anyone relocate their spare tire?

[RoyBell]

I finally got the hitch put on my bumper for the kids bikes and to lock our bikes up when not in use.

I have heard of horror stories of bumpers falling off with a bike rack. The bumper looks pretty stout with a vertical weld the length of the bumper and a horizontal weld on the I part of the frame. I was thinking maybe if I relocated my spare tire it would take some of the stresses off the bumper to help prevent any welds breaking.

But the question is where? Putting it in TV will add to my payload and I will surely forget it at home one day. Putting in front storage will only add to the tongue weight which I am trying to reduce.

the bottom is sealed or I would look for a place to mount it to underneath.

no ladder so i can't mount it on the roof.

Inside storage is limited to areas of 23" so that wont work.

Any thoughts? Anyone relocate it?

[Muddydogs]

So wouldn't the easy solution be to just strengthen the bumper and leave the tire where its at? There are at least a couple dozen threads posted here where guys have replaced the bumper with steel tube welded to the frame so they can carry gennys and the like. Another added benefit would be extra tail weight which will help reduce your tongue weight so its a win win solution.

[JJensen79]

I also looked at the hide a spare. I ended up getting a piece of 4"x4" square tubing that is the same length as the rear bumper and welded it to the top of the a-frame on the tongue of the trailer. Then I mounted a bolt on spare tire carrier to the left and right of the battery box so I can carry two spare tires. It also gives me some extra space inside the tubing carry things like fishing poles, deflects some stones off the front of the trailer, and I don't have worry about anything coming from underneath and ripping the tire off. I am traveling for work right now but can get pictures when I get home and post them up.

[oldcat1]

I to have the Bal-hide-a-spare. Nice to have the spare out of the way. Only drawback is that it is a bit of a hassle to check pressure in the spare.

Safe travels.

[tll]

Another vote for the Bal Hide a Spare, works great and easy installation.

[RoyBell]

myredracer wrote:
.....The problem with hanging stuff off the bumper is that the rear end of a TT bounces a lot, and some more than others. The hitch ball/coupler acts as a pivot point and every time you hit a dip or bump in the road, the rear end shoots up like a catapult.

My rack has a threaded insert that you screw the bolt into through the pin hole. It makes it solid and doesn't bounce like others I have seen.

[skripo]

coolbreeze01 wrote:
Search Bal-hide-a-spare.

That's the way to go. I even bought a second one to carry my Smart Tote 2 portable waste storage tank.

I did need to mod it a little but super place to put a 35 gallon waste tote.

[myredracer]

We have the BAL hide-a-spare and it is great. We have nothing hanging off the bumper now and it sure makes the rear end look cleaner.

Check with your TT manufacturer. The max. load on a bumper is typically 100 lbs. The problem with hanging stuff off the bumper is that the rear end of a TT bounces a lot, and some more than others. The hitch ball/coupler acts as a pivot point and every time you hit a dip or bump in the road, the rear end shoots up like a catapult. If you add things to the bumper, the added dynamic stress can eventually lead to the bumper separating and your bikes or other stuff can be left miles and miles behind on the road. You simply can't see what's happening at the back of a TT.

If you really think you want to do this, go take a look at some trailers that come from the factory with a carrier on the back like Nash, Keystone and KZ (likely others too) and see how they have reinforced things to take the added stress/load. I would also suggest adding shocks to the TT to reduce vertical movement. Some frames that come on TTs are very weak to start with and there's no way I'd worsen things by mounting a rack at the rear otherwise you can eventually end up with some serious frame issues.

Increasing TW is not an issue unless you will exceed the TV payload capacity. Being over 15% in itself causes no issues and if anything, will improve handling. If you have nowhere to put bikes in your TV or inside the TT, I would suggest a carrier over the tanks, which are available.

[RoyBell]

FWIW, I do have inside storage for bikes when traveling. But i only have room for 2, maybe 3 if I squeeze another one in. Rear would only be for the kids bikes (aka lighter/smaller) or to secure them when camping.

20150611_205328 by RoyBelluomini, on Flickr

[RoyBell]

coolbreeze01 wrote:
Search Bal-hide-a-spare.

That is pretty sweet.

SoundGuy wrote:

RoyBell wrote:
Putting in front storage will only add to the tongue weight which I am trying to reduce.

Why? Have you actually measured your trailer's gross tongue weight so you know what it's average gross tongue weight to gross trailer weight is? When you add a bike rack and bikes so far to the far rear of any trailer, even a longer one, it's going to want to unload the tongue so in most cases you'd want to be adding weight to the tongue, not subtracting from it. Years ago I ditched the rear bumper bracket on our Spree and moved the spare tire to the front storage compartment and in doing so managed to achieve just under 14% gross tongue weight. Our current Freedom Express came with the spare mounted under the A frame so I moved it back slightly to the front storage compartment and this time lost a bit of gross tongue weight which is now running a bit lighter than I'd like, most often ~ 13%. Weighing both the trailer and measuring it's gross tongue weight with the trailer loaded as it typically would be for camping is key when making any changes that could affect the trailer's gross to gross tongue weight balance.

I haven't weighed mine yet, but Sticker says 6000lbs. Brochure says TW is 745, dry weight 5700 lbs. So it's 13% from the factory already. Any weight added to the trunk is going to put a lot more on the tongue than the axle. Same with the bumper. Anything on the bumper will not be a direct 1:1 vs putting it in front storage. Not sure what the spare weighs, but I suppose it can't be a whole lot. Maybe front storage isn't so bad.

[redwing10]

I made a copy of the BAL-hide a spare and mounted it in front of trailer axles. Works great. I made it to hold 2 spares or 1 spare and blue portable holding tank.

[GaryWT]

One trailer the tire came mounted under the A frame but I had to remove it as it would drag on the ground. I left it in the truck all the time.

[dodge_guy]

I moved my spare tire and carrier to the Tongue (A frame). I had to modify the carrier to fit around the frame. I also carry 4 bikes on my bumper. The thing is you need to do something to keep the bikes from bouncing up and down. This is what tears the bumper away from the frame. I'll get a couple pictures posted later.

[SoundGuy]

RoyBell wrote:
Putting in front storage will only add to the tongue weight which I am trying to reduce.

Why? Have you actually measured your trailer's gross tongue weight so you know what it's average gross tongue weight to gross trailer weight is? When you add a bike rack and bikes so far to the far rear of any trailer, even a longer one, it's going to want to unload the tongue so in most cases you'd want to be adding weight to the tongue, not subtracting from it. Years ago I ditched the rear bumper bracket on our Spree and moved the spare tire to the front storage compartment and in doing so managed to achieve just under 14% gross tongue weight. Our current Freedom Express came with the spare mounted under the A frame so I moved it back slightly to the front storage compartment and this time lost a bit of gross tongue weight which is now running a bit lighter than I'd like, most often ~ 13%. Weighing both the trailer and measuring it's gross tongue weight with the trailer loaded as it typically would be for camping is key when making any changes that could affect the trailer's gross to gross tongue weight balance.

[LarryJM]

coolbreeze01 wrote:
Search Bal-hide-a-spare.

Now that is slick:C and looks like an excellent solution IMO.:B

Larry