alternative ways to hold spare tire underneath

[JB3]

Did a search and may have missed a thread since on phone

Im looking to see if anyone has rigged up different ways to hold the spare underneath, that is not the hanging cable mess.

Mine is shot, and the spare rim is so rusty that i have to scrap it. My plan is to figure out a way to install the tire bagged and protected, and not as failure prone due to rust as the cable.

Curious what others have done to either improve the cable, or remove it all together

 

[lorraine1]

i just threw mine in the back of the truck

 

[koda2000]

I seriously think there is no way you can "bag" a spare under the truck and keep it dry. if nothing else you're going to get condensation in the bag.

 

[bill06447]

The first one lasted 15 years; how much longer do you expect to have the truck?

Bill

 

[JB3]

i just threw mine in the back of the truck

Uses too much space, but thats what ive been doing

 

[JB3]

I seriously think there is no way you can "bag" a spare under the truck and keep it dry. if nothing else you're going to get condensation in the bag.

My chief goal is to reduce salt spray on the rim and keep it from being useless. By bag i mean putting one of those half covers for a tire on the back of something. I suppose i could do that now actually thinking about it, with a new cable setup

 

[JB3]

The first one lasted 15 years; how much longer do you expect to have the truck?

Bill

5 to 10 years for the truck. No plan to get rid of it at this time.

The first one didnt last 15 years, it was unusable and rusted solid when it was needed. When it became useless is unknown. Id rather know i can get the spare down in an emergency, and avoid losing it from cable breakage either.

 

[bill06447]

I took mine down last summer, greased the cable, painted the wheel with POR-15 and stuffed it back up. Only needs to get me to a tire shop or garage.

Bill

 

[Tophat1962]

I dont know about road grime eating it up but to keep thieves from cutting the cable and stealing the tire I made a steel plate with an eye bolt on the top. Turned the wheel upside down and used two 1/8 inch cable clamps and hooked it up with a clevis clamp and wound the cable up. Oh, BTW the cable had already been cut when i bought the truck but enough was left to use for this project, as I did not want a tire in the back of my explorer.

 

[1996BLKBauer]

Just as a FYI, you might just want to stick with the original equipment. if you jerry rig something and the tire comes lose, and causes somebody to crash, you can be sued big time. I lower mine with every oil change, and fill it with air, my rim was rusty aswell, good ol' IL winters, but it holds air just fine, I replaced it this summer with a slightly bent Cragar soft 8, so if I get a flat it will sort of match, lol.

 

[JB3]

Just as a FYI, you might just want to stick with the original equipment. if you jerry rig something and the tire comes lose, and causes somebody to crash, you can be sued big time. I lower mine with every oil change, and fill it with air, my rim was rusty aswell, good ol' IL winters, but it holds air just fine, I replaced it this summer with a slightly bent Cragar soft 8, so if I get a flat it will sort of match, lol.

Ironically this topic came up because the wife dodged the other day a tire that fell off a pickup when the cable snapped. Ive seen that happen as well.

I was headed towards something closer to the mk1 ranger spare setup with a tray on a pivot that the tire sat on

 

[Texas97x]

Not sure if this will work but my old 92 Ranger had a bar that the tire sat on and you lifted it up and then locked the end of the bar to keep the tire secured. I liked the set up better than the cable system on Explorers but have never gotten around to seeing how hard it would be to change it over.

 

[RomeovilleIL]

Just get a stock aluminum wheel. Doesn't matter if it matches the style of the other wheels so long as is correct size. Definitely not expensive and won't rust.

 

[lorraine1]

mine was rusted up so bad i had to use a grinder on it where it goes at the bottom of the wheel to get the spare out,i just threw it in the back,imagine being out on the freeway 100 miles from home and u cant get the spare out of the bottom and have a flat on the truck or the spare is flat

 

[rb142]

Putting some sort of cover on it is more likely to trap even more road salt/slush in it than not having the cover. It might work if the cover went around the whole thing (top too). An occasional undercarriage wash would probably help more.

 

[jimmyznutz]

Plastidip it to protect it. Cheap..done..