Spare wheel removal frame for 4WD

I'd like one myself! I'm nowhere near 70, but have a chronically-bad back. Lifting a 33 off the rear door is something that can potentially put me out of commission for days if not weeks.

There was a post about 2 weeks ago about a loader for the spare onto the roof rack. Would you be able to use a like type of doo hickie to lift it to the rear door ?

Have seen something in my travels (maybe on Telstra outback vehicles) which used a small boat trailer winch mounted on a bracket above the spare wheel. it should not be difficult to fabricate a plate that sits behind the wheeel (maybe using the same stud pattern) and has an arm that rises up and aft with the winch mounted so that the cable runs through a small pulley wheel so as to lift the wheel clear of bumper and rear doors. Should not be too unsightly. It is a wonder that one of the aftermarket 4WD mobs have not come up with something. Maybe they have?

Good Luck

johnotoo

Perhaps someone could come up with a modification of a walking frame - dual purpose! :o)

Cheers

Pete

I guess it would help to know what sort of vehicle he has, but I have seen a couple of Patrols with a bracket and small hand winch above the spare on the back door.

I would imagine this would be fairly easy to organise, simply by fabricating a steel plate with 4 holes to match those on the back door that hold the bracket. Onto this plate would be welded a steel bar with a short bracket out at right angles which would hold the hand winch diectly above the spare tyre.

I might even try it myself . Those bloody tyres ARE very heavy to get up off the ground. Once I have one up, I seem to be able to handle them okay.

Good luck

Roachie

G'day John
On a Malcolm Douglas special recently he demonstrated a "tool" for easily removing a wheel from the vehicle, but this was for one of the wheels on the ground. It was like a small table with a simple mechanism that wound up the top until it sat under the wheel (after it was jacked up obviously). With the nuts removed the wheel was pulled towards the individual on some sort of sliding mechanism. Looked bloody easy and was specifically designed for those who have back problems, insuifficient strength etc. I know my explanation is not very good but the point is that if the manufacturer made one which could lift up a few inches he may be able to make a higher lift version (or someone else could adapt it to the rear mounted spare). Unfortunately I cannot recall who made it - MD did give it a decent plug. Perhaps someone with a better memory can recall the name. You could even try emailing MD.
Sorry I couldn't be of more use. Cheers from the Moose.

Have a look at Post 30426.

John ,
What about a swing out wheel carrier , that not only hinged around , but hinged out and down .
Then if it had a telelescopic frame it would go right down to the ground .
The tyre could then be taken off and put back on at ground level . You could attach a fairly light weight pully system to the rear of the roof rack to lower it down and pull it back into position .
All you would need to store in the car would be the detacheable pulley and the wheel carrier would be a bit mor bulky .
Is that said in a way that you can picture it ?
Cheers ,
Willie .

Just use your long handled shovel and some improvisation. How often do you have to change a wheel afterall. Put the shovel on the rear bumper with handle on ground. Roll tyre up handle and tuen so it is facing the right way. Grab handle and lever up. If the cap is to much then find something in the car to get up to a better height. Also works for getting off the back door and for lifting it on to the axle to replace a flat tyre. You don't have to break your back.

At least I don't have the problem with the underslung Toyota spare on the 80 :-))

John

There was a "gizmo" being demo'd at 4Wd shows a few years back but now that you mention it I don't recall seeing them the last couple of years. However, from what I remember the crux of the "gizmo" was a long handle steel bar about 1.5-2m in length. It had a little hook on the end that fitted into a slot in the spare wheel mounting bracket where the hub would normally be whlst the other end was rested on ground. The spare wheel nuts could then be remove and the wheel pulled forward onto the steel bar which essentially guided it to the ground. To load the wheel, the wheel is placed upright at the back of the 4WD, the bar then passed through the centre hub and hooked onto the mounting bracket at the rear of the 4WD. Then it was simply a matter of using the bar as a lever with the wheel being gently pushed along the bar towards the mount with the aid of gravity as the handlers end of the bar is raised just passed level. As the wheel got closer to the vehicle, the operator simply moves their hands along the bar behind it so that they are in position to ease the wheel onto the studs. Does that make any sense??? I actually had a go myself during one of the demonstrations and it was pretty easy. As I said, I haven't seen these gizmos around lately but I'm sure you could make your own pretty easily. Get an appropriate length of bar, wield a hook on one end and drill a suitable hole in the spare wheel mount and voila!

:o) Melissa