Spare tire cover to protect undercarriage spare?

[docbluedevil]

I recently bought/installed 5 new Bridgestone Dueler AT Revos (pricey!). The spare tire (to be regularly rotated) is in the standard, undercarriage location.

I've heard that undercarriage spare tires receive a lot of environmental stress (e.g. road heat, road debris, etc) which decreases their life expectancy. In fact, when I bought my LC this past summer, the spare tire was found to have a large gash in the sidewall.

Although I would love to get a new rear bumper that relocates the spare to the rear, that's not in the immediate future at this point.

Would there be any utility in "protecting" the undercarriage spare tire with a $20-$30 tire cover? It probably would not make any difference with road heat, but I suppose it would protect it somewhat from road debris.

I'm not using the LC to rock-crawl; it'll be used more as a daily driver with frequent backcountry/forest road use.

Dumb idea? Or a worthwhile $20 experiment?

 

[Devil's Slide Doug]

My guess is that if the tire is in regular rotation the damage wont be much worse on the tire for the short time it spends under there.

 

[Brian894X4]

That's an interesting idea. But my guess is that a cover won't protect the tire from getting slashed by anything sharp and it will probably retain a lot of dirt and debris. Have you done the mod to raise up the spare up a little bit? I have a 285 spare on the stock wheel with the spare tire mod and 2.5 OME lift and it does get hung up on obsticles when backing up.

Some kind of angled skidplate that bolts to the frame and will somewhat support the weight of the truck would probably come in handy. Come to think of it.....

 

[jfz80]

im with the others here, dont think it will do much good and may even trap more debris and moisture. Id do the spare tire carrier mod and leave it be; but be sure to show us what you got if you get crafty.

 

[-Spike-]

Unless you put a steel plate under it, a cover isn't going to prevent damage. The sidewall is much more damage resistant than a cover would be. Are you sure the gash in your spare didn't happen while the tire was mounted on a hub? Maybe that's why it was the spare.

-Spike

 

[cartercd]

I bought a 1/4" UHMW (an extremely abrasion and impact resistant polyethylene) sheet, cut it to 33" diameter, and bolted it to my spare using a U-bolt through the lug holes. It's not meant for rock-crawling, but will protect the sidewall in most other situations. It is also very lightweight.

I don't think the spare really needs to be protected for most on-road situations - it receives far less abuse than the other tires. The spare tire mod will lift the front of the spare up a few inches, but doesn't really improve clearance much at the back end.