Just to piss Justin off, I am going to evaluate putting the full size spare inside the original spare location first. It may require some cutting of that internal brace for the factory spare, but I am willing to do that. I also understand that my door insert won't be effective anymore, and I am also ok with that, now I will have two of them in the garage. I will post how that works out. It would give me the best of both worlds, get the spare off the roof, and not drill as many holes, especially externally, on the VX. I do lose my rear bumper bonus, but eh, you win some, you lose some.
I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
Thomas Jefferson
"Hmmm, using the rear VX door as a full-size spare mounting point like on Tom's VX gives me the hebee-jebee's."
Yer Welcome. Glad to know I still have that effect on people.
"It is way too much stress on the VX door hinges and thin sheet metal."
No damage to date. My primary concern is that if I ever get rear ended, the spare will prolly focus all that energy into the door & we all know how hard they are to replace.
"A much better idea is to use a 2" square receiver tow hitch for the "mounting point" for a full-size spare. Just go to www.JCWhitney.com and type-in "SPARE MOUNT" in the little search box. There you will find various 2" tow hitch mounts for spare tires."
I haven't checked their site in a while but when I did, I wasn't too wild about their selection. All of the ones they offered came straight out & I wanted one that angled up from the receiver. I also wanted one that would drop down so you could open the door without removing the spare.
Tom
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Put a smiley after you say that Bub.
Hope y'all like the smell of rubber. Having the spare inside will certainly add to the ambience.
Last edited by tom4bren : 06/05/2009 at 12:11 PM
I haven't read through all the replies in this thread, but has anyone mentioned that mounting the spare on the outside of the rear door completely defaces the nice looking booty of our beloved VXes? Forget about the technical problems, it just don't look right!!! (IMHO) I feel the same way about safari bars and brush guards going over the front end. The VX is such an awesome looking machine, why cover up its best features??? Of course, to each his own...
Bart
Bart
"has anyone mentioned that mounting the spare on the outside of the rear door completely defaces the nice looking booty of our beloved VXes?"
No but I was waiting.
IMHO, the spare actually continues the body line 'in a quite aestetically pleasing manner.'
(sorry for the paraphrase - can't remember where it came from)
"Nothing was worse than the original rubber mat I bought to line my cargo space."
I know what you mean. I had to 'cook' my rubber floor mats in the sun for a week before I could put them in the car.
Alright, first update, no way its fittin inside without major mod to interior door frame, so that is a no go for me.
I went to the junkyard, picked up a rear door spare mount off of a Nissan Pathfinder. 100% bolt on, 6 on 5.5 pattern, one of the lugs has a padlock attachment built into it. Only took me about 2 minutes with a 14mm socket to get it off. Cost me 20 bucks. This will be a quick job tomorrow morning, I will post pics when I am done. He is trying to track down any other Vxs in south carolina within the junkyard community. He at least knew what it was when I pulled in.
They had several other isuzus, thread jack, do all of the manual hubs off of isuzus fit ours? They had a 88 Trooper and a 93 Amigo with manual hubs. He said 50 bucks a pair if I pull em. I will probably haggle for both sets for 75, that way I have spares. I cycled all 4, they felt clean, smooth action, no binding. They looked identical. The computer there showed that all the Isuzus used the same size hubs, be it manual or auto.
Any other parts I should look out for, under the hood they were complete as far as engines and support components. They had several 90s models and early 2k Rodeos.
Marlin,
I forgot to mention that the PO put a layer of padding (some kind of closed cell foam) under the bracket. He only did it on the outside bracket though.
You can sorta see it in my pix (but only if you're looking for it).
Tom
Marlin, as far as the hubs...if he will give you a good deal take them. Even if they don't fit you can clean them up and double your money saling them on PlanetIsuzoo.com. Give Matt at Indy4x a call and he will know if they will work. Are they Warn or Asins? They should be 17 spline I believe.
I would ask the PlanetIsuzu guys. AFAIK, it depends on the spline count. I pulled a pair of WARN manual hubs off a 90 Trooper and have yet to see if they fit my Trooper. I think they will since my Trooper is a 91 and the donor vehicle was a 90, but I suppose there is still a chance. IIRC, the 1st of the 1st gen Troopers had a different spline count than the later 1st gens. The WARNs I got are nice. I hope they fit.
Bart
I do know ours are 17 spline. Kodiak, what brand are yours, they look indentical to the ones you had on. The red face style.
I will try tomorrow.
As far as the foam under the bracket, I was actually planning on using the non-skid type tool drawer liner, it should prevent the bracket from rubbing against the door, thus preventing rust. It also will give a bit of room for water to evaporate.
I believe that it the rear door will look fine with the tire. It is already shaped like the tire, even the rear window is curved to match. Mine will also cover my dent