Rear tire mount

[superjens]

Stupid question time, but what the hell I may as well ask. I'm assuming this is impossible since nobody is doing it ...

Couldn't a rear tire mount be built like I see on other trucks, by having the attachments on the body of the truck instead of on the bumper?

Now sit back and be amazed at my elite photoshop skillz

[ned946]

I'm no engineer, but you might want to try this experiment. Remove your tire (is it a "light" stocker?) and pick it up. Now, imagine driving over the rough, bumping up and down...holding that tire.

Next, you might want to remove your rear tail light just to peer into that area to see what's there.

Long story short, it might work for a while and then destroy your Xterra over time.



Now, here is my idea for you do it yourselfer's. Take the rear bumper off and you will find a channel in the structural support of the bumper that runs from one side to the other. My thought would be to place a heavy bar in there, weld it in, and on the end of the bar have a heavy hinge. You would need to cut out a section of the plastic bumper for the hinge, but just mount your swing away there. Dunno what would be the stop for the tire and any details, but its something to think about.

Course....your probably gonna spend more in time and frustration than you would with the Calmini?!?!?!

[Philosopher]

As you probably know, the older Pathys have a tire holder kind of like that. But they also have some steel underneath the light assembly, which the X doesn't have. You'd need to have the holder supported in 2 places, above the light assembly, and below it.

[superjens]

Yeah I was thinking about that afterwards. So why couldn't you just mount a bracket or catcher on the tailgate, like where the 1st aid kit hump is? Brace it from inside if you need to, set it up to catch the tire and assembly as it swings in, make it part of the structure so it helps hold the tire in place. You'd probably have to reinforce that section on the body above the taillights too.

[evergreen]

I had a a spare mounted to the body on my older truck before. With the weight of the tire all you heard was squeakin and rattlin, and that was a factory setup.

[Philosopher]

Originally posted by superjens
Yeah I was thinking about that afterwards. So why couldn't you just mount a bracket or catcher on the tailgate, like where the 1st aid kit hump is? Brace it from inside if you need to, set it up to catch the tire and assembly as it swings in, make it part of the structure so it helps hold the tire in place. You'd probably have to reinforce that section on the body above the taillights too.

Hell, why not just mount the tire to the tailgate.

[Mike H]

Originally posted by Philosopher


Hell, why not just mount the tire to the tailgate.

Even better - mount it to the driver's side backseat door. That way when you get out to change the flat, its right there.

[xoc]

Or leave it underneath

I just looked at my spare after 2 years of wheeling, and there isn't any damage on it anywhere. The 4 other tires, the ones that are on the wheels, are very cut and scuffed up though.

Raise your hand if you've cut the sidewall of the spare and rendered it flat...

[warmonger]

Although I haven't flattened my spare yet and won't since I relocated it this week, I now have permanently embedded clay in the sidewall. It has taken on a sick orange tint from being drug through the Ocala clay pits too many times. Since I will be replacing it in short order, I'm not too worried about it though. It just has to last another 3 weeks... huh, what's that, my front tire is flat...uh oh!

[rrdstarr]

I knocked a wheel weight of my spare when I was at GOX or Moab this fall!!! It didn't damage the alloy rim just pealed the weight off????

[xoc]

Originally posted by warmonger
It has taken on a sick orange tint from being drug through the Ocala clay pits too many times.

Bleche White will get that out.

[ned946]

Originally posted by xoc
Or leave it underneath

I just looked at my spare after 2 years of wheeling, and there isn't any damage on it anywhere. The 4 other tires, the ones that are on the wheels, are very cut and scuffed up though.

I've got to admit that my spare tire didn't go flat until I got it on the tire carrier! No kidding!

2 years riding down below and no noticable loss in tire pressure. I went to discount tire to remount the steel wheel onto a matching rim and less than 2 days later it was flat! It had a hole in the sidewall / tread area....they replaced the tire for me (it had never been used).

I just thought it was kinda funny to get a flat after moving it to a safer (?!?!) spot!

[OffroadX]

Originally posted by xoc

Bleche White will get that out.

Careful with that stuff around alloy wheels, it's pretty nasty. Read the label carefully.

Brent

[CheetaraX]

Hey for me the reason to get it out from underneath the vehicle is because commonly we are in situations where there is not enough clearance to drop the spare tire. I don't really want to dig a hole in snow/mud/rocks just to get to the spare. I understand that the tire is well protected but what good is a perfect spare if you can't get to it? That is why my tire sits in the back and will until I buy a rear carrier.