Rear wheel carrier - Should we bother?

Hi yu N&L
Same trouble as me, can't sleep!!
We have a 100 series and have done various trips to the Mainland with spare under neath and one on the roof, and it worked perfectly.
BUT couple years back we fitted a duel wheel carrier as i found that the LC wheel and tyre was starting to get very heavy for me to throw up on to the carrier, and to lift it down.
You can call it age, being a grey nomad, or plain just loosing strength, if you are young and healthy, up top is fine.
Cheers
Baz

Lyndsey,

I can see your problem and it will not an easy fix.

Looking at the pros and cons and a lot will depend on how remote you intend to travel.

If you are travelling in remote areas the extra fuel in a long range tank is good but the spare tyre will have to go from under the vehicle.

If you should have to get the spare from under the vehicle it can be very hard if not impossible if you have a flat on the back of the vehicle.

Having a spare under the vehicle it is very hard to check the tyre pressure and I have seen a spare that has had side wall damage making the tyre unsuitable as a spare.


Having two spares on the back of the vehicle does put a lot of weight on the back and they would have to be open and closed to access the vehicle. Also having two spares on the roof rack will be a pain.

The cost of the wheel carrier can be very expensive. You might be able to get a second hand carrier or as I have done and made my own for about 10% of the cost of a new one.

From personal experience having the spare out from under the vehicle out ways the expense and the hassle of the rear wheel carrier.

Wayne

Also consider that if you put the spare out the back, especially on a heavy steel rear bar with carrier (you don't have to put a rear bar on but many do) then you may need to upgrade your rear suspension, depending on what you have already, and that will add to the expense.

G'day, I used to have a rear wheel carrier, got rid of it. Too much hassle, weight etc. On my GU wagon, carry the spare on the back door, and a spare case on the roof rack. Inflate a spare tube inside the spare case, keeps the dirt and dust out of it. Much easier to lift a case on and off the roof rack if needed. I do have the equipment to change the cases over if needed. Just another angle on carrying the second spare. John

Would it be easier to keep the spare under the back of the car and put a couple of jerry cans on the roof?
One jerry can would be lighter than a tyre and rim, and if you want to you could syphon from it on the roof rack if they are near the fill point.

You are not supposed to, but I have tied my jerry cans down on the roof rack and filled them there to, standing on the back bumper. You may not get a full 20l in that way, but if you spring the cap to syphon to the filler, you don't get fuel all over you springing the cap.

Two jerries on the roof would be cheaper than a long range tank.

Wayne - An excellent post. I put ours on the back. Don't have a roof rack as they are not allowed on the trains and we still have one trip to do. We don't really need one anyway. Also a tyre and rim is too heavy for me to get up there.

John - Thats a good one. Inflated tube in the tyre. Excellent.

So we have a rear single wheel carrier on the back and another underneath. which car is coming out and staying at home when we put a bigger fuel tank in its place. The last flat I had was back in about 1970. I know odds say its our time. But lets see. We have tubes, patches, glues, plugs and repair kits and tools to fix most flats until we get back to civilisation. A good strong pump has been installed in the engine bay also. Hopefully that will do us.

We also religiously lower and raise tyre pressures according to the conditions. Its amazing how many stopped and asked if we were okay or what were we doing at the turnoff to the Bungles.

Phil

The other thing to remember is this, what if you are bogged in sand/mud, vehicle is sitting on its belly and you slash/pop/whatever a tyre and need your spare.Its alot of digging and cursing to get it out from under neath your heavily bogged vehicle.
Always see spare wheel carriers on ebay for sale and quite cheap too.
Id be only carrying a case on the roof rack, not a full mounted wheel IF your capible of doing tyre changes and one mounted tyre on the back.
I definately would be going for one but search for a SH unit.

I carry my spare (one off) under a false floor behind the rear seats. I have a 80ser. L/C with a tailgate and find it quite easy to "break" the spare over the lowered tailgate to get it in and out. Also with the false floor there is plenty of room to put other things like tools and the like. At my age it would not be possible to lift a spare wheel onto a roof rack or even onto a spare wheel carrier.
A few days ago I had a bit of a run in with a bloke who hadn't fully locked his spare wheel carrier and it swung out nearly hitting my car.

Lyndsay on the 100 series you will notice the spare is not tucked up under the back as much as it can be. I fit spacers to lift the mounting bracket and angled it down at the front slightly to give a better departure angle. This may well give enough clearance for you depending on the tyre size, how much the back sags when fully laden & where you intend to take it.
On my 105 cruiser with 3" lift I carry an oversized 285/75/16 under the back of mine & it had sufficient clearance for the cross country run over the Madigan. Damage to tyres underneath is very rare in my experience.
For trackless desert driving I run with 2 spares on rims, for remote travel I carry a bare tyre casing (tubes etc) & for simple outback runs only carry 1 spare (& repair kit) although I normally go in a group.
Quite a few with 100 series carry a 2nd spare underneath but only a skinny standard tyre, bit like a space saver.
Cheers Craig...............

It depends on your health and mechanical knowledge. If these are both good I wouldn’t go for a duel wheel carrier, they are very handy as jacking points (firsthand experience in a bottomless bog!) though something much lighter could be welded to the vehicle to achieve the same result at almost no cost and very little weight gain.
Carry the extra carcass and tubes on the roof. You should always have two tyres but the people who say “you have to have two on rims if going remote” is rubbish as you could get two punctures which will leave you having to repair a tyre anyway.
Having my time over again I don’t think I would have bought my Kaymar and added 200 KG’s to the back of my vehicle. We bought ours to carry a 15 HP outboard on one side. In fact if the wheel wasn’t so handy as a jacking plate I would just carry carcases and use the original plate on the back door of the Troopy to carry the motor. The things we learn! Oh, as mentioned, expect to upgrade your suspension as well!
Cheers Lyndon

A number of people I know have had the sidewall of their spare punctured while the spare was being carried underneath in both 80 and 100 series l/cs. It is not a good to find you spare is also flat when you need it :(

For the people who find it difficult to lift the spare onto a rear wheel carrier I have seen winches made up that sit above the spare to lift it up onto the carrier.
They had one one display at last years Wandin field day (near Melbourne)

No you don't HAVE to move it out from underneath.
Whether it will be OK depends on where you intend to go. In any case I imagine some form of sheet metal plate could be readily fabricated to protect it under the vehicle if you thought damage was possible.

Absolutely, get the spare out from underneath the car. That is the most stupid place for a spare to be on a 4wd. Nissan have the right idea putting one on the rear door from the factory.

On at least 3 occasions I have seen people unable to get the spare out because the lowering chain has been stuck due to dirt ingestion. And these were all on the side of a highway! Add being stuck in dirt or sand where you can't actually get underneath the vehicle and that spare looks like a big tease sitting under there.

I'm sure if you go to a steel fabrication place they would be able to weld up a simple holder to take at least one of the spares for a lot less than an ARB one. If after the trip the spare is annoying you on the back, well put it back underneath.

Time to bring back the old Series 1 Land Rover with the spare on the bonnet.

Amazing what you could carry in the wheel rim ............until you hit a good bump

Bruce

Assuming you carry a reliable air pump let the pressure right down in the spare as it knocks a few kilos off it making it that little bit easier to handle. That aside, assuming you want to carry a spare wheel (with rim) on the roof rack, how do you safely get it up and down from the roof without scratching precious? Seems to risky so I just throw the second wheel in the back with everything else and use a tie down to secure it.

Thanks to everyone who replied!

So many different views but looks like we will go for a single wheel carrier and put the other spare in the back.

Thanks again.

Lyndsey

Depends on where you are going.

We have just finished a 50,000k trip mainly on the blacktop and havent had a puncture.

Have two spares on the cruiser.

Just remember all this stuff adds weight and if you are towing a van you could be seriously overloaded.

EG spare weighs 42kg Roof rack about the same L/R tank an extra 135kg.

So thats up to 219 kg plus ball weight of 150kg????thats 369 plus 90kg of fuel in main tank and gear and you

So you have 459 out of 642 man or 682 auto.

So two people 150kg???609 kg and no gear in back yet..