Spare tyre location sorted out

[Junosi]

I've had no spare tyre since I upgraded my tyres to the BFG AT KO 265/70 R16's - it didn't fit in the spare tyre well any more and since then I've also installed an LPG donut tank in the tyre well. So I was left with no spare and have been travelling with just the repair kit. Getting a tyre swing arm for the rear is prohibitively expensive. Slinging the tyre in the back was an ok option for long trips but after seeing this thread on rangerover.net I decided to more or less copy Ray A's idea. (RangeRovers.net • View topic - LPG tank locations/options/sizes (http://rangerovers.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=32569&p=252005&hilit=spare+tyre#p252005))

Excuse the fuzzy photo, I wasn't taking my 35kg wheel back out to reshoot! Shows steel bracket attached to upgraded high tensile steel 8mm bolts where the subwoofer mounts were.
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Cover back on showing little hole where tyre stay bolts into. Also shows additional lighter socket in cover
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Tyre in location with original tyre stay screwed through the middle into nut welded onto my homemade bracket. Additionally I felt the need for a rachet line over it to help prevent the tyre bouncing. Found a good spot for the fire extinguisher too
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View from inside with boot doors shut
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Even with my larger than standard wheels it easily fits in this location, there's still plenty of clearance to the glass at the rear and quite a gap behind the rear seat and the tyre still. I'll have to sort out a decent cover for it now.

[DT-P38]

Hey Junosi, How much would you charge to make me one of them for "the pig"? :D
Also, are you serious about losing that quad pipe set up? Loved the wild noises coming out of your machine the other day! Would like to pick it up if you do get rid of it and the price is not too exxy ;)

Hoo-Roo, Dave

[Aussie]

Would like to pick it up if you do get rid of it and the price is not too exxy

I think we may have a bidding war on our hands...LOL

[Junosi]

I'll have to see how I go with the exhaust setup - I'm fairly sure I want to reduce its volume in the low rpm range (below 3000rpm), but I want to keep the 4 tips look at the back. Might end up butchering the middle part of it and replacing the current two silencers with a more stock like single silencer. It's not exactly a *stealth* model at the moment ! :D

As for making up another spare tyre bracket, I could I guess - it was a lot of shagging around (and my welding is awful). I bought the 5mm steel plate, 3mm steel box and HT bolts from Bunnings which was about $30 worth I think. I'd be concerned about where to put the centre hole on someone elses rig, mines set up for my exact tyre size and isn't adjustable - could make it adjustable somehow I guess but would then require a slot rather than a hole in the subwoofer cover.

[PaulP38a]

Nice work Junosi. Perhaps you could extend the bracket around the wheel somehow, and butcher the original load space cover so it slots in? Or, get some nice slats made of walnut and make a really classy cover? ;)
Cheers, Paul.

[Junosi]

Resurrecting an old thread I know :D. I've changed how my spare wheel is secured and thought I'd share - as it's a lot more simple to make than my old way and accommodates different size wheels this time around. I had to change or rebuild my old setup as I replaced my factory subwoofer with an aftermarket one some time ago and my original tyre bracket no longer fits.

Now my spare tyre is secured using the overhead baby seat restraint bolts in the roof and a very simple securing steel bracket with a turnbuckle for adjustment at one end and a ratchet welded to the other and secured in the wheel well. It's rock solid with the bracket very firmly holding it in place. I've got the little woman making a cover for it and I've yet to paint the bracket to hide my bad welding

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Still plenty of room in front and behind for even bigger wheels (33' might be stretching it though!)

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My prototype with shorter arms - drove around for a week trying it out before deciding to make the bracket arms longer

Anyways that's about it, just another option for those with spare tyre issues.

[p38arover]

Hmmm. I'm tempted to go that way. I currently have a Kaymar swing-away rear wheel carrier but it's a pain having to swing it out of the way every time I want to open the upper tailgate.

[VladTepes]

Yes Ron I have the same complaint with my ute.. pain to swing away just to open the tailgate. Oh well, nothings perfect.


I don;lt reckon I;d be too comfortable haviong a tyre like that in the back of a car without a cargo barrier.

[PaulP38a]

Again, nice work Junosi. Wonder if that will work with my 33"s? Yours are 30.5"s from memory?

The rear wheel carrier can certainly be a pain at times, especially in car parks and up against walls.

Cheers, Paul.

[Junosi]

Wonder if that will work with my 33"s? Yours are 30.5"s from memory?

Yep mine are about 30.5's (40mm taller than standard) - 33's would be a tight fit I think. I just eyeballed how mine fits, yours are about 63mm bigger than mine in diameter apparently, so if it did fit it'd be tight and probably end up touching the back of the back seat and that little rubber lip on the back door that normally seals against the shelf. Glass clearance is still no drama.

You'd have to lug one of those 35kg monsters up in there and see :D