Spare tire Carrier 2016 Vegas 25.2

[Chucke]

Hey everyone we purchased a 2016 Vegas 25.2 I decided to make a spare tire carrier for the chassis. There is plenty of room behind the gas tank and in front of the hitch.

I went to Pick n pull (Junk Yard) and took the winch off of a E250. You could get one off of any F or E series late model. 35.00

I had some 4" channel left over from another job. 3/16" thickness x 43" long.

Two 4"x4" pieces of channel

A 1' piece of 1 1/2" angle iron 3/16" thick

Eight feet 1 1/2" x 3/16 square stock

I used 14 6011 welding rods and 11 grade 8 bolts with washers and lock nuts.

I also moved the tire over toward the passenger side as far as I could go with it to have more space between the generator and the tire. I also had to drill 4 holes in the frame. Only 2 of them were actually drilled into Fords frame. The other 2 were drilled into the frame add on. None of the welding or painting was performed under the coach. I use a 8" wobble extension and ratchet to let the tire down. Hope you all enjoy! I will post a few pics of it at the end of the post. I just wanted all other to know about another way to mount a tire.

[Marine By Choice]

Well done

[mcr1010]

That is a neat job. You may have found a side business.

[penguin]

Very cool. Nice job . Sell the plans to Roadmaster

[Kev]

Great job! It would be nice to have the security of a spare on board.

Kev

[sky_blue]

Chucke,
Before I ask you to make me one, I have a question. You get a flat tire. You have a spare. What about a jack and a lug nut wrench?

[Chance]

I looked into this a while back when renting a Class C built on Ford E-Series, because it came with a spare tire but no jack or lug wrench. I wanted to be prepared just in case.

It turned out the jack from my E-350 SRW van is rated at only 2.0 tons, while the DRW E-Series (whether E-350 or E-450) were rated at 4.0 tons according to Ford specs.

While the spare-tire winch from a regular van works, I would not use its jack because it's not strong enough.

Regarding lug wrench, I can't recall 100% but think mine didn't work on rear tires because of added DRW dish. The handle would hit the tire. Fortunately I have other tools that could substitute.

I'd just make sure the jack and wrench come from Dual Rear Wheel E-Series, and that they are in good shape.

[Chance]

Originally Posted by Chucke

....cut....

I went to Pick n pull (Junk Yard) and took the winch off of a E250. You could get one off of any F or E series late model. 35.00

....cut....

Glad I saved mine when I relocated spare tire to rear door.


By the way, nice job on tire lift. I may want to copy it some day -- for me a spare is a must.


My only suggestion is to keep an eye once in a while on tire to confirm it's staying all the way up. Mine didnt seem to creep down a lot, but I've seen a few vans going down the road where the cable had too much slack and spare was hanging low. It could be that they just didn't lift it up fully, but I suspect that over time the winch "may" unwind some. Either way it's a minor thing to inspect.

[mcr1010]

gbrown, I use a 12 ton bottle jack and 20 In. Four-Way Lug Wrench from Harbor Freight. Does not break the bank and stows away compactly in the rear. Reason for 12 ton vs 8 ton is that the jack stem is much larger and when jacking up one side from underneath, you do not want anything to slip or break. !st hand experience. Hopefully you never have to use them except maybe by choice in your own time and place.

[Chucke]

Originally Posted by gbrown

Chucke,
Before I ask you to make me one, I have a question. You get a flat tire. You have a spare. What about a jack and a lug nut wrench?

Hello gbrown, I did the exact same thing that mcr1010 did. Here is my reasoning, The coach wts approx. 14500 pounds. So I figured that a 8 to 12 ton bottle jack would do the job. 2000 pounds per ton and only lifting 1 corner of motorhome. I have placed the bottle jack, 4 way and small tool bag in the front right hand compartment with a 1/2 inch piece of plywood under it. The plywood gives a little better base in case of loose or wet ground under the jack. I know this seems a little over kill to some, To me its better to have it than not.

[Chucke]

Originally Posted by Chance

Glad I saved mine when I relocated spare tire to rear door.


By the way, nice job on tire lift. I may want to copy it some day -- for me a spare is a must.


My only suggestion is to keep an eye once in a while on tire to confirm it's staying all the way up. Mine didnt seem to creep down a lot, but I've seen a few vans going down the road where the cable had too much slack and spare was hanging low. It could be that they just didn't lift it up fully, but I suspect that over time the winch "may" unwind some. Either way it's a minor thing to inspect.

Hello Chance and thank you for the tip. I will keep an eye on it. Thank you again!

[tigwelder]

nice job on carrier. i was going to do about the same thing .then i thought why would i want to change a spare tire on the side of interstate where cars and trucks are running 80 mph when i have road side insurance and i didn't want to fight a very heavy spare under Mh in a rain storm. so i did next best thing so i would have a spare on my 25-2 axis and went with a roadmaster carrier.

[Chucke]

Originally Posted by tigwelder

nice job on carrier. i was going to do about the same thing .then i thought why would i want to change a spare tire on the side of interstate where cars and trucks are running 80 mph when i have road side insurance and i didn't want to fight a very heavy spare under Mh in a rain storm. so i did next best thing so i would have a spare on my 25-2 axis and went with a roadmaster carrier.

Hello tigwelder, and thank you for the compliment. I have seen the Roadmaster carrier and realized that there was several issues I would have with it on the rear of my Vegas. One of the issues I would encounter is that I pull a jeep and have a tray/rack on the back for bikes or other stuff for the trip. Lets all hope we never have tire problems out on the road, but if we do we are ready!

[1moorebuilder]

Chucke,
I used the same space between the gas tank and the hitch, but not being a welder, I bought the spare tire support from an older 80-90's F-150. Measuring three or four times I used an existing hole in the upper horizontal potion of the frame, drilled another diagonally across on the other side and supported the cross-member that holds the spare tire/wheel with the long bolts used on the original spare mount with captured nuts above. Cheap ($10), effective, and hasn't fallen off in 5,500 miles.

[SuperBoar]

Looking at the top of my bottle jack and how it contacts either the rear axel or the front suspension arm makes me very nervous about how easily the jack could slip out from under its load in any but the most ideal conditions. SafeJacks.com makes a cap that might be a bit safer, but the 12-ton version costs more than the jack itself. I tried just using my cell phone like everyone says, but the jack just crushed that sucker flat.... Does everyone just fabricate their own cap, take chances, or is there another solution?

[williebill]

I need one for my 2016 25.2 Vegas I wish I had your skill to build one. If you are selling them my email is billin1446@yahoo.com