Thread: Two spare wheels...

I am preparing the 1999 Jayco Hawk for our small outback adventure to Alice Springs. The intended route is to be on the black top all the way to Alice. On the way back it will be off to Mt Dare, Dalhousie Springs, Oodnadatta, William Creek, Coward Springs, Marree, Lyndhurst..all involving a bit of dirt. We are taking about 5 days to get to Alice and are taking 11 days to get back to Lyndhurst, so we will not be going flat out on the track to get somewhere.


What I would like to do is to somehow mount two spares off the back of our Hawk. I already have a single mount centre bolted to the rear which is not inset like the newer Hawks.

The problem I have is that the diameters of the tyres spread the distance out too far and you find it difficult to place your stays for the bed ends. It's a bit of a struggle to squeeze them in.

Has any others performed a modification like this if only temporary? Or are there any pics of what others have done?
Add a bumber bar and add two uprights? Hang it off the chassis rails? Triangular frame using the two lower chassis rails and the existing tyre mount and hang the spares from that?
As you can read, I am struggling to 'think outside the square' so any bright ideas would be great

I've got a similar problem at the moment with my home made camper trailer (similar style to a Jayco). Mine was originally built on mini rear suspension and had mini wheels. OK for towing behind small car (father in law had a Torana) but way too low behind Disco or Prado. I've put a new chassis and longer draw bar under it, leaf springs and Ford 14 inch rims with Bridgestone light truck tyres.

Problem is that new spare will not fit on original carrier, which was recessed into back of trailer and OK for mini wheel. I'm putting a new rail across between the extended chassis rails, with an upright welded from that up to the original spare wheel carrier and bolted on to that - new carrier welded to the upright. The rail across the back will block the attachment points for the bed stays. Similar problem at front where I've fitted a large aluminium box across the front on the draw bar.

What I'm doing to get around it is modifying the bed stays so that they are simply cut off at the bottom end (open pipe) and welding pins to the appropriate points on the rear chassis rail extensions and front draw bar. The bed stays then simply slide on over the pins and clip into the bottom of the bed bases - may have to re-locate the attachments on the bottom of the bed bases to get everything to fit - not sure yet.

Anyhow, this may not be suited to your requirements, but hopefully might give you some different ideas.

Cheers ............. BM