Do I remove the rear mouted spare?

[nellie the elephant]

OK here's one for you forum members. I need some advice. When I bought my AS, the previous owner had profeesionally installed a spare tire on the rear bumper. Iis a very practical location, but with some serious funtionality implications. Keep in mind, that this spare tire rack, is welded to the frame, and done well.

But.....it is in the way of my need to get into the access panel which is necessary to access the black water valve, and hooking up the electrical, and water to shore power. Every time I have to get in there, I am always fighting with the spare tire, and reaching around it. Obviously if I relocated the spare tire to the front, or underside, that would solve the problem. However, I was actually thinking of cutting holes in the skin down low, on the rear left corner, and mounting an exterior hose fitting, and an electrical hook up plug, instead of have to fish the hose and electrical cord through that little hole on the underside (I always found that to be a pain the ass anyway). Granted, I would do a really nice job with the hose and power (in terms of how it looked)...and the convenience of just being able to plug right in to the outside, without having to fish the hose up through the hole, and fish the electrical cord down......it just seams like there is a better way.

Comments? Am I crazy for thinking about cutting holes and re-designing where power and water hook-ups should go? Is this one of those things where someone will say "you had a real gem here, worth a ton in gold...but you screwed it up big time!"

Help.

btw, how the heck do I make a new thread now with this new interface?

[plowboy]

Go for it. My '59 Tradewind has a rear mounted spare (not sure if it was factory or a mod?) The power and water are already located on the side. I'm in the process of updating the the power plug and cord to a marinco (like on the newer AS)
Good luck,
Paul

[InsideOut]

Help.

btw, how the heck do I make a new thread now with this new interface?

Well, you did it here just fine! Basically, go into the "Forum" you want to start the new "Thread" in....towards the top, on the left there is a "New Thread" button.

Currently, it doesn't appear that you can start a new thread while you are in a thread (like the old version). Maybe it'll help folks realize where they start threads and the moderators won't have to move as many around because they are in the wrong catagory. Oh well, gives us something to do!

Good luck, post away!

Shari

[Inland RV Center, In]

Nellie.

Anything mounted on the bumper of your 1966 22 foot trailer, will promote rear end separation.

There is a spare tire carrier available that fits underneath the front end. It was designed for the 69 and up trailer, but it can be adapted to yours.

With Airstreams spare carrier, the tire is completely underneath the trailer, and out of sight. Looks good, works great, and won't contribute to any other problems.

Andy

[66Overlander]

Wow! I didn't know such an item existed. I've been wondering what to do with the spare and thinking it would have to be carried in the back of our tow vehicle. Mounting it under the trailer might be a good solution. How does it mount - to the bottom of the front "A" frame? Does it cause any significant ground clearance issues? How hard would it be to adapt to a '66 Overlander? Where can they be purchased? Does anyone have a photo of one on a trailer? Thanks.

Joe

[nickcrowhurst]

Joe, there is a photo at http://www.airforums.com/forum...ntid=920&stc=1 , courtesy of John I. The rest of that thread is also informative. Nick.

[Chuck]

here's another pic. you can see how it hangs from a cross-member of the frame. this is just behind the front of the trailer. To install this, they cut away the belly skin that covered this cavity, then attached the bracket to the frame. the exposed underside of the plywood floor was then covered w/ what appears to be interior skin. (vinyl covered).

[Chuck]

here's a real quick 3-d model of the framework around the spare bracket. this is the "roots" of the a-frame, so it was kind of hard to measure. I modified the spare tire bracket to carry my blue-boy. before I did that, I wanted to see if the square blue-tank would fit up into the trapezoidally shaped space. as you can see, it fits. problem is, it hangs down precariously low, because the tank is so think. but it does work.

[66Overlander]

Chuck, Thanks very much for the pictures and description. I don't think I'd be willing to cut the bellypan to be able to mount the spare there. I was hoping the tire just bolted up to the underside of the "A" frame, but am now more certain that doing so wouldn't provide the necessary ground clearance. I guess the spare will have to stay in the back of the tow vehicle (until/unless something better comes along). Thanks again.

Joe

[Chuck]

Originally Posted by 66Overlander

Chuck, Thanks very much for the pictures and description. I don't think I'd be willing to cut the bellypan to be able to mount the spare there.
Joe

well, just so you are aware, this method of installation is prescribed by the factory, and the instructions are printed in my 73 service manual.

I didn't even know I had this thing at first...never noticed it, as it is pretty well hidden from view. one day as I was driving up my driveway (steep hill), looking up at the trailer, I saw this "thing" hanging underneath it, and thought to myself, "what the heck is THAT thing dangling underneath my trailer!! ??"