How many soccer fry can you fit in your backseat ? How many pieces of luggage can you get up into your trunk ? If you ’re like most drivers , you ’ve faced down equal or greater challenges trying to pack everything in . At one item or another , you ’ll require all the free space you’re able to manage , which does n’t go away a stack of room for an extra tire .
rent ’s confront it : Even small , donut spare tires are unsporting and inapt , and they take up place like nobody ’s business . Full - sized spares , while more useful , require even more room . Plus , if you’retowing a trailerbehind your fomite , the last thing you require is a flat tyre on your hands and no spare .
Fortunately , many vehicle and trailers feature external tire mounts , where locking saloon or bolts check the tyre in place . But what do you do if you need one or more spare part and but miss room in the trailer or sufficient , subsist tire mounts ?
Luckily , there ’s Leslie Townes Hope . In many cases , you’re able to just establish a bare tyre mount on your fomite or house trailer . In this article , we ’ll examine the dissimilar kinds of spare tyre mounts , how to take the best one and how to instal it .
Choosing a Spare Tire Mount
machine and trailer manufacturers have managed to find places to stow tires in just about every useable location : on the trunk , in the trunk , on the roof , under the car , on the side and even mighty on top of the engine . When adding a spare tyre backing , however , your options are n’t as unbounded .
If adding a plain tire mount to a fomite , you ’ll need to be able to ensure the spare without adversely sham operation or safety . If you add a unembellished tire mount to the back of your vehicle , will you still have admittance to your trunk ? If you mount it on the roof or in a truck seam , will you miss the lose cargo blank space ? Offset and extra - offset trailer mount help out with some of these problem by positioning spares away from the part of the vehicle or trailer to which they ’re ride .
With house trailer , you face up a similar situation . While having an excess preview tyre on helping hand could salve you a lot of heartbreak in the event of a flat , the last thing you want to do is limit your load . Your extra tyre does n’t have to hang there , though . Some designs put on the surplus tire on a belittled , rotating axle beneath thetrailer knife , the part that extends from the payload to attach to the tow vehicle . This arrangement allows the spare part to serve as a dolly bike when the trailer ’s unhitched .
Once you ’re done pick out a bare tire mount and have evaluated where you could realistically put in it , you had well make certain you have the ripe tires in mind . That ’s correct , not all tire or tyre mounts are the same . Whether you ’re calculate to hale a fifth wheel for your truck or your dawdler , knowing the wheel’sbolt patternis all-important . Your surplus tire may have four , five or even eight bolt of lightning hole .
Next , you ’ll want to shape thebolt circle , which is the center - to - center diameter of the imaginary circle that the bolts outline . With even bolt of lightning numbers , you ’ll just measure the distance between two defend holes . With remaining numbers racket , you ’ll assess the distance between a yap and the halfway point between the two deadbolt fix opposing it . If your wheel has five bolt holes and the dash circle is 4.5 inches ( 114.3 mm ) , then your bolt of lightning figure would be 5 on 4.5 . While some spare tire mountain are universal and will accommodate any thunderbolt traffic pattern , others will only make for with sealed measurements .
Know what you want ? Read the next pageboy to find out how that spare tire mount will become one with your fomite or laggard .
Installing a Spare Tire Mount
That excess tire mount is n’t going to set up itself . If you find the task too daunting , you’re able to always pay a pro to install it at a service department . Otherwise , until scientist produce a automaton tire mount that will do the piece of work for you , you ’re going to have to tear out a few tools .
The exact nature of the required instalment depends on the case of spare tire mount you picked out . This means installment might be as mere as tighten a few bolt . On the other hand , you might have to figure out from whom you could adopt a welding torch . rent ’s look at a few varieties of spare tyre mounts and what all ’s involved in sticking it on .
Trailer hitch mount : As the name imply , these unornamented tyre mount link to preview hitches . Simply remove the drawbar orhitch coverand slide the mount ’s end into the receiver tube . Then , all you have to do is lock it in place with a stay pin or hitch lock . Just check that the mount fits your hitch size . If the pieces rattle too much , you’re able to also install ahitch stabilizerto smooth things out .
Bumper mounts : If your truck or trailer has a bumper , you may have another mounting option for your spare tire backing . Bumper mounts tie to the bumper withU - bolts , which are tenacious , two - headed bolts bent into a " U " shape . These special deadbolt go around the bumper and screw into the spare tire mount , locking it securely in position .
Tongue and frame backing : Some trailers , such as those used to haul boats , are fundamentally alloy framework . Technically , you could latch a spare tyre backing to any portion of the skeleton , so long as it does n’t interfere with the shipment or the tow vehicle . Various spare tire backing are made to shape under these condition . Once you ’ve launch a suitable fix on the prevue , these spare tyre climb are easy to install . The riding horse attach to one side of a trailer beam and a yoke of long , narrow pieces goes on the other . Screw four bolts into place , and the trailer beam is sandwiched firmly between the two pieces . In gain , some models attach with U - bolts .
sawhorse trailer climb : Horse and farm animal trailers often boast a rather dewy-eyed redundant tyre mount innovation . Horse prevue mounts consist of a individual , rectangular piece of metallic element with its ends bent down to form two legs . instalment typically call for these legs to be welded to the trailer , unremarkably atop the raised gooseneck between the trailer and the hitch .
Truck layer climb : Granted , you’re able to always just give a spare tire into the back of the hand truck unsecured , but this does n’t really help you protect against stealing or possible damage . Several different spare tyre mount designs actually attach to portions of the truck bed . Some lock into the side , near the wheel well , to save way . Others decamp to the heart and soul of the bed on an angled alloy tripod or even permit you to mount the spare under the bed . It all comes down to what you plan to use your hand truck for .
If none of these figure fills your demand , do n’t despair . you could find free tyre mounts designed to fit specific pauperism , such as those made for RVs or Jeeps . A issue of backing are designed to attach to cap racks . If you ’ve thought about stick a excess tyre mount to your fomite , some enterprising individual probably has as well .
Want to make indisputable you have all the parts you ’ll need ? record about spare tire mount kits on the next pageboy .
Spare Tire Mount Kits
You ’ve taken a close look at your vehicle or trailer and judge your extra tyre demand . You have even show up on how to install it . The last matter you want is to get home from the automotive parts store and find out that you have to make a second head trip because you ’re missing a few essential items . fortunately , many stores betray supernumerary tire backing kits to ensure you have everything you involve to make it all come together .
The exact contents of a tire mount kit depend all on the smorgasbord of spare tyre mount you ’ve decide on . For example , some spit or frame mount kits let in the unembellished tyre mount and the bolts , screws and back pieces required to tie and assemble it . But while one manufacturer includes all the necessary parts in a kit , others do n’t – and you ’re on your own for tools . While a kit such as this is more general , other kit work with specific vehicle models .
Think of those kids ' collation camp that contain crackers , a little cupful of cheeseflower and a plastic public exposure paddle . They admit everything you require to set up a few high mallow and banger sandwich . If you want earthnut butter and crackers , however , you ’ll take a different outfit . If you were able-bodied to twine your head around this fact of life in 2nd grade , then you ’re well prepared for the realities of buy a spare tire mount kit . Make certain you acknowledge what you need , call for a professional if necessary and check to ensure the spare tyre mount kit has all the necessary pieces .
you may haul far more than spare tires with vehicles and trailers . search the link on the next pageboy to see much more about towing .