After thinkering a long time about a smart and cheap spare wheel carrier, I finally came up with a IMHO good solution.
Here are the ingredients:
One HiddenHitch spare tire carrier part #HH5441.
http://www.hitch-web.com/HiddenHitch/accessories.htm
One Masterbuilt Folding Receiver Bar, either part # HF or HFTB, depending whether you also need a ball mount or not Dead Link Removed
I took the HiddenHitch tire carrier and saw off the horizontal bar. I drilled a 5/8 hole in the vertical bar and mated it to the Masterbuilt Folding Receiver Bar.
It's really easy to make, fairly cheap -about $ 70 for the tire carrier and $ 40 for the folding receiver (HFTB costs less at www.cabelas.com part # AC- 52-0358) - works great - take out one bolt with safety pin and the spare wheel tilts to the back letting you open the rear hatch - requires no drilling and can be put on or completely taken off your vehicle in about 5 minutes without any ugly hardware remaining.
The only draw-back is that, like all trailer hitches, it's not really favorable to your departure angle, specially if you use the one with ball mount as I did. But it's not too bad.
Unluckily I don't have a digital camera nor a photopoint or similar account, therefore I can't take or post any pictures.
Here are the ingredients:
One HiddenHitch spare tire carrier part #HH5441.
http://www.hitch-web.com/HiddenHitch/accessories.htm
One Masterbuilt Folding Receiver Bar, either part # HF or HFTB, depending whether you also need a ball mount or not Dead Link Removed
I took the HiddenHitch tire carrier and saw off the horizontal bar. I drilled a 5/8 hole in the vertical bar and mated it to the Masterbuilt Folding Receiver Bar.
It's really easy to make, fairly cheap -about $ 70 for the tire carrier and $ 40 for the folding receiver (HFTB costs less at www.cabelas.com part # AC- 52-0358) - works great - take out one bolt with safety pin and the spare wheel tilts to the back letting you open the rear hatch - requires no drilling and can be put on or completely taken off your vehicle in about 5 minutes without any ugly hardware remaining.
The only draw-back is that, like all trailer hitches, it's not really favorable to your departure angle, specially if you use the one with ball mount as I did. But it's not too bad.
Unluckily I don't have a digital camera nor a photopoint or similar account, therefore I can't take or post any pictures.