Ditching Swingout/ Spare for underneath?

[Fiveo]

I want to ditch my Kaymar rear tire carrier. It bolts on the the OEM bumper. I currentlly use the truck as a DD and want to add a hitch mounted bike carrier for my MT bikes. Plus I'm in and out of the back of my truck 4 or 5 times a day and the tire carrier is a PIA.

I run 33x12.5 for now and will be going to 33x10.5 in the future. Will a 33x9.5 fit underneath? I want something that wont stick out too much. Or is there another size that would work better for a highway spare?

 

[Brian Macgyver]

It is not a good idea to run a different size spare. It puts a lot of strain on your diffs when you use it. I have never measured, but nothing much over stock will fit underneath. Another downside to the under spare is that if you ever rub the back on the ground, the soft sidewall of the spare gets hit. You can hole the side of a perfectly good tire that hasn't ever even seen pavement. That would suck!
I have a tire carrier, and I feel your pain. It can be a PITA! But it is the least of two evils. My 80 is a family traveler and weekend wheeler, as well as a work truck on weekdays.
In a parking lot, if I want to load anything in the back, the carrier sticks out halfway across the driveway and blocks traffic. I tow a trailer and carry a lot of tools and material for remodeling work much of the time. When the trailer is on, I can't get the back open at all. If it wasn,t for the carrier, I could open the top door with the trailer on. Alas, it is not to be! But I work around it.
I can open the rear side door and then the quarter window. I get tools out that way when the trailer is on. I plan ahead a lot. If I plan to tow, I only put things in the back that I can reach from the back seat or the rear window. Heavy tools go in the trailer.
Even in a luxury 80 compromises have to be made. Having a spare underneath is not one that I am willing to accept. It limits tire size to near stock, and puts the spare in harm's way. I prefer my spare on the back and I have accepted the consequences.
Once you accept, you can take advantage. I had to put a license plate somewhere. So I made a box just the size of a 2.5 gallon fridge tapper bottle, and put a plate mount and light on it. Now I have running water on the back of the truck wherever I go. I put in a 2000 watt power inverter. Now I can run a blender, microwave oven or table saw any place that I choose to park my truck.
Your problem is easy. For a bike mount, just get a tilt-down hitch. You can tilt the whole bike mount down and open the back door.

 

[alaskacruiser]

Fiveo- if you do decide to ditch the Kaymar, I might be interested in buying it off you. Lemme know if so...

 

[Vitesse_6]

That is the same reason I havent built a tire carrier on my Rear Bumper, Having 2 kids, Im in and out of the back of the Cruiser far too often to want one.
I run 285/75/16's = 33" tires and they fit with no issues.

 

[d0ubledown]

i carry my 315/75/16 spare in the stock location. yes it takes more room and robs precious clearance, but it fits and is out of the way until i get a carrier made. even fits with my hitch. have wheeled with this setup and no issues..just gotta make sure theres no tall sharp rocks between my wheels upon obstacle departure or its slashed sidewall city for the spare...

 

[cartercd]

I took a piece of 1/4" thick UHMW polyethylene (light weight with great abrasian resistance), cut to my tire diameter, and used a U-bolt to attach it to my spare. Voila' - a rear tire skid plate. Maybe not worthy of rock crawling, but it protects my spare for the type of wheeling I do.

And yes - a 33" will fit in the stock location.

 

[nicholas]

i carry my 315/75/16 spare in the stock location. yes it takes more room and robs precious clearance, but it fits and is out of the way until i get a carrier made. even fits with my hitch. have wheeled with this setup and no issues..just gotta make sure theres no tall sharp rocks between my wheels upon obstacle departure or its slashed sidewall city for the spare...

What 315 spare are you using? I have a 285 cooper sst under mine and it doesn't look like there is much room to spare.

 

[lockd80]

I run a 255/85/16 spare (which is essentialy a true 33inch tire) with the spare tire lift mod found in FAQ. This combination tucks up significantly more than stock, with my class three hitch and a 2.5 inch lift I can run a straight edge from my hich to my rear diff and easly clear the spare. If you do any rock crawling or hard core wheeling you could drop the truck on the spare so in those circumstances. Before I wheel hard I just drop the spare and throw it in the back, for me thats only a couple times a year and I think its a small price to pay for the convienience of not having a tire carrier in the way all the time.

 

[jonheld]

Before I had my carrier I was able to stuff a 36x12.50R15 Swamper under there. Strictly for road use of course, but it did fit.

The tires that you're thinking of are close enough in diameter to not be a problem IMO. Diffs are meant to differentiate and do so all the time as no road is straight all the time AFAIK.

 

[cstamm81]

This is the spare I run with my 315's Narrow S.S. | Interco Tire

It's the 9/34 16LT. It should be fine with your 33's, you could let a little air out of it to get it closer to 33" too. It's only 9" wide and fits in the stock spare location. Do that spare tire mod in the FAQ and it dispappears under there. I can't even see my spare with the factory hitch on when looking at the truck from the side. Not everyone rockcrawls, and not everyone needs a swing out. Everyone seems to follow what evryone else does and build their truck to suit. Do what will work for you and you'll be happier.

 

[jonheld]

you could let a little air out of it to get it closer to 33"

Air pressure will not effect rolling radius of tires. They are not balloons.

 

[cstamm81]

point taken, I guess airing down wont affect rolling radius, I suppose I never really thought it through, sorry for the misinformation.

 

[jonheld]

No worries. There was a great debate about this some years back and several of the boys from "Downunda" got together at someone's shed, consumed mass quantities of beer, made chalk lines on tires and measured at 3 different pressures.

The difference traveled between a fully inflated tire (stated max sidewall pressure) and almost fully deflated was negligible and possibly due to blurred vision.

 

[Atoyot1031]

You can definitely fit a 33x12.50 on the stock spare tire carrier.

Also if you search, there is a thread that explains how to lift your tire carrier so that it doesn't stick down so much. I did this on my old Cruiser. Easy and next to free mod.

However, if you wheel your Cruiser, storing the spare below could be a risky proposition. Here in the Colorado high country, you can puncture a spare on sharp rrocks if it is in the stock location.

I used to store my spare on my roof rack until I got a Kaymar rear with dual swingouts. I have two kids and our 80 is our grocery getter, but for us it's not a big incoinvenience.

Good luck!

 

[80t0ylc]

How often a spare gets used will dictate how important it is to have it convenient. In the 45 years that I've wheeled starting with riding with my Dad in the rigs he used with the BLM. Most back then, had the spare pulled out from underneath if that was stock and a bracket was fabbed to mount it on the side or in the bed of a pickup. Now-a-days most spares don't even get used for the life of the vehicle. So it follows that for the most part, most guys just "put up with it" and the spare is a necessary PITA, stuck where ever it will fit. As with anything, it's a matter of personal taste and what you've got accustomed to. I owned a 84 Bronco II that had an OEM rear spare carrier on it that you could latch and unlatch in half the time it takes with my Kaymar. On my '46 CJ2A, I first had it mounted to a bracket bolted to the tailgate, which was fine until I put a soft top on it. On the mini pickups I've had that I wheeled with, I endured the spare underneath, like the 80's stock place. (Pickups are a different world, though.) I guess it's - when I see a visable spare mounted in a easy-to-reach spot, I can identify with it. It has a beauty all it's own. 'Cause I know, when you need it, you got it. Changing a flat doesn't have to be twice the trouble. How much extra trouble and time does it really take to unlatch and latch the spare tire swing out? 10 seconds, max maybe, and a free hand to do it with. Security might be an excuse for some, but I have mine secured with a padlock. No, I remain unconvinced that my spare swingout is a PITA. I think it's beautiful! Thank you Kaymar and all the other aftermarket brands that give those of us who can appreciate it, the option. My .02