Custom Hitch Mount Spare Tire Carrier

[ceej]

I built myself a hitch mount spare tire carrier for my lifted Suzuki SX4. With the bigger tires I couldn't use the stock donut as a spare and I wanted to carry the full size spare outside the vehicle. Photos attached. Let me know what you think! Also I feel like this is something I should have been able to purchase online but I couldn't find a product that matched what I wanted. Any comments on why this doesn't exist?

It mounts in a 1 1/4" hitch, and the tire is about 28" diameter. It feels super solid but I suppose someone with seriously big rubber might want to go to a 2" version.
$27 for the steel, and $12 for the fasteners / pins. Plus paint.

Cheers!

 

[rayra]

it pivots down to the left, tire rests on the ground? Looks good. Info on the welding? Looks a little on the small side. I'd suggest a gusset at the bottom 90. Lot of strain there and a potential lethal accident for somebody if that breaks off.

 

[ceej]

Yea it swings down until the tire hits the ground. I did the welding myself, I should run some numbers to see what the loads on that spot are likely to be but I'm quite sure it isn't a concern. There are two vertical 1/4" plates that are notched out to cover 3 sides of the horizontal square tube. They are welded to the tube on both sides of each plate, and all three sides of the square tube. Then I put a 1/4" plate on the right side of it to join the two vertical plates together, so they share the load and act like a U channel. The spare only weighs about ~35lbs. Looking at how things flex when I pull on it I think I would break the hitch itself before it failed there.

 

[rayra]

Get on a long washboarded road and it just might. The bracing you describe is much better than I thought was there, looking at the pics. Just every time I see this sort of 'lollipop' mount I think about the wracking stresses / moment arm of the thing. I've driven a lot of desert miles over 30yrs, seen a lot of stuff break that should not have. I have little doubt your design would hold up fine on the street.

 

[MOguy]

Looks like it might flex a lot and snap, bend or hit you vehicle. I have seen "beefier" mounts than that not hold up to the abuse of driving on less than wonderful roads.

I do like the swing down. I worked with someone who became disabled enough to were he could not lift up and down his spare (33s on a wrangler). If he had a flat he would have to rely on others for help. He was looking into something like this. I changed jobs, he had to medically retire and we lost touch so I am not sure what he ever found.

 

[ceej]

Thanks for the input guys. it certainly won't flex and hit the vehicle, it is pretty damn stiff. The only failure mode I can imagine would be fatigue from bouncing along rough roads as rayra described. I think maybe I'll just put in a safety chain to connect it to the car... that way if it did fail it would just drag along behind me rather than bouncing down the highway in to someone elses path. If I put in a gusset it will be much stronger but still no real guarantee that it couldn't fail eventually. Thoughts?

 

[docwatson]

Looks a lot like the Detours Knucklebone.