spare tire relocation (1 Viewer)

[gasman4u]

While I didn’t have a 200 series, I had a 60 with a 48 gallon 2X sized gas tank that required the spare underneath to go.

I tried every location to carry the spare — roof, rear outside, front ARB bumper and ultimately inside carried in the rear.

My impressions:
Roof: Carrying a mounted spare tire on the roof sucks. I tried it extensively. Its too heavy and too tall. Creates too much wind resistance and I wasn’t happy with it up there at all. Also it’s almost too heavy to get up there and off.

Rear Outside:
While I didn’t have a rear swing out carrier, I did experiment with carrying the spare outside at the rear using some straps just to get a feel for what it was like. The problem with rear swing out carriers is that they’re very heavy - usually over 100 lbs. Then mount a heavy spare to it and you've got a ton of weight dangling off the back.
Not too much of an issue when driving on the freeway but a significant issue when driving on rough dirt roads.
I didn’t want all that excessive weight dangling off the back - so I bailed on a rear carrier.

Front ARB bumper mounted:
Since I had the experience and tools to mount and dismount a tire off a wheel in the field, I carried an unmounted spare tire only lashed to the front of a big ARB bull bar for one trip (to have 2 spares in Mexico since I always get a flat down there).
While it worked, it did impede air flow to the radiator even though the tire wasn’t mounted on a wheel. The fan clutch activated much more often. It was a pretty good spot with the tire very easy to get at and weight up forward, but it still blocked my visibility up close when inching along sketchy dirt trails. I didn’t like how it blocked my near vision so ultimately I left the tire down in Mexico (still had my other mounted spare).

The last place — inside the vehicle in the rear and held tight with a bracket is BY FAR the best place for a mounted spare tire. When secured upright along a side, it doesn’t take up much room at all.

The absolute worst option is having no spare tire at all. That’s insanity.
DON’T DO IT

What bracket did you go with inside?

 

[OSS]

What bracket did you go with inside?

As I mentioned in my post- my vehicle was a FJ60, so it’s a bit different inside than the 200, but they both have about the same interior space. My experience carrying a spare really wasn’t vehicle specific because carrying a spare on the roof rack of any vehicle would suck - etc.

The spare holder I got, I purchased 30 years ago at sor.com. They no longer sell it. Its a very simple thing that looks like it was made in high school metal shop. It’s just an upright pipe that has two brackets welded to it so they can bolt to the side supports in the vehicle. There is a long threaded part on a collar that slides up and down on the upright pipe to extend through the wheel. A plate with a hole in it to accept the threaded rod clamps on the wheel and a nut tightens it up. Super simple but very effective.
I don’t have a good picture of it (sold my cruiser) but here’s a picture I found that shows the spare tire mounted inside. Normally I kept a tire cover over the spare. Its a 31/10.5R15 tire on a 15”x8” wheel.

 

[bloc]

If you’re concerned about the warranty, I’d probably be more concerned with modifying the fuel system than installing a aftermarket rear bumper.

This. The logic of we didn't mess with it so they'll cover it would be lost on most dealers trying to avoid warranty work.

Last I want is that behemoth becoming a projectile in the event of an accident.

Also this! The interior solutions I've seen posted in this section absolutely would not be going into my vehicle, based on what I've seen first-hand at many serious vehicle accidents. I've mentioned this before but a friend lost her life when a large chunk of soft foam hit her in the back of the head in a collision. The involved forces are incredible, and even things like using the seat mount bolts don't apply those forces in a way the engineers designed them to tolerate.

Some form of tether that tied in to the seatbelt anchors (including upper) would start to go in the right direction for me. But even that has large potential problems, IMO.