Anyone have pictures of how my spare should attach to my 1990 e350 econoline?

[dfinn]

I'm getting my van (1990 E350 econoline) ready for a month long road trip through the PNW and up into BC and one of my prep tasks is to get the spare tire back where it belongs. A few years ago I took it off so that I could fit a friends bike rack on, the tire was in the way. It's been off since. I was pretty sure I had saved all of the parts but when I went to put it on today nothing really matched up. I'm thinking I must be missing something.

I've got this:

Thanks,
Dan

 

[southpier]

nuts!

 

[spencyg]

Ditch that spare carrier pronto! Mine had that exact unit mounted to it upon purchase and the first time you mis-judge clearance when backing up you'll do serious damage to the door behind the tire. Trust me.

If you have stock bumpers I'd recommend a tow-hitch mounted carrier similar to this....



With customer bumpers I'd go right to a swing-out carrier. The problem with the hitch mounted on shown above is the limitation of opening the rear doors for whatever reason.

SG

 

[dfinn]

nuts!

guess I left myself open to that one. I've got nuts, 2 of them actually. I thought I had kept everything when I took this off but that plate shown in the picture doesn't seem to match up with any 2 holes on the rim in any way that makes sense.

spencyg, appreciate that info but unfortunately almost any time this van leaves the house it has multiple bikes on a hitch mounted bike rack. If I were to back into something the first thing to take the punishment would be the rack and any bikes on it.

 

[Jb1rd]

I will take a look at mine in the morning as it is already dark here, but I believe that the plate is a backing plate and the lug nuts should hold the tire on.

guess I left myself open to that one. I've got nuts, 2 of them actually. I thought I had kept everything when I took this off but that plate shown in the picture doesn't seem to match up with any 2 holes on the rim in any way that makes sense.

 

[dfinn]

would really appreciate that. I've tried every combo I could think of and nothing seemed to line up with more than 1 hole at a time.

 

[Mwilliamshs]

If that's the Ford carrier you have the bolts in the 8 lug position. With a 5 lug wheel you'd put the top bolt through a lug hole and the middle hole would hold a bolt that goes through the wheel center hole (the big hole in the middle) whereas an 8 hole (e250 or 350) goes through two opposing lug holes.

 

[Jb1rd]

Mine looks like this (1994 E350)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dfinn]

thanks Jb1rd. That's interesting. The plate of steel that I have doesn't look like it's long enough to span the center hole of the rim but I can probably find one of those pretty easily. Do you have any concerns that there's basically 1 bolt supporting the entire weight of your spare on? Looking at possible ways to attach mine that was definitely a concern I have but maybe it's a non issue.

 

[Jb1rd]

It seems pretty solid. I would think it is also a grade 8 bolt, so the weight shouldn't be an issue as long as it is securely fastened. I don't really like these tire carriers but it will have to do, I am more concerned with getting the 4wd conversion done first, I will then save my pennies for an Aluminess rear bumper and attachments :sombrero:

 

[Mwilliamshs]

There are 2 different generations (-91 and 92-) of tire carriers in this thread (speaking of jb1rd and dfinn's pics only) and at least one of them is aftermarket so don't be surprised if what you have doesn't match what's shown.

 

[VANMAN]

You will tear metal with those old carriers...where they attach to door...go custom rear bumper and carrier

 

[Jb1rd]

Def in the plans but the 4wd lift and conversion are coming first. Knock on wood it is still solid 70k miles and 20 years later, I think it will be ok for a little while longer:sombrero:

You will tear metal with those old carriers...where they attach to door...go custom rear bumper and carrier

 

[cjken]

When you do your 4x4 conversion I think you will use bigger tires . You will probably need a beefier carrier at that point.

We recently welded this up



I did not want my tire on the roof and want to be able to use my hitch from time to time so the swing away is a good option.

My old 2wd van (1990) had one just like yours. Held up ok to the stock tires.