Rear Spare Wheel Carrier

Rear spare wheel carrier.

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I made this rear spare wheel carrier for the following reasons:

When driving in peak hour traffic it is sometimes required to veer close to the vehicles on the left, especially if a large truck is passing in the right hand lane. Now I’m not the biggest person in the world and I found it difficult to see exactly where the end of the truck is or where the left front of my vehicle is.
When going camping it would be nice to have two spare wheels instead of one, the point is the second spare must not take up any additional space.

So I went and bought a 6-meter length of pipe (30mmX1mm). I bought bullet hinges and some welding rods and paint. When I got home it all went in the garage and stayed there for quite a while. I finally got some time a couple of weeks later and during the course of three weekends I manufactured the spare wheel carrier. (It should not take more than one weekend but I did not rush the job and was willing to take my time)

The steps I took were as follows:

First I measured the distance between the bottom right hand "handle" at the back of the Landy to the canopy "rib / strengthening" somewhere halfway between top and bottom. The calvinised section of the Landy.

I took a piece of pipe, filled it with river sand started to heat it up with an oxy-acetylene torch and then bent the pipe slowly until a good reasonably sharp bend was formed and the "legs" were the same distance apart as my measurements. (I made a "U" bend.)

The pipe was then cut of measuring the bend over the left tailgate "hook" and the legs approximately 100mm past the door hinges.

A length of pipe was cut the same length as the distance from the outside from one leg to the next.

I then flattened the end of the legs, heat it up and "rolled" it around the ends of the straight section of pipe.

The "bullet hinges" were then forced into the ends of the straight pipe and welded. The rolled section were welded as well.

Brackets were made and welded to the other section of the "bullet hinges" and holes were drilled through the brackets and the "rib" section halfway between top and bottom at the back of the Landy.

The holder with three 200mm x 15mm bolts were made and welded in the center of the now longitudinal carrier.

All that remained was painting of the carrier and then fitting it with 6mm bolts to the rear of the Land Rover. The bottom fitting was in the existing holes of the "tow handle" on the right and the top was attached to the strengthening section in the canopy.

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On the left you can see the right hand side of the carrier and how close it is to the door's hinges. It thus serves as a door stop as well. On the right and below you can see the shape of the "tyre holder" before it was finished and painted.

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Top right is the finished product and as the vehicle will be seen when traveling.

I then started thinking of the safety (theft wise) of this setup and thought it a good idea to make a cover on the outside fitting through the carrier and bolted from inside of the carrier. As it is required going into Mozambique to display a Triangle warning plate on the front of the 4X4 I thought it could be incorporated in this cover and then it is just a matter of taking it of once I get to the border and strapping it to the front Bulbar.

The carrier is locked to the "hook" at the back of the vehicle using a normal lock.

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