Mounting DRW spare tire on front hitch

Thanks, everybody, for the suggestions. I'll likely do something like what Sleepy has done since his tire carrier looks just like the one I have. The difference is that my truck has an Aries bull bar on the front and it won't allow the tire carrier to tuck up nicely to the front bumper. I may have to remove the bull bar to make it look and work properly. Either that or have a custom carrier fabricated. We'll see.

Getting new shoes... (tires) at SAMS in San angelo, TX

If you'd like to see a picture or two on this page and on this page

I hope that some of this has helped the OP... I'll come up with a picture of the lock system for the spare tire to the carrier if it will help you.

Sleepy

FireGuard wrote:
Sleepy, just curious if you have ever had to use the spare tire?
i know better to have it and not need it, but I think if you maintain the correct air pressure and replace them when needed a failure is pretty rare.

Actually, I do use the spare about every 5000 to 8000 miles... it is in the 7 tire roatation that I do... all 7 have 80 psi all of the time. and every tire is the spare at some time in the rotation

My truck came from GMC with Goodyear Wrangler AT/S tires... with the 7 wheel rotation I got 48,000 miles on them... all of the tires were within 1/32" of the same amount of wear when replaced.

Another factor for everyone to consider... we have a very good alignment shop in Oak Ridge... and for abour $50 I had the alignment tweeked... the truck is only used to haul the camper...

I posted pictures at the time of the change to another set of the Goodyear Wrangler AT/S...

...the truck with camper loaded up on jacks at SAMS in San Angelo, TX... all of the wheels off. It looked like a flying T/TC carpet.

We are at about 70,000 mile now.... and have plenty of tread

we have never had a flat... I have OnStar... they'll send a repair truck to change it for me... becoming important...

When I was in my 60's I might have been able to get under the truck to retreve the spare.... now that I near mid 70's... and a knee replacement... NO WAY.

FireGuard wrote:
Sleepy, just curious if you have ever had to use the spare tire?
i know better to have it and not need it, but I think if you maintain the correct air pressure and replace them when needed a failure is pretty rare.

maybe rare but you are darn glad you have one when it happens

This tire had only 5000 miles on it when it let loose. I had checked the tire pressure that morning, it was at 80psi.

Sleepy, just curious if you have ever had to use the spare tire?
i know better to have it and not need it, but I think if you maintain the correct air pressure and replace them when needed a failure is pretty rare.

I bought one...

it is specifically designed to use the existing bolt holes for my exact truck... year and model

I didn't have to look for material (steel tubing and plate steel and go after it

I didn't have to cut each piece to an exact fit... then weld it up. After it is welded I'd have to drill holes in the exact places (which would require a carboard model fitted into a proper place. There is also some slots that would need to be cut in the plate to make the homemade carrier as versital as the one from hidden hitch or another company

After building a rack that isn't certified I'd still have to powder coat it.

And... I'd have to buy some grade 8 bolts 1/2" longer the the ones I'd have to remove from the cassie where the tow hooks are bolted in.

There is no way in this world that I'd do all of that to keep from spending a $100 on a truck and camper that are worth $100,000 or more.

Sleepy

With about $40 of metal you could fab one in about an hr

this might give you an idea how far in front...

... my wheels have 4 big holes in them that also catch air and funnel it toward the grill.

My truck and camper are 27' 6" long... including the spare.



(that is the Parthanon, in Nashville, Tn in the back ground)

tkcrawford wrote:

ticki2 wrote:

tkcrawford wrote:
Short of custom fabrication, does anybody know of a commercially available tire carrier that will mount a dually spare tire on the front hitch? I've looked at several but none allow for the large backspace on dually rims.

Mount it with the dish facing out , like the outer rear wheel . The other side is almost flush with the tire .

On the carrier I bought (the Reese 6715) the dish on the wheel is so deep that it can't even reach the mounting flange on the carrier if I try to mount the spare so that the tire is closer to the front of the truck. If I turn the tire around so that the flange on the wheel is against the flange on the carrier, the tire sticks out a really long ways in front of the truck. Too far to be safe.

Then you have a problem...

My tire sticks out just as you say... by design., I want to get as much air to the rediator as possible.

Experiment: cut a disk the size of your wheel and tire... mount it close to the grill... watch your engines temperature gauge. Compare it to an open grill.


Your last sentence... "too far to be safe" ... what is unsafe about having it sticking out? enough to allow air flow.

Sleepy

ticki2 wrote:

tkcrawford wrote:
Short of custom fabrication, does anybody know of a commercially available tire carrier that will mount a dually spare tire on the front hitch? I've looked at several but none allow for the large backspace on dually rims.

Mount it with the dish facing out , like the outer rear wheel . The other side is almost flush with the tire .

On the carrier I bought (the Reese 6715) the dish on the wheel is so deep that it can't even reach the mounting flange on the carrier if I try to mount the spare so that the tire is closer to the front of the truck. If I turn the tire around so that the flange on the wheel is against the flange on the carrier, the tire sticks out a really long ways in front of the truck. Too far to be safe.