Spare Tire Carrier

[Pahaska]

One of the trailers in our unit had the welds on the spare tire carrier fail. The tire dropped out and the trailer duals ran over it. Apparently, it was pretty traumatic!

Looking at my spare, I found about 1 1/2" of space above the tire, allowing it to bounce around in the carrier. This would certainly cause a lot of impact stress on the carrier and might ultimately cause a weld failure.

I happened to have a nice piece of packing foam in the shop. It was the perfect size to wedge between the rim and the trailer floor. It is tight and I had to grunt a bit to get the carrier relatched. The tire is now very well restrained from bouncing around in the carrier.

You can see the corner of the foam above the tire in the photo.

[Silvertwinkie]

John,

Thanks for the tip, I'm going to go take a peek at mine tonight when I get home. I'll post what I find, but I think it's gonna be the same.

Eric

[Silvertwinkie]

YIKES!!!

Mine is the exact same! I just got back from under and the bracket is solid, but the tire can bounce around upwards of 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch if not a bit more.

John, the sheetmetal underbody does not seem like it is solid enogh to withstand the tires force in serious road conditions. Is there a bracket under there that I just don't see? I was thinking of getting some tywrap and securing the tire to the bracket if the underbelly does not have any reinforcement.

I can't believe the play that tire has.....

What do you think?

Eric

[Pahaska]

My International doesn't have the aluminum belly, so my foam is right up against the floor with a heavy steel T-bar going right down the center.

In yours, I would use something like the heavy rubber straps that have S-hooks on the ends and tie the tire down tightly to the carrier.

Anything tht restrains the tire from bouncing is going to reduce the impact load on the carrier.

[Silvertwinkie]

John,

Thanks for the input. I think that is exactly what I'm going to do.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention!

Regards,

Eric

[59toaster]

Rubber straps is a good idea but I would make sure to check them often. They are prone to fail with little notice.
I'm really surprised there is not some mechanical fastener of some sort to tie the wheel down. That just looks like an accident waiting to happen as John has pointed out.

[Pahaska]

I submitted my idea of using a block of foam to prevent the wheel/tire from bouncing around to Trailer Life and they published it in this month's issue. I have a nice check for $45 hat just came in the mail.

[apple 1]

John,
Saw the Trailer Life tech tip, first good tip in a long time. Have been concerned about my spare bouncing as it has 1/2 inch of clearance to floor. Will add the foam today, great idea.
Jim

[Stefrobrts]

In addition to worrying about failure of the carrier, couldn't that also damage the tire? Down the road when you really need it it might not be in any shape to use. Good thing you guys noticed that. I'd let Airstream know. Not gonna be the Rolls Royce of trailers with fit and finish like that...