I need to borrow some common sense, mounting tire

   / I need to borrow some common sense, mounting tire #1  

tshep

Gold Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2010
Messages
379
Location
Richmond, VA
Tractor
BX23 MLB
OK, I finally got a spare for my trailer. Need to mount it. Don't like on 'tongue', may want to store stuff, and will get full sun. So, planning to mount to an upright from 'deck' to rails.
5 x4 1/2, so no easy choice for 2 holes aligned up and down. (5 holes, 72 degrees apart, no 2 on center.)

Will be either:
1 - holes 1 and 3, straight up and down in middle of upright, I will have to 'hang' the tire on the upper stud, and rock it left or right to push it onto lower stud. (Always wanting to rotate 'back' to center.)
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Or,
2 - holes 1 and 3, but at the extreme widths of the upright, so tire goes onto upper stud, and without rotation, slips onto the lower stud. (It will 'hang' balanced.)
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My simple technician common sense says the 2 studs carry the same weight either way, but I think the 1st way the lower stud carries more, and will get beat up (the tire will want to rotate 'down' on every bump). Method 2, though a lot more trouble to create, should always have both studs carrying equal weight - you know, what with gravity and all!

Long term, what makes more sense, what is safer?
 
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   / I need to borrow some common sense, mounting tire #2  
Don't over think this, it's going to be bolted in place, no rotational force and just the weight of the tire/wheel. If you really want to over engineer this, use three 1/2" bolts with the nylon lock nuts torqued to exactly 80 foot pounds, with a lock washer and blue locktite...... Tongue in cheek here.
 
   / I need to borrow some common sense, mounting tire
  • Thread Starter
#4  
Don't over think this, it's going to be bolted in place, no rotational force and just the weight of the tire/wheel. If you really want to over engineer this, use three 1/2" bolts with the nylon lock nuts torqued to exactly 80 foot pounds, with a lock washer and blue locktite...... Tongue in cheek here.
You know, if it was a travel trailer, I'd worry less.
But it goes 70 MPH, then into a bumpy field, etc., and back.
Only room for the 2 max, to the upright, limited by width.
It will get the squashed nuts like the trailer itself so I have spares.

BC, gets too wide!
 
   / I need to borrow some common sense, mounting tire #5  
I mount mine with two horizontal bolts. Easy and both bolts have about equal load.
 
   / I need to borrow some common sense, mounting tire
  • Thread Starter
#6  
I mount mine with two horizontal bolts. Easy and both bolts have about equal load.
That, and a lower 3rd, is what I see when I search Jeep tire mounts.
Just don't have the width.
 
   / I need to borrow some common sense, mounting tire #7  
If you are adding an upright from the deck to rail, make it a "T". Or just add bolts through the horizontal rail. If I understand?
 
   / I need to borrow some common sense, mounting tire #8  
$25 at Harbor Freight. Mount it with supplied hardware or adapt it to whatever you need. But for $25 it's a good start.

 
   / I need to borrow some common sense, mounting tire #9  
I carry the spare on my Kauffman GN mounted to upright 'headache; rack that is vertical on the lower deck under the upper part of the planked upper deck. Welded on 2 lengths of correctly threaded rod and use 2 lug nuts to secure it along with a 4 way lug wrench. No biggie. 2 lug nuts will securely attach it plus it's not underneath so no collect of dirt.

Always been my pet peeve with automotive spare tires mounted underneath in the back. They get cruddy, corrode, hard to check the TP and everything gets rusty and hard to remove, especially on the side of the road laying on a dirty berm. I prefer them under the mat in the trunk and not a 'safety spare' either, a full sized tire.
 
 
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