves

 

[larryqp]

Just an FYI, I have a rear frame spare tire undermount, which works well, on my Ford Ranger with an FWC Eagle. I had originally planned to leave the tailgate attached in the down position to act as a small porch. The camper would have extended about 6" onto the tailgate. Luckily the person I bought the camper from, told me that I would not be able to access the tire lift mechanism if the tailgate was down.

So I removed the tailgate. Make sure you can operate the lift mechanism with the camper installed.

 

[oldhotrod]

Wilco off road makes a couple of rear tire swing mounts. On some truck models, there isn't enough room under the truck for a larger tire. The wilco mounts are also a good place to mount other items like gas or water jugs and a hilift jack. If you plan to stay on paved or maintained roads, access to the spare is less important than it is for others..

 

[klahanie]

Thx folks.

It occurs to me that for those resource industry pick ups I mentioned, with a spare in the truck box - you guys in Oregon may have seen some - that it might be a worker safety issue; makes it easier to do a visual and functional check of vehicle equipment before starting a shift.

Agree under frame is a good spot, prob the best for most users. A bit awkward but not often needed. I guess question is, how awkward and how often.

 

[oldhotrod]

The adage is, the farther you are from help, the more likely you'll need it. A long time ago, i was coming back from a trip to the tip of baja. In the middle of nowhere, i lost both right side tires after fuelling at a gas drum "station" along the highway. One and only time it ever happened but it can happen. So now i factor in proximity to help, food, ice, gas, criminals etc inti my plans...but in the end, just goin for it wins out more often then not...

 

[ntsqd]

Our truck can fit up to a 35"/315metric spare under the rear, but that's starting to push it. I didn't like it there for the access reason. I have seen others have to dig out their spare with a rear flat and the truck not buried in muck. No doubt that was a unique situation, but I prefer not to repeat it. I was going to need to replace that spare winch anyway because the cable was fraying.

I also covet that space for a water tank. Prior to finding a 60 gal replacement fuel tank that roughly fits where the stock tank did I was planning on two tanks there, one a second fuel tank and the other a fresh water tank.

A further consideration is that under bed spares rarely get checked for correct air pressure. Much easier to do this when it's accessible. With OBA thisn't a big deal, but without it this is critical.

As to the weight of the spare, build the mount with the lifting ability built into it. You can see how I did this in my "So I built a Spare carrier" thread here. Survey pictures of true Expedition rigs, the real ones have some sort of spare tire(s) lifting mechanism on them. One of the iterations of Rob Gray's "wothahellizat" inspired my design.

 

[klahanie]

Thing is, for the next truck I have to decide on carrying one spare or two. If one, the pick up and it's system looks attractive as long as it doesn't turn out to be a pain to access - what I'm wondering about.

If two then I'd prob put both at the rear and use the space under for a water tank or batteries or fuel (with another chassis cab). But then I might be pushed into a side entry camper, about which I'm yet undecided. Or use swing outs. Again, don't know how much of a pain swing outs are with a rear entry camper.

ntsqd, thanks for mentioning your spare tire carrier build. Dynamite. I well remember it. For the gentle reader who may have missed it:

http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/8110-so-i-built-a-spare-tire-carrier/

oldhotroad, I saw a "two flats in a row" once, on a VW Golf on the Alaskan Hwy, Northern BC. Silly bug was in a road construction zone and had prob driven over the broken asphalt that was being repaired. Luckily there were crew around to get help and get them out of their way!. As we passed the couple standing at the side of the road my wife said, "now I know why you want to carry two spares".

That was one design element of the current truck, the ability to carry two spares. I had a punch list of places I wanted to drive with this truck. One was the Dempster, infamous for eating tires - we had no issues but saw some that did . Another was a similar length route of 1500km continuous gravel but remote with few to no services. Had a flat about 1/3 way in (say 300miles) and a second just before coming out.

Otherwise we get maybe one flat a year. So the pick up version should work. It's just that we are always solo and I do get nervous ...

Thx for the comments

 

[ntsqd]

Some food for thought:
In the avatar dune buggy we couldn't afford the weight and space of a spare. We carried a tube and some "tire boot" patches along with the tools needed to gain access to the inside of the tire. Large sidewall tears got the "boot" applied and then the tube installed. One such tear first saw the tire sewn back together using SS safety wire, then booted and tubed.

It is amazing what can be done with motorcycle tire spoons. They don't look long enough, but they worked. A trick that one of the guys came up with that made the tubes last a lot longer in storage was to use one of the big anti-ESD electronics bags to store the tube in, and then to use a 'Seal-A-Meal' vacuum bag sealer to pull a vacuum on the tube and seal the bag shut. The mylar foil of the bag kept out the sunlight and the vacuum removed most of the oxygen.

So an option might be to carry only one spare, but also the aforementioned tools and supplies to be able to put a tube in a tire that otherwise wouldn't hold air.

 

[trikebubble]

I have the Hitchgate. Positives are you don't have to crawl under the truck to access a spare covered in mud and dirt, and the Hitchgate also can allow you to stow other stuff (extra fuel and/or water, hi-lift, shovel, Maxtrax, and Trasharoo in my case). The Hitchgate is also prefect for hanging stuff on when camping.
The downside is that you have to swing it open each and every time you stop and want to access the camper. You can't stealth camp with the Hitchgate on, as you can't swing it open from inside the camper.

I leave mine on most of the time, though usually remove it in the winter when I run my studded winter tires..and then keep my winter spare under the truck.

 

[rando]

On my last camper (pop top landcruiser), I had dual swing outs, one with the tire the other with a ladder that was a second entrance to the sleeping area in the pop top. I have to say that you need into your camper 1000x more often than you need your spare tire, so having to open the swing outs every time quickly became old. I was also a little worried about the gate blowing closed (or being closed by a 'friend') while I was in the camper. Not a big deal on the LC which had side doors, but would be a big deal on a FWC.

I have had precisely one flat tire on my adventure mobiles in the past 15 years of adventuring and probably 80k miles miles (including the Haul Road, Casir, circumnavigating Oz, etc). That flat tire was on the pavement and was fixable with my plug kit, so the spare wasn't even needed. So yeah, I would second leaving it under the truck and carrying a compressor and plug kit instead. Swing outs/tire racks are heavy, tires are heavy and it puts all that weight in a bad spot - way out behind the rear axel. On the flip side, they are extremely exposexual.

 

[smlobx]

My two cents is that if you can keep a spare in the OEM location that would be the best option. I have heard of people not being able to crank the spare tire cable down because it had rusted in place (probably not a problem for you West coast guys..) but either way it would probably be a good idea to "exercise" the cable a couple of times a year, maybe when you check the pressure.

If you want to carry a second tire (and I am planning on doing that in our trips to AK and Baja) then you will need something like the Hitchgate which I have been happy with. On our trip to Africa earlier this year every truck carried two spares on the rear, each on a swing out arm that had to be opened to get access to the rest of the camper. For us it wasn't an issue and made changing the tire much easier which was nice since we were in lion country! We ended up plugging the tire later that night when we camped for the evening with a roaring fire to keep the critters at bay... this was the fastest tire change I've ever done without power tools!

 

[Ace!]

If you've never repaired a flat with a good offroad tire repair kit, you might carry that instead. It weighs two pounds and will fit under the seat.

 

[Smokecreek1]

Second carrying a good tire repair kit or two and a good plug-in air pump! Getting to old for all that real back country stuff these days, so I just carry my spare in the regular stock position under the rear on my F-150 4x4 with a Grandby-no problems changing it so far (had a slow leak last trip from a nail and sure was glad I carried that old air pump!. If I was doing some type of adventure trekking ! would find a place for another tire. When I was still working the back country for BLM carried two spares and tire kit because you always had a chance to get a flat or two and be out of radio contact and where we worked it was an mighty long walk home! Did have 3 flats one day-took a band new stock truck out to do a quick job and did not replace the stock 2 ply tires with our usual 10 ply heavy duty ones , and payed for it too!!

Smoke

 

[klahanie]

For sure carry a plug kit and have used it with OBA. Also recommend.

I don't think I've ever had a flat that ruined a tire or shredded one. Have never carried spoons or learned to use them. With this truck It was easier to just carrying a second spare when I wanted to.

My current thinking for next time is pick up with the usual underneath spare location for the run of the mill stuff. That keeps it out of sight, in keeping with my desired inoffensive, nondescript look (no bling for us. CDN, sorry ). And - if desired - for more remote stuff, a plug in carrier for a second. Seems a good compromise; for more likely use they'd be a more accessible spare, for more road trips that would be gone and not in the way. Pity about the Wilco prices tho...

Now, if I can't talk the Mrs out of a diesel, we might stick with a C/C for the dual fuel tanks, then the whole underneath tire is out. We'll see what the new Ford gasser looks like.

Thx again all

PS smlobx, love the lion story ... spidey senses tingling, eh? ...

 

[Edgewood]

Any recommendations for a good plug kit preferably from Amazon ?

 

[ntsqd]

As to the difference in behavior with the spare under the rear vs. upright over the rear bumper, our truck has enough Polar Moment already that the difference was unnoticeable.

In designing our carrier one of my concerns was being able to access the camper without having to open the carrier. I biased the tire as far to the right as I thought that I could and it is *just* enough. If I get much fatter I won't be able to get in w/o opening it. Good incentive to keep slim.

Safety Seal gets high marks in most of the tire plug kit tests. I hate their space consuming, blow-molded box. I carry an MV-50 portable compressor as back-up and for jobs where it is inconvenient to get my truck close enough to use it's OBA. I keep all of the tire plug stuff in the carry case for that compressor.

 

[Ace!]

I use the Safety Seal kit and Viair compresssor. As squid said, the tire kit box is cheesy, but the components are quality. I guess it's an example of don't judge a book (or tire repair kit) by its cover.

 

[Beach]

One option not mentioned would be a front mount. Back in the day(1969), my dad owned a F250 camper special with the spare under the rear(factory setup). After a flat and not being able to get the spare out from under, he bought a front mount carrier and moved the spare. We never had a problem with overheating or any issues carrying it there. Bonus is we moved 100+ lbs of tire to the front axle. Might not be an option for your need but thought I would post it.