An aid in Lowering and Raising the Spare Tire on a Roadtrek

The Ezee-lift was designed with similar criteria to yours, but as a no fuss permanent installation with no assembly needed to move the tire and no parts to carry. It also instals without any drilling, which I mostly did, but not completely. George could put the Ezee on in about 20 minutes IIRC.

If I had used an actuator, it would have just been in place of the cylinder, to keep it all out of the way. A 12v winch would also work well and probably be easier and cost less.

Everyone has different requirements and desires in stuff, so lots of different ideas. There are many that are happy with doorspring setups that pretty much scare me a whole bunch.

We are located in the Minneapolis area, and we welcome folks coming by to say hello and swap van stories and compare tweaks (of which we have many).

Thanks.
Excellent solution.
I had seen your design while researching the issue and decided that i did not want to get that involved in solving the problem.
I was not that agressive in trying to solve my problem.
My objective was simplicity and minimum effort since I wanted something that I could assemble quickly before going on my first trip with the RV.
I think I may finally settle on a 2 linear actuator design for this coming season.
I added words of caution on my photo.
Regards,
Stanley

Booster,
Thanks again for the info.
My original objective was to come up with an arrangement that required minimum effort to attach and use.
The Attach-A-Lift does that. No drilling required. Just attach the U-bolts and nuts.
I leave the u-bolts permanently attached. The total cost for everything is less than $50.
The strut assembly can be attached or removed in probably less than 1 minute but I usually take about 2-3minutes.
I used 2 struts so in case one failed there would still be some resistance.
I thought the Ezee-lift was too expensive and required too much assembling.
I also agree with your comment relative to metal springs.
With the linear actuators design I get the DC power from the hitch wires.

I would be interested in seeing your setup.

Found the thread.

Air powered tire lifter

There have been a few tweaks since that thread, like improved speed control and solid aluminum pullies.

I think a safety catch is incorporated in all the factory lifters, and is often hard to use, it appears. Ezee-lift's spring loaded unit has non-captive one that probably wouldn't pass OEM legal rules, as it is non self activating and could be lost.

I went through the entire routine myself 6+ years ago, and passed on anything that was spring loaded with either metal springs or air springs, because of the issue

Since we had airbags anyway, I decided to go air powered, although I did look at electric actuators also, which could have been made to work in a similar way. We have a 4" air cylinder under the rear of the van and a cable and pullies setup similar to the Ezee-lift. There is no airpower needed or used in the downward travel, just gravity with the speed regulated by a flow control valve on the cylinder exit side to atmosphere through an air toggle switch normally open port. The upward travel is controlled by the same switch, which is momentary, and speed limited and controlled by a flow control on the up travel exit side of the cylinder and anothor flow control on the inlet side to prevent too much airflow into the cylinder once it gets part way up and the force is way less, to prevent any speed change near the top.

In use, you just pull the pin and give the tire a tiny tug to go over center and it goes slowly down by itself, and is held down by gravity. There is no air pressure on any part of the lifter at that point, so nothing moves when you take the tire off. To move the tire up, you hold the toggle on while the tire is moving, and it goes up very slowly. We usually release the toggle just as the tire overcenters into position. The cable goes a little slack due to the overcenter, but it doesn't come loose. We can either just bump the toggle a touch to snug it, or not. There is no air on the system when it is up, either, so totally stable and no surprises.

We have used it trouble free for years, and wouldn't be without some form of lifter.

I think there are pix of our setup on this forum someplace, I will try to find them.

Booster,
You are correct.
I had considered this but have not incorporated it.
Your comment prompts me to note this caution in the presentation and/or add a safety attachment.
I do have an alternate design with a linear actuator which would eliminate this concern.
If you are interested in seeing this it can be found on Youtube and Google by typing in
Attach-A-Lift
Thanks for your feedback.
QUAD-E

Safety catch in case someone removes the tire with the preload on the stuts?