Rear Door Spare Tire Mount

[tom4bren]

A lot of you have made it ABUNDANTLY clear how you feel about mounting a full size spare on the rear door. You don't need to repeat yourself. I heard you the first time

Others have asked how the PO mounted it on mine so here are a few pix:

http://pbase.com/tom4bren/090530_window_fixin_party

I probably should have made a seperate folder but all the pix were taken at the same time.

The U-channel on the outside of the back door looks like a factory piece he scrounged from somewhere. I don't know what the hub piece is that he welded to it but the studs are just press in.

Inside the door are two rather hefty plates to spread out the load so that the sheet metal isn't deformed.

I'll try to get the pix loaded in my gallery later (for some reason, they wouldn't take).

Tom

[crotchrocket]

A lot of you have made it ABUNDANTLY clear how you feel about mounting a full size spare on the rear door. You don't need to repeat yourself. I heard you the first time

Others have asked how the PO mounted it on mine so here are a few pix:

http://pbase.com/tom4bren/090530_window_fixin_party

I probably should have made a seperate folder but all the pix were taken at the same time.

The U-channel on the outside of the back door looks like a factory piece he scrounged from somewhere. I don't know what the hub piece is that he welded to it but the studs are just press in.

Inside the door are two rather hefty plates to spread out the load so that the sheet metal isn't deformed.

I'll try to get the pix loaded in my gallery later (for some reason, they wouldn't take).

Tom

Sorry to change the subject, but who's is the grey VX with the luggage rack?

[Marlin]

Well Tom, after seeing the pics, I was going to make it a harder project than it really is. I was thinking of a custom fab for the mount, now I realize all I need to do is hit the junkyard and find an existing 6 on 5.5 spare mount. That looks like a 2 hour project...tops. Then I can get that 100lb spare off the roof, which will help in gas and prevent the risk of a future rack failure. Jack, I know you are worried about the door, but 99.9% of the time it is closed and all the weight is shared on the latch and frame of the door. When we wheel, think about how much force is applied to the luggage rack!!! Its only a matter of time until one fails, in Moab one of my rack brackets failed, I have since modded the brackets, they will never fail again, but it was certainly an eye opener. So much force on the crossbars with that weight sling shotting around up there.
I will post pics as I go along, maybe write up a "How to".

[crager34]

I am going to do this mod!!! Now... anyone know the specs and wehre to get one of those spare tire mounts? Is it an OEM item from another MFGR or was it fabbed?

WHAT WHAT!! TELL ME EVERYTHING!!

[tom4bren]

"oohh look I used the "quote" button correctly Another thing Tom seems to never do correctly..... ever."

My way uses less bandwidth, so ... PPHHHTT.

"You've NEVER been able to post pics correctly! Why start now?"

It was a size issue (something you may not have ever experienced). I need to set my camera to lower res.

"who's is the grey VX with the luggage rack?"

CSTYLES ownes that one - it's sweeet!

"How is your door holding up? Do you open it alot?"

Alla time. It's holding up great, just a little wear on the wedge shaped bracket when the door closes. I'm reeeeeal careful opening the door tho & never let it get away from me, that much weight would prolly rip the door right off the VX if it swung open too fast/hard. There is NO deformation of the sheet metal.

"is it rip on tom day?? damn, i missed the memo..."

No memo - it just naturally evolved. My warped humor is coming back to bite me in the butt.

"proton sucks"

I have no response to that.

"I may not like it for my truck Tom, but its not THAT bad really. I have considered it."

Wow, now that's a left handed compliment.

"anyone know the specs and wehre to get one of those spare tire mounts? Is it an OEM item from another MFGR or was it fabbed?"

If you can be patient, it looks like Marlin will do the leg work for you.

Tom

[CrnCnn]

"I may not like it for my truck Tom, but its not THAT bad really. I have considered it."

Wow, now that's a left handed compliment.

Tom

Well, I am a lefty.

not politically. Just a lefty.

[LittleBeast]

"You've NEVER been able to post pics correctly! Why start now?"

It was a size issue (something you may not have ever experienced).

Tom

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[CrnCnn]

When we wheel, think about how much force is applied to the luggage rack!!! Its only a matter of time until one fails, in Moab one of my rack brackets failed

I wonder about departure angle? I just worry about it catching on something. I know it should be high enough but you never know. Also, my rack came loose in Moab last year too. I see your point.

I am going to do this mod!!! Now... anyone know the specs and wehre to get one of those spare tire mounts? Is it an OEM item from another MFGR or was it fabbed?

WHAT WHAT!! TELL ME EVERYTHING!!

I was at the junk yard a few months ago and was thinking the mount off the trooper door might work. I didnt even pay attention to the pattern or anything mostly looking into the mounting strength.

I really have thought about this. I use my door alot though cause my dog goes where I go usually. So I worry about the maine brackets.

[Daver]

Well, I'm glad I got to see someone do this mod, because I've wanted to do it for quite a while, and now I'm kinda glad I didn't.

I wanted to mount my fullsize spare on the outside, and put a speaker enclosure shaped like an inverted peace sign for subs and 6x9s on the inside. I figured the weight on the hinges would be too much though, and laziness helped too.

Anyway, the body lines for the spare on the inside really push that exterior spare out too far for my taste. Oh well. Still want to get the spare off the roof, and keep the backseat, and for now that just means using the stock spare. Ouch.

-Daver

[So-CalVX]

Well, I'm glad I got to see someone do this mod, because I've wanted to do it for quite a while, and now I'm kinda glad I didn't.

I wanted to mount my fullsize spare on the outside, and put a speaker enclosure shaped like an inverted peace sign for subs and 6x9s on the inside. I figured the weight on the hinges would be too much though, and laziness helped too.

Anyway, the body lines for the spare on the inside really push that exterior spare out too far for my taste. Oh well. Still want to get the spare off the roof, and keep the backseat, and for now that just means using the stock spare. Ouch.

-Daver

You could always remove the passenger seat and mount some sort of full size spare holder there keeping the rear seats and giving easier access to them lol

ooh and then you could also put ur system in the rear door

[Marlin]

You could always remove the passenger seat and mount some sort of full size spare holder there keeping the rear seats and giving easier access to them lol

ooh and then you could also put ur system in the rear door

Nice...

[Marlin]

Has anyone else tried this yet? I got over 1mpg better with the spare on the door vice the roof. But I also removed the front bumper as well. I figured that would hurt, but something made a difference, I drive the same way every day to work. Sweet either way.

[Triathlete]

The tire on top sucks a lot of extra fuel...as does the basket on top or a bike. That is one of the biggest reasons I rented a mt. bike in Moab. I have several friends with sweet high end mt. bikes that would have let me borrow them however the rental was less than the extra fuel!

[vt_maverick]

Hey Marlin, I saw your VX in person last night and the rear tire mount looks great! I'm down in Charleston for a wedding and my buddy lives in your neighborhood! It's a small world huh? Sent you a PM, let me know if you're around tomorrow and maybe I'll stop by.

[Marlin]

Hey Marlin, I saw your VX in person last night and the rear tire mount looks great! I'm down in Charleston for a wedding and my buddy lives in your neighborhood! It's a small world huh? Sent you a PM, let me know if you're around tomorrow and maybe I'll stop by.

EEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!! Stranger Danger!!!! Stalker!!!!

J/K, I sent a PM back, I will be around all day, kind of embarrassed, the VX is dirty...