Trailer Spare Wheel Carrier

[OzFab]

When I finished rebuilding my box trailer I suddenly realised I had nowhere to put my spare wheel. With the box & jockey wheel on the A frame, there wasn't enough room & mounting it & inside seemed to defeat the purpose of getting a longer trailer.

I had seen a post on another forum that someone had used a spare wheel carriep form a Toyota Land Cruiser. Aparrenly, 4WD accessory places remove them to put in long range fuel tanks & put the spare on a swing arm on the back. It just so happens that my nephew works at one of these outfits so I rang him. "Nup, we don't have any, but ring this guy, he should be able to help" was his response. I rang the guy (Danny) & he said "nothing at the moment but, leave it with me.

Anyhoo, A few weeks later, I'd almost given up when Danny rang me back & said "I've got a carrier from a 100 series". When I asked him how much, he said, & I quote, "I can't charge you for it, Matt (my nephew) would kill me".

Once I got it home, I had a close look at it & thought "this is gonna need 'adjusting'".

 

[fowler]

Why not mount the wheel on the side
In front of the mud flap

The Cruiser doesn't usually require repositioning the spare but the prado does

 

[OzFab]

First step, get the hanger to fit through the spare wheel centre which is much smaller than that on a Land Cruiser (as you can see from the previous pics).

Once I'd done that I then had to come up with an idea to make it work. My first idea was two plates, hinged in the middle that lifted to drop through the centre & fell into place to hold the wheel.
Question 1. How do I secure it?
Question 2. How do I make it strong enough to hold the wheel yet have a big enough opening to work around the chain?
Question 3. How will I get it out through the centre?

Back to the drawing board, stopped over analysing & came up with this. It's, basically, a length of angle with extra bits added as locators & a hole in the middle for the chain

 

[OzFab]

Why not mount the wheel on the side
In front of the mud flap

1. There's a rope rail in the way
2. I like to make things difficult for myself

The Cruiser doesn't usually require repositioning the spare but the prado does

Danny said "it's off a 100 series cruiser". I wasn't about to argue...

 

[OzFab]

Once that was all worked out, it was time to modify the mounting rail which, again, was way too big.

First I cut the centre out & got it to a size that was appropriate for the wheel, shortened the end so it just didn't look wierd (again, I'm a bit anal like that), then reattach the centre thus:

P.S. Unfortunately, I forgot about the camera until after I cut the centre out so I have no pics of the rail as I got it

 

[fowler]

Mmn maybe u can get 100L sub tanks

Are u going to mount it under the front or rear

A decent fix to the problem
Looks good

 

[OzFab]

Are u going to mount it under the front or rear

Behind the axle to offset the weight of the box on the front

A decent fix to the problem
Looks good

Thanks man

 

[Doc Sprocket]

Behind the axle to offset the weight of the box on the front

That may or may not be a good plan. What is your empty weight distribution? You always want positive weight on the tongue. If the unloaded weight bias is too far off, you may encounter difficulty with loads in the future. In order to maximize the payload and minimize effect on the tow vehicle's handling, you want the payload over the axle, with the loaded weight bias about 10% forward (or 1/10th of the trailer's GVW on the tongue). Slight deviations are fine as long as you keep these things in mind, but I have seen people run into problems with trailers that were ill-balanced.

 

[OzFab]

Thanks for the thoughts, you bring up an interesting point.

I learned about balancing a load at a very young age: I have a memory from when I was about 10 of my father pushing down on the back of the trailer while loading it & asking him why he was doing that. Of course, he was checking the balance of the load.

This trailer has amazing balance; towing it empty I have to keep reminding myself it's there because I can't feel it. Last week I had 200kgs of scrap steel in it & it felt like it wasn't there.

By placing the spare in the trailer & checking the balance, the "sweet spot" is just behind the axle. With a normal load that would be the best place for it but, I plan to make a loading ramp which will attach as the tailgate. The ramp won't be on permanantly so, I need to factor it in.

 

[OzFab]

Today was about getting the rail into shape & welding everything up. Although i may not look any different, it is. The ends of the centre section have been tucked in so that they could be welded securely to the huge corrugations & I filled in all the gaps.

Tomorrow I hope to finish welding & dress it up ready for mounting.

 

[OzFab]

Dressed it up a bit a few days ago, found a piece of angle left over from the build which was perfect for the mounting brackets.

Once I cut it in half & drilled bolt holes I clamped them to the trailer ribs to transfrerred the holes no pics of this bit.

Got some more done today. After some measuring & calculating, I worked out where the brackets needed to go & put a single tack on the rear bracket. Then it was time to bolt it in place so I could get the other bracket spot on. With the help of an axle stand, I lined everything up & placed a few generous tacks to hold both brackets in position, took it all off & welded it all up. I also welded the bolts in the front bracket for easier installation.

Carrier rail done

After giving it a coat of primer I decided to throw some flat black on it; Check out what happened...

 

[OzFab]

That may or may not be a good plan. What is your empty weight distribution? You always want positive weight on the tongue. If the unloaded weight bias is too far off, you may encounter difficulty with loads in the future. In order to maximize the payload and minimize effect on the tow vehicle's handling, you want the payload over the axle, with the loaded weight bias about 10% forward (or 1/10th of the trailer's GVW on the tongue). Slight deviations are fine as long as you keep these things in mind, but I have seen people run into problems with trailers that were ill-balanced.

After reading this I decided to double check & found that, even with the spare & carrier at the back of the trailer, the balance was still towards the front so, I think I'm good with the positioning

 

[souperman000]

what? did you hit it with your "whipper snipper" or something?

Im a bit confused. Are you mounting the tire under the trailer or on the side?

 

[OzFab]

what? did you hit it with your "whipper snipper" or something?

If you're referring to the paint, that's what happens when you spray acrylic paint over damp enamel primer. People now pay big money for an effect that was discovered by accident

Im a bit confused. Are you mounting the tire under the trailer or on the side?

What gave you the idea it was going on the side?

 

[Doc Sprocket]

Yeah, that paint did craze nicely, didn't it? And how many things were invented or became popular by accident? Lots!

 

[souperman000]

What gave you the idea it was going on the side?

I wasn't reading very well...

 

[OzFab]

Yeah, that paint did craze nicely, didn't it?

It's called the crackle effect. The longer you leave the primer to dry the less it crackles. Yes, I hit it pretty quick.

I actually used the effect on an art piece I did about 2 years ago (see pic below)

And how many things were invented or became popular by accident? Lots!

Would you like a list, I have one

I just noticed your new sig, lovin' it

 

[Doc Sprocket]

It's called the crackle effect. The longer you leave the primer to dry the less it crackles.

You know I'm a painter, right?

I just noticed your new sig, lovin' it

I had to. It was most definitely quotable!

 

[OzFab]

You know I'm a painter, right?

Umm, I do now

 

[OzFab]

So, the rail is done, now I need something to operate the mechanism.

Half a metre of 5/8" tube, 1 metre of 12mm rod & a small piece of 3/8" rod & I'm set to go.

I filed a groove in the end of the tube & welded the piece of 3/8" rod into it. Then I drilled a 4mm hole through the other end; more on that later.

Then it was time to use yet another home made tool, my rod/bar bender. After a few quick measurements, I bent the 12mm rod into a dog-leg shape to create the crank handle.