Spare Tire?

[doris s.]

I was wondering if and where everyone secures a spare tire on their teardrop? I usually carry the spare in my truck but I want to bolt it to my teardrop. This is an after thought. I really should have designed a place for it when we built it!

Doris

[Glenn Butcher]

I'm going to mount mine flat, under the tongue. On the NT 40x48 trailer, there's a convenient hole where the tongue meets the frame, so I'm just going to put a bolt through a steel bar to hold it in place, probably about $5 in hardware. It'll also help my tongue weight.

[doris s.]

Glenn, I sure wish I had enough space on the tongue for the spare!
Your tire placement makes the most sense.
We have our battery on the tongue so it won't fit.

Doris

[GuitarPhotog]

In a compartment in the cabin that I built for it. It's a total PITA to get it out, but with any luck I won't have to ;-)

<Chas>

[working on it]

I was wondering if and where everyone secures a spare tire on their teardrop? I usually carry the spare in my truck but I want to bolt it to my teardrop. This is an after thought. I really should have designed a place for it when we built it!

Doris

In choosing a location for mounting a spare, try to achieve equilibrium between three factors: ease of access, effect on trailer balance, and effect on trailer appearance (if mounted externally) or storage space (if internally mounted). For further consideration: if mounted under trailer, will it compromise ground clearance? or if mounted on the tongue, will it have an adverse effect on turn radius (and again, on trailer balance)? I mounted mine on the single drawbar tongue (for ease of access and trailer balance), but when I needed to add a larger tonguebox there, I had to design a slide mount to still be able to access the spare...

• original set-up, no box
• added small box (with stabilizer struts), for battery
• mechanism for slide-mounting large box
• big box, for battery & storage

I should've considered the need for more storage (and weight, forward) before attaching a large thru-bolt to hold the spare to the front wall. I was then "committed" to a location ( and basing my planning for trailer balance using its' 35lb weight); I jumped the gun, when choosing the location, but that's the danger in experimenting (later retro-fitting to suit other changes in design)! ...There have been lots of good ideas for spare tire locations and mounts, presented on this forum, some of which I wish I could've used.

[DMcCam]

Hi Doris,

We mounted our spare under the galley behind the axle. So far it's worked well (haven't needed to use it yet). The upside is that it is out of sight. The down side is that it must be lifted up into place. I have to use blocks and a 1x2 as a leaver to get it mounted.


Here's a picture of the chassis. There's a long treaded rod through the disc with a giant wing nut that holds up the spare.


You can just see how it sits under the galley in this image.

All the Best,

Dave

[GuitarPhotog]

Why worry about ease of access? You hope you will never use the spare tire. If you have a flat in a dangerous spot, you can always drag the trailer on it's rim another 100 ft/yds to get clear of the freeway lane etc.

When I had my blowout, I had to drag the trailer on the shredded tire and rim a hundred yards or more to get it out of traffic. I then had to leave it there overnight until the tire store opened the next day. In total the trailer was along side the road for 14 or 15 hours. If that's the case, why use space that's valuable for something else just to make accessing the spare easy?

I'm not trying to be provocative, I just want to hear people's justification and reasoning.

<Chas>

[citylights]

Why worry about ease of access?

One reason for easy access is to check spare tire pressure...

My spare is in an under bed storage, but I have a large tongue box and AC unit making my tongue weight heavy. I am thinking about making a place for the spare tire under the galley to move the weight back.

Also just to mention, I have seen pictures of older style teardrops with the spare bolted to the side wall right behind the door.

[citylights]

You can just see how it sits under the galley in this image.

I like how you have mounted your spare. In the picture, it just looks very low to me. How much clearance do you have between the ground and spare? If you have a flat, I hope the spare won't drag and will you be able to get under to detach the spare?

[ctstaas]

Hi Doris, I wanted to be able to access my spare as easy as possible if needed so I built a stand and welded it right to my tongue right in front of my cabin. My propane and battery holder are up front also. On my GMC TV my spare is on a slide out rack. It works well.

[MeelisV]

gas bottle and spare tire

[Shadow Catcher]

I have a spare but no place to put it so I went with an adapter so that I can use the TV spare

[Mary C]

My rule is for every pound i put on the front or back of the trailer I put the same on the opposite end. When I build my "box" on the front I will need to off set the weight to the rear that is why I am putting my spare under the galley. now I am looking into using a bar with a chain wrapped around it to raise and lower it. When I get rich I plan to go to the junk yard to get the mechanism off an old GM truck. In the mean time I will just use Long bolts to the frame.

Mary C.

[Glenn Butcher]

I'm going to mount mine flat, under the tongue. On the NT 40x48 trailer, there's a convenient hole where the tongue meets the frame, so I'm just going to put a bolt through a steel bar to hold it in place, probably about $5 in hardware. It'll also help my tongue weight.

Ha, I was staring at the trailer yesterday while doing a household project ("one day, I'll get to you..." sort of daydreaming), and noticed that the pivoting tongue jack I recently installed would interfere with my so-well-thought-out spare tire solution...

I think I'll just throw it in the back of the car...

[martymcfly]

I don't plan on using a spare, so I don.t have one for the td. I have a 85 chevy and the original spare has never even been on the ground. I check the air in it on occasion. I don't even remembering having to ever change a tire on the road. I probably just jinxed myself.