Spare Tire Mount Ideas?

[gwolff]

Hey Guys. I am trying to come up with a tire mount or swing out tire carrier design for the rear of my trailer. I do not think the door itself is sturdy enough to carry the spare. Looking at my trailer, does anyone have any ideas for how I can mount it? It seems like a challenge to do a swing out tire carrier that won't be in the way of the door itself.

 

[AeroMoto]

I've got an idea for when I finally get a trailer of my own. Have a side mount swing down tire carrier, probably behind the passenger's side wheel. Triangular frame. Mount the spare between the swing out frame and the trailer side. When it swings down, have a pop out leg to hold it at 90 degrees. Then put a circle of plywood on top of the spare tire for a convenient table. Could also bolt the plywood to the spare so that it has it's own stowed place, and then you don't have to do anything to set it up once in camp. I've got it drawn up in sketch up, but no pictures of course, just a pipe dream. Concerns would be the extra weight behind the axle and off to one side of the trailer. And of course the strength of the frame in that particular area.

 

[downhill]

I would mount it on the tongue in some fashion. It helps with tongue weight, and it remains accessible. Swing-aways are a pain in my opinion.

 

[gwolff]

I would mount it on the tongue in some fashion. It helps with tongue weight, and it remains accessible. Swing-aways are a pain in my opinion.

I was originally planning to mount it on the tongue but I am trying to keep about a 15% tongue weight. I would like to keep a cooler and water etc in the box I am building on the tongue, so I was thinking it would be better to put it on the back. With it up front, the trailer will be too heavy on the tongue.

 

[gwolff]

Here was my original design.. a mounting bracket coming from the tongue box

 

[Joe917]

How hard is it to move the axle forward (you have no fenders yet).

 

[gwolff]

How hard is it to move the axle forward (you have no fenders yet).

Unfortunately 0% chance of that happening as I do in fact have fenders on now. They axle is placed to allow room for the door to open too

 

[Joe917]

OK, how about a side mount on top of a fender?

 

[gwolff]

I thought about that too, however I am putting a window on both sides. It might be possible to fit it, but it'll be tight. I'll have to reinforce the frame which isn't a big issue. In that case though, I could just reinforce the frame of the rear door and mount it right to the door

 

[mep1811]

on the roof rack

 

[gwolff]

No roof rack currently but that's a possibility

 

[jeffjeeptj]

I too have a 5x8 with "running boards" behind the wheels. Original use was mfc/mwc. Last trip one got used for the spare.
I agree the doors are weak, and my side door started to rot, and no one had any ideas for a replacement. I made one from 2 layers of Advantech glued and screwed together. Reused the aluminum channel at the edges. I also added a vintage camper latch to the new door. It is much stronger than the original door, no flex, seals better.
I will be making a similar replacement rear door this winter and be mounting the spare there along with some footman loops for the trasharoo.

 

[jscherb]

Do you have enough room for the spare between the frame rails underneath the floor? If so, what about installing an under-floor winch like many SUVs have? I plan to install one under my Jeep-tub trailer, this photo shows a Ford Explorer tire winch I picked up at the junkyard.

The Explorer winch requires a small hole in the floor for the jack handle to operate it; some others (my 2000 Suburban for example) activate from the side, the Suburban has a hole in the bumper to reach the mechanism. Some searching around a u-pull junkyard will turn up a bunch of different styles.

I've got plenty of clearance between the floor and the ground for a spare, you may not have the room depending on your tire size and clearance.

Or, as downhill has suggested, a tongue mount. That's what I've currently got on the trailer, I got it at Tractor Supply: https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/carry-on-trailer-spare-tire-mount?rfk=1. The reason I plan to replace it with the under-floor winch is that I want to use the space on the tongue for something else.

 

[gwolff]

I don't want to do an under trailer mount because it will eat up a lot of my ground clearance. I think I'm going to mount it on the side, above and just slightly behind the axle like the picture below. I am going to weld in a thick walled piece of channel inside the wall from the frame to the top of the wall and then bolt through to that.

 

[tlin]

I don't want to do an under trailer mount because it will eat up a lot of my ground clearance. I think I'm going to mount it on the side, above and just slightly behind the axle like the picture below. I am going to weld in a thick walled piece of channel inside the wall from the frame to the top of the wall and then bolt through to that.

View attachment 427629

@gwolff and OP, what do you think about putting it right in front of the tongue box atop the tongue itself? This keeps:

• weight low and centered (you could orient the spare perpendicular or parallel to the tongue)
• easy access to the spare
• tongue box storage capacity "as is"

You might be able to use a tongue mount (as @jscherb suggested) atop that tongue box's top rail with some minor changes. My $.02....

Don't forget your Trasharoo....