Anyone keep their spare tire inside the cargo area? (1 Viewer)

[TLC4K2]

I've been trying to decide where to put Kaylee's spare tire. My options each have some kind of major hassle associated with it.

1. The factory location on the 2nd to last crossmember on the frame, is currently a corroded, pretzeled mess. It's one of the frame pieces scheduled to be removed and replaced later this year by Torfab. Even after that piece is replaced, I'm not sure I want to carry the tire around there anyway. I keep having images of me laying on my back in the mud somewhere, wrestling with it. Yea, no thanks.

2. The spare is currently nestled into the falling-apart wooden roof rack, and I'd never be able to hoist a tire up there by myself even if the rack were new (unless it had some kind of neato hydraulic lift, which is sort of a cool idea).

3. The various tire carriers I've seen mounted on the aftermarket rear bumpers are appealing, but right now our $$$ needs to go for repairs and structural gotta-have's, not cool new bumpers.

That leaves either the hood, or inside the cargo area. Not sure I could hoist it up onto the hood either. So that leaves the cargo area. If anyone has a frame or cradle or other homemade way to carry around a tire inside, nestled up vertically alongside either the driver's side or passenger side window in the cargo area, I'd sure like to see how you did it. I've been searching online for some kind of premade cradle and haven't found anything. Been mulling making my own, but I could do without reinventing that particular wheel, hahaha. Thanks all!
Kathryn and Kaylee

 

[MarkBC]

The factory location isn't that bad as long as the mechanism works. It lowers all the way down so all you have to do is put the anchor part in the center hole lined up, moving the tire. You could even just back the car over it to get roughly in position. You'll need to get on your knees but not your back. Without a rear bumper there aren't any easier places to put it. Getting it into the cargo area won't be any easier.

 

[Gimme a 60]

You can always do what my mom and dad did with there BJ60 back in the day. Throw er on the roof!

 

[Gretsch]

SOR sells one for the 60/62 but it looks to be out of stock:

Wagon Inside Tire Carrier

Land Cruiser, FJ60, FJ55, Wagon cargo compartment spare tire carrier

www.sor.com

Thread on this showing what it might look like used as well as ideas from other members::

Specter off road FJ62 interior spare tire carrier install

Hi, I have a Specter FJ62 interior spare tire carrier I'm trying to install. Has anyone successfully installed one of these? There aren't any instructions and I haven't been able to find any good install info or pics. Included are a couple pics of my installation, but the top of the tire is...

forum.ih8mud.com

Not a 60 but an idea:

Interior Tire Carrier and Storage Platform

Finished product: In an effort to get a better departure angle and rear ground clearance I moved the spare to the interior of the truck. A swing out bumper didn’t appeal to me as I’m in and out of the back of the truck constantly. I don’t have a need for the drivers side 3rd row, so I...

forum.ih8mud.com

Maybe would give you some ideas. HTH

 

[OSS]

I used the SOR cargo area attachment (they’ve been selling it for over 30 years).
It works great. Easy to install and is arguably the best place to keep the tire if it can’t go under the truck.
The roof and hood and front bumper are all horrible. The hood most horrible of all . Not possible.

I did carry a 2nd spare (tire only) strapped to the front of my ARB bumper for an expedition type trip but having even just an unmounted tire up there sucks. I ended up abandoning the tire out in the boonies because I was sick of it up there.

The way I used my rear cargo area with totes packed in there, the spare tire back there didn’t take up any significant space.
The spare mounted wheel is freaking heavy. Maybe 65 lbs with a 31” tire, so you’ve got to be strong enough to swap a mounted wheel up there when you’re changing a flat on the side of the road.

 

[2mbb]

I made one that mounts to the floor and the sheet metal body rail that runs below the rear side windows. I have some pictures in this thread. When I got the wagongear side panels I modified it to be detachable from under the window and swing down away from the quarter panel. Before this metal one, I had one I made from wood that mounted to the vertical braces behind the quarter pane trim.

DIY ones can be as simple as an eye bolt secured to the side with a U-bracket. You may have some restrictions based on tire size, by my tires are 33x12.5. I've seen some truck bed tire "holders" that use a ratchet strap that is secured to the bed (I think). Something like this might work in the cargo area.

 

[g-man]

no mention by the OP on tire size. I have a 31x10.5x15 fits nicely on the stock under the floor set up. BTW the cross member that the tire mounts to unbolts from the frame easily. Then you can patch weld any rust holes or just source another used one. The bigger the tire the less welcome it's going to be underneath. But the bigger tires come with SOA lifts etc... then getting it up on the roof becomes pretty difficult. It also adds to a high center of gravity...not good if you're lifted and in a high speed turn. Think interstate on ramp/cloverleaf that is improperly banked...that along with a heavy foot and not paying attention...will result in a lifted 4x4 with high center of gravity, well...on its side.

One concern with mounting the tire inside is the combination of heat from parking a secure vehicle in the summer along with rubber and off gassing...yuck. Benzene, Carbon disulfide and black carbon all used in the manufacturing process=not good to breath.

 

[Fast Eddy]

The factory location isn't that bad as long as the mechanism works.

In my 80-series it takes up a significant amount of departure angle. When wheeling, even fairly tame fire roads, I move it inside and strap it with a beefy ratchet strap to the 3rd row seat mounts. I keep the spare inside in my 40 as well.

 

[Cruiserhaven]

In my 80-series it takes up a significant amount of departure angle. When wheeling, even fairly tame fire roads, I move it inside and strap with a beefy ratchet strap it to the 3rd row seat mounts. I keep the spare inside in my 40 as well.

I often do a similar thing with my 60, strapping my spare down in the back using d-rings I have in cargo area-- I also have a removable bumper carrier, but on tight trails it can get in the way, plus I suspect having all that weight hanging down in back may sometimes make it a tad harder to climb up and over things

 

[2mountainfish]

I've been trying to decide where to put Kaylee's spare tire. My options each have some kind of major hassle associated with it.

1. The factory location on the 2nd to last crossmember on the frame, is currently a corroded, pretzeled mess. It's one of the frame pieces scheduled to be removed and replaced later this year by Torfab. Even after that piece is replaced, I'm not sure I want to carry the tire around there anyway. I keep having images of me laying on my back in the mud somewhere, wrestling with it. Yea, no thanks.

2. The spare is currently nestled into the falling-apart wooden roof rack, and I'd never be able to hoist a tire up there by myself even if the rack were new (unless it had some kind of neato hydraulic lift, which is sort of a cool idea).

3. The various tire carriers I've seen mounted on the aftermarket rear bumpers are appealing, but right now our $$$ needs to go for repairs and structural gotta-have's, not cool new bumpers.

That leaves either the hood, or inside the cargo area. Not sure I could hoist it up onto the hood either. So that leaves the cargo area. If anyone has a frame or cradle or other homemade way to carry around a tire inside, nestled up vertically alongside either the driver's side or passenger side window in the cargo area, I'd sure like to see how you did it. I've been searching online for some kind of premade cradle and haven't found anything. Been mulling making my own, but I could do without reinventing that particular wheel, hahaha. Thanks all!
Kathryn and Kaylee

Check out my build thread, (saving another fj60). I built a stand and mounted in the cargo area. Works awesome.

 

[TLC4K2]

You folks are awesome. Thanks for all the info. I forgot to mention tire size and they're a very tame 31x10.5x15. Nice to know about the wheel mounting conveniently in the back, OR underneath. I thought I would have to wrestle with it to get it snugged up underneath, since my current rig is missing that chain that apparently holds the wheel up in that well. I'll review the various design ideas and build info for carrying it inside. I lift 50# - 80# stuff up all the time, bales of hay and feed sacks and such, so I knew I'd be strong enough to get it inside. But lifting it up over my head? Nope, that's where I figured I needed another way. Now I have lots of ideas. Thanks again.
Kathryn and Kaylee

 

[georgebj60]

I'm going to add another vote for the factory spare lift/carrier. If you have one in good shape, well lubricated, it's a really easy task to raise and lower the spare. No crawling on your back, just slide it under, push the bar on the end of the chain through the centre bore of the rim and crank it up. Easy peasy.

 

[2mountainfish]

The cost of tires is the main reason I keep mine inside away from the elements and thieves.

 

[toy_tek]

After 20 years of having a swing out spare tire carrier, on my new build I opted to keep the spare in the stock location underneath. As mentioned, access is not difficult. I’m not willing to give up the interior space, and the roof space is already accounted for. I have a plan to add a skid plate of sorts to the tire, there are other threads addressing this.

 

[Dekeman]

Semi-related question about the spare in factory location: is the correct orientation chrome side (face) up?

 

[Dekeman]

Anyone?

 

[cruiserpilot]

Anyone?

No, wheel goes outer face down. The retracting mechanism won't work going that short

 

[Dekeman]

Awesome, thanks.