I made my own spare tire carrier (Axis - E450)

[Long & Winding road]

I been looking around on line for something I could bolt up to my Axis to hold my spare tire but I could not find anything that I really liked.

Well after I had a Blow Out in May I been trying to figure out how to do it myself. I also purchased a TMPS (I should have had one years ago! Had to wait 4.5 hours for roadside on a SUN night ).

I did call around a few local places (Shops/welder etc) but either they were booked out for 4 / 6 weeks or wanted way to much money for what I needed.

So while looking on Amazon for HD metal that I thought would be easy to work with at home and I came across 5 foot long 12 gauge "Uni Struts". After some research I found that one of them (4 foot section) had a weight compacity over 1700# (I need 43 inches for my application with a 75 # tire - so Im safe ).

Plus they had some HD brackets that I thought might work for me. I already purchased a cheap Ford tire hoist about a month ago while I was in the planning stages.

I wanted the highest clearance under the tire without touching the bottom of the RV floor.

Im very please with the results. All in im around $195 ...that includes several nuts/bolts/washer from HD. I used grade 8 bolts for part of them (see zinc color bolts in picture) and reg duty bolts on the rest of them that I thought would have less stress etc. But have the statifaction of doing something myself is priceless.

Right now Im using a 12 inch long socket extention with my cordless impact and it works great. But im also looking for some linkage to bolt up to make it more complete.

I really like the fact you cannot see the tire hang down at all when looking from the sides of the RV. You have to craw under it to see anything.

What do you guys think? Should I put a cable lock on it? You Cannot lower it without tools.

[taylorbob1]

Just like Thor should have done it
Great job!

I don’t have a cable lock on mine...

[galOnTheGo]

nice job, well done. I am in, did mine similar. looks like the 25.4 has more room there than my 24.1, mine is a tight fit yet works well. how about you TaylorBob, a tight fit for you. I have a friend with a 24.1 axis with levelers it appears that would not work as the levelers appear to take some of that space. a must have for me. I also put in a 5" pic fence post in that same area to store the sewer lines. happy trails.

[paulwadley]

Very nice job. Looks very secure.


Paul

[VegasBaby!!!]

I like it. How do you lower it?

[Long & Winding road]

I use my cordless inpact with a 12 inch long 3/8 inch socket extention on it. Works like a charm. Im looking into bolting up some rod/linkage to it so all I have to do is use my impact or in a pinch a ratchet and not worry about the extention.

[Long & Winding road]

Of coarse you noticed it has a Ford spare tire hoist bolted in the middle of it? Look in the middle of the pictures.

[Long & Winding road]

Originally Posted by galOnTheGo

nice job, well done. I am in, did mine similar. looks like the 25.4 has more room there than my 24.1, mine is a tight fit yet works well. how about you TaylorBob, a tight fit for you. I have a friend with a 24.1 axis with levelers it appears that would not work as the levelers appear to take some of that space. a must have for me. I also put in a 5" pic fence post in that same area to store the sewer lines. happy trails.

Yep, lots of room under the 25.4 and I have 70 cu foot of cargo storage. I love it.

Post a picture of your sewer line storage under your RV. Love to see it.

I been thinging of doing that well. Im also thinking about a cargo box under the RV for extra lego blocks, 2x4's / scrap wood, Spare water hoses etc.

[powerboatr]

pretty darn awesome Gold star for you



excellent

[Yaksterwalk@yahoo.com]

Originally Posted by taylorbob1

Just like Thor should have done it
Great job!

I don’t have a cable lock on mine...

Powerboater, how do you get the tire up in its place? Do you first get it up onto the hitch bar then push the other side up?

[The_Breeze]

The spare on my Ford pickup works the same way. Where did you get the cabled hoist? Auto parts store?

Not sure on the cable lock. I may misunderstand the statement but if there's no tools, I don't think you'll be changing the tire yourself anyway?

[taylorbob1]

Originally Posted by Yaksterwalk@yahoo.com

Powerboater, how do you get the tire up in its place? Do you first get it up onto the hitch bar then push the other side up?

The 24.1 has room, albeit it's tight, to push a spare into place.
I have several write-ups on the Forum, you'll need to do a search.

Bottomline...most of the air needs to be deflated to push into place manually.
Yes, it needs to be lifted up from the ground but can be done wearing your coveralls and laying on your back.

Then, once into place, I add the crossbars where there are existing holes in the chassis frame.
Finally, I inflate to about 20# or so to lock it in.

It doesn't move and would be very difficult to steal.

As discussed on the Forum...even if you don't want to change the spare or don't carry tools to change a spare, having a spare on-hand will save you lots of time and money when you call a towing service for assistance.

[Yaksterwalk@yahoo.com]

Originally Posted by taylorbob1

The 24.1 has room, albeit it's tight, to push a spare into place.
I have several write-ups on the Forum, you'll need to do a search.

Bottomline...most of the air needs to be deflated to push into place manually.
Yes, it needs to be lifted up from the ground but can be done wearing your coveralls and laying on your back.

Then, once into place, I add the crossbars where there are existing holes in the chassis frame.
Finally, I inflate to about 20# or so to lock it in.

It doesn't move and would be very difficult to steal.

As discussed on the Forum...even if you don't want to change the spare or don't carry tools to change a spare, having a spare on-hand will save you lots of time and money when you call a towing service for assistance.

Thanks taylorbob. Do you really need two crossbars or would one work?

[taylorbob1]

Originally Posted by Yaksterwalk@yahoo.com

Thanks taylorbob. Do you really need two crossbars or would one work?

1 will work
I purchased an 8’ piece of aluminum “Strut”
So I had left over material and since there were holes in the strut and holes in the chassis frame I figured that 2 were better than 1

[Bob Denman]

https://www.thorforums.com/forums/at...1&d=1594056904

[Evening]

I love the way you decided to use one of the many spaces available on your rig. My class C 24 foot Thor also has many places to add a spare tire. I am looking for a hand "lift" or just a simple attachment to lower the rim and tire to the Ground from the side or the back of the RV. Then I should be able to send a few pictures.

Originally Posted by taylorbob1

The 24.1 has room, albeit it's tight, to push a spare into place.
I have several write-ups on the Forum, you'll need to do a search.

Bottomline...most of the air needs to be deflated to push into place manually.
Yes, it needs to be lifted up from the ground but can be done wearing your coveralls and laying on your back.

Then, once into place, I add the crossbars where there are existing holes in the chassis frame.
Finally, I inflate to about 20# or so to lock it in.

It doesn't move and would be very difficult to steal.

As discussed on the Forum...even if you don't want to change the spare or don't carry tools to change a spare, having a spare on-hand will save you lots of time and money when you call a towing service for assistance.

[Evening]

Yup ! Thor should have made this standard on all their models. No vehicule (Car, RV or Truck) should be sold without a spare tire.

[BASSMAN]

I did the same thing using the OEM cable mount, same as a F-350 Ford pick up, I used two lengths of standard 2 inch channel and welded flanges to both ends and bolted to the web of the frame, I welded a 3/16 6 inch by 6 inch plate to the center of the channel and mounted the winch to that plate, that is the perfect place to mount the spare tire, I told the dealer when I bought the coach new that I wanted a spare tire and wheel, they tried to talk me out of it, it took 3 weeks for the wheel to show up as its not a standard wheel, good luck with that on the side of the road if your wheel gets damaged, I carry a large star lug wrench and a bottle jack, I have seen too many people stuck on the side of the road waiting for a tire service to show up.

[ducksface]

I started out to do the under mount like the op but went a different route.
I do have a hitch mount for the spare but the spare fits so nicely in the pictured hatch I just don't use the hitch mount.
My power cord and macerator hose, fresh water hose and tow straps fit really nice inside the rim.

Underneath we built as a big of a box as we could weld in there between the frame rails. Access is through an added hatch in the floor basement.
This might need whacked a bit when we add flip down levelers.

The 24.1 side hatch makes it easy to get to the clean and dry spare for us:waist high, flat bottom, no tie downs, and the frame rail space is utilized by the big box we fitted. I'm a little bit ahead on comparative storage cubic feet because the rim holds goodies and the under box is square not round.

I'll use the hitch spare tire rack if I need more space, but we travel pretty light.
I just don't want to be laying on the ground fighting an undermount spare tire on a Mohave/death valley summer or in two inches of snow... Or ever and the hitch rack would require some chest high wrestling of the possibly severely damaged and angry, steel cord slashing at me blow out. I am big enough and strong enough to hold a pissed off blow out at chest height for the time it would take to get it on the rack studs and never let it touch me. I don't know many our average ages who can.

If the poster above hadn't mentioned taking air out of the spare in a post last year, making me think I'll now need a compressor(I carry a battery, 12v and 110v)and then thinking how can I get around the compressor,what happens when the rubber sticks itself to the frame rail,what do I have to wedge it loose, will mud and crud get in my eye while I'm hip deep under the rv, where the hell am I going to put this filthy, sharp cords hanging out of it, trying to cut me up, so hot you can't handle it, no longer round blown tire I just changed...I'd have an underslung.
You see, I've actually had to work an underslung before but like child birth the pain was not the prevalent memory, until needing to add air was mentioned, then like a wave it all came rushing back. I'm sure someone will tell of a happy time using one. It ain't me babe.



As usual with me, when I take on a project it starts at the end, not the beginning. Since I was a kid everything starts with: 'well, that failed. Let's work it backwards to see how it failed' before I even open a door or put a key in a lock.

I'm all for the underslung spare. My wife couldn't handle it and I don't want to. But I know not everyone has the luxury of that 24.1 hatch. If I hadn't read of someone on the forum carrying their spare there, I would have never thought to try it.
So the forum saved me twice. The air being why I didn't underslung, and the hatch fitment being why I didn't have to.

Also :
I carry cheap dollar store shower curtains to lay myself on if I ever have to be on the ground, on my side, doing a long reach above my head, lowering a spare or changing a tire or carving an elk out from the front suspension.
And
I carry a Torque multiplier for the wheels. Cheap. I can twist a car size star wrench into a pretzel....

I have three roadside services.
But as always:
'well calling them was fail. Let's work backwards'....
AND
There's pictures in my signature thread of the safe I built into the rim well of the spare on my expeditionary vehicle.
For those of you with the underslung mount, a round marine hatch in the floor of your basement will allow you to build a safe into that unused rim space.
Ain't no one ever going to look there and it's an easy build using a one size smaller rim to fit the space. Get creative if you need more security, as I did, and whack the front panel off of a harbor freight safe and you can access the safe door through that marine hatch.
I'll just go ahead and post another pic since I'm down here at the shop....
The safe and the fold down table that covers it.
The table integrates as a 90° return with the tailgate giving me a wrap around work bench/prep area. I'm starting to consider thinking about thinking about considering a table for the 24.1 hitch rack.

[ducksface]

Originally Posted by Evening

Yup ! Thor should have made this standard on all their models. No vehicule (Car, RV or Truck) should be sold without a spare tire.

Long story, covered here before.
Until the 1990's a spare, and even a rear bumper were optional on pickup trucks let alone cutaway chassis.

As stated in a very recent post in this very thread:
Just ask for one when you buy the rv. It took him three weeks to get it, but all he had to do was ask.
If you don't like the $500 price tag, say no.
99.9% percent of people say no.