Since we bought our Embark in November 2011, I haven't been happy at the lack of a place to mount a spare wheel/tire. The debate on whether to carry a spare or not has raged here several times - my preference is to carry a spare to minimize the interruption to whatever trip I'm on should a flat occur.
First I bought a spare Alcoa wheel on eBay to match my existing set:
I then contacted TECA to buy one of their spare tire hoists (similar to those under a pickup truck). They are an OEM supplier of spare tire hoist and while they aren't really setup to sell to the general public, they were very helpful in providing the right mount. An excellent company.
I bought a matching tire from Kal Tire in Whitby. A funny story on this one - I went to pick up the mounted wheel & tire afterwards and realized I couldn't fit it into my trunk! I was standing there's rather sheepishly when the manager walked up laughing and offered to deliver it to my door! He did so and asked for nothing. Talk about great service!
Here is the cross-member I elected to mount the hoist on. Note existing holes were used and no welding was done on the RV frame:
Here is the spare mounted at it's hightest point: It tucks up quite nicely. You can see in the photos that for some added security, rather than just let the hoist cable hold the wheel & tire, I wrapped a ratchet strap around the tire and the frame. Just for some piece of mind.
So much room under there I could probably carry a second one! :B
First I bought a spare Alcoa wheel on eBay to match my existing set:
I then contacted TECA to buy one of their spare tire hoists (similar to those under a pickup truck). They are an OEM supplier of spare tire hoist and while they aren't really setup to sell to the general public, they were very helpful in providing the right mount. An excellent company.
I bought a matching tire from Kal Tire in Whitby. A funny story on this one - I went to pick up the mounted wheel & tire afterwards and realized I couldn't fit it into my trunk! I was standing there's rather sheepishly when the manager walked up laughing and offered to deliver it to my door! He did so and asked for nothing. Talk about great service!
Here is the cross-member I elected to mount the hoist on. Note existing holes were used and no welding was done on the RV frame:
Here is the spare mounted at it's hightest point: It tucks up quite nicely. You can see in the photos that for some added security, rather than just let the hoist cable hold the wheel & tire, I wrapped a ratchet strap around the tire and the frame. Just for some piece of mind.
So much room under there I could probably carry a second one! :B
