hatch mounted spare

yo, searched and couldn't find what i wanted to see...
i am thinking about doing a mod not unlike the twisted tin sema xterra's hatch mounted spare...
...

with something like this, mounted on the 'bulge'
...


my problem is this:
my rear hatch has trouble opening and staying up sometimes as it is now... once i put my spare, [31" BFG AT w/ steel 15"] it is going to weigh it down even more...
nissan in boone tells me that there is no stronger strut i can get to make up for the difference in weight.
does anyone know of a source to get stronger struts for the doors? stabilus, the company that makes our struts doesn't exactly have a storefront, so any help would be much appreciated.
thanks,
david

Maybe a couple of struts off of a Nissan Sentra front end

I don't think you're going to find a strut strong enough to lift that much weight. Such a thing would be way to large in diameter to fit under the closed hatch, and probably would have to be a good bit longer too.

Brent

yeah that's what stabilus could offer too...
i don't really know if i want to go custom either, [this was supposed to be a thrifty mod.]
i am not going to give up though, maybe there's some parts off of some behemoth SUV's that have 300 lb hatch doors i can salvage or something, more research is all it is going to take...

oh, and i asked twisted tin how they overcame this dilemma, they haven't written me back at all, and come to think of it, i bet they never even opened that back door anyway.
david

That would be my guess......

One solution may be to devise a permanently mounted prop rod with a receiver made, nuch like what is used on the hood. I bet something suitable could be found at a salvage yard (maybe longer and stronger than our hood ones), and figured out how to be mounted well and aesthetically pleasing.

love the ladder on that Xterra. SWEET!!

My friend was at the SEMA show as a vendor and he said that they never had the hatch open at any time during the show. FYI.

Oh, by the way, I have a ton of pics of this truck if anyone would like to see them. My friend knew that I would want to see them, so he took a bunch for me.

the only thing i have against that idea [which i have been tossing around myself] is the fact that something will be there blocking access to the rear somehow. [just like the hood prop blocks access to the front corner of the truck coming in on it head-on.] the aesthetics aren't so much a consideration since the only thing showing would be the hole for the prop, but i do understand the factor of making the install clean and proper.
btw, brad, i've been meaning to pm you about the third member lsd thing, check the email.

later,
david

i'd like to see 'em, and you should try to make a get-together sometime man. hope all's well.
david

Sent you a PM.

I like the ladder on the back...anyone know of anyone making a hatch ladder for the X?

You know, a buddy of mine's Trooper had a "door prop" on the rear barn door to keep it open. If you opened it far enough, it would lock into place. There was a lever to unlock it and close the door. Something like that might work well mounted vertically. The only issue would be how to support the weight once it unlocked. The hatch would want to slam and take out any fingers, arms or heads that happened to be in the way. A larger diameter strut might be made to fit, but it would require some metal trimming.

I may take a look at this. Certainly a hellua lot cheaper option than a rear tire carrier bumper. Plus, you get a nice upper body workout any time you have to open the rear hatch.

Has anyone converted the rear hatch so it opens like a 'barn' door? (i.e. swap hinges from top to side)

yeah, i was on the 5year plan with my trooper and became a master of the 30door lock bar.
that could work too, but damn it would be swell to just put something in the same place as stock that was just heavier duty. there's GOTTA be something out there with what i need.

david

Nope, not even mentioned that I recall. Would cost an arm and a leg to do it, but why?

Whether its a 31 or 33 tire...there is no way the sheetmetal with hold that kind of weight with that jcwhitney universal wheel mount. Plus like above, my 33 weighs like 90 lbs or something....no way I can lift a hatch with that kind of weight and have it fall on my head if the locking mechanism broke!

Either throw in the back or buy a tire carrier.

oh boy.........

alright, i was already thinking about how to reinforce the sheet metal on the door to mount the plate, probably just a plate of metal bolted behind the mount with a couple of inches of overlap to distribute the weight of the bolts... also, about the weight stress on the door and it falling on my head, i have thought about that and that's why i want to get stronger struts...
set it in the back of the truck??? already did that and didn't like it. mount underneath??? won't fit, don't care WHAT anyone says on this board, just won't fit, i will pay $500.00 to anyone who can make my spare fit, with my hitch underneath my truck and have it far enough away from my exhaust pipe and rear differential to be acceptable. [you can't by the way, so don't offer.] mount it on the roof??? it's there, but i don't like having to lug it all the way up there and having it always with the sun directly so it can dry rot. for the other tires that's fine because i flex the rubber constantly when i drive, but for a stationary tire on the roof, it's a different story. if i could take anything off of the isuzu trooper that i had and put it on this truck, it would be the skids and the spare tire system, i absolutely loved it, but hated the truck. sigh, NO SIGH, i will find what i need to do this and it will be AWESOME!

david

Only solution I see is a hydraulic actuators like they use on Monster Garage to replce the Nissan struts. You'd also have to reinforce teh hinge for the 100+ lbs of extra weight. Now designing the tire carrier integrated with a ladder would be the best way. It would all be mounted to the edge in 5 different spots. 4 for the ladder and one for the tire carrier. That is the only way you could distribute the load on the hatch without cutting big ugly holes in it!

Or you could just spend $750 for Calmini already has!

$750 for a calmini ladder/spare tire mount? i didn't know calmini was offering such an animal, can you post pics?
i never thought the hinges would cause a problem, that is another thing to think about. do you think they would cause that much of a problem to need reinforcing? those power actuated hydraulic rams would be damn cool, but i don't think i could hook-up a 'freebie' since i'm not jesse james.
david

No ladder on the Calmini setup, and it's a bumper-mounted spare tire carrier, not hatch-mounted.

Seriously guys, mounting your spare directly on the hatch, if possible, would be rediculously impractical, not to mention expensive.

Brent

Probably won't work, but I had a Dodge Caravan in Hawaii that I replaced the rear hatch struts on. The hatch without the struts was extremely difficult to open. Had to weigh at least 100lbs. I would go to a junk yard and try to get a set of those babies.

Looking at this, I think the ladder is part of the spare tire mount on this truck. Sorry, I don't have a better pic. I wish I had the other side of the truck. Hope this helps.

Not to mention visibility out of the rear would be drastically reduced. The ladder idea is kind of intriguing. But I'll just stick with climbing up on a tire if I need to get anything off the roof.

Dude, is that a huge opening in the roof?

Certainly appears to be.

Yeah, it was totally open. Like a large sunroof.

Talk about things that don't make sense. :rolleyes: A ladder to a roof you can't stand on; can we say "poser?" Thought so.

As far as the tire goes, I would like to see what happens as soon as that thing actually gets driven; especially offroad. There's no way the Xterra hatch could hold all that weight when bouncing around and such. The hinges aren't strong enough, and the metal isn't heavy enough. As others noted, the mounting points for the carrier would have to be spread out around the edge of the hatch where it is the strongest and to distribute the load. Even then it would probably need reinforcement.

Now, if you have the cash you could probably beef up the hatch and convert it to a side open...then it would probably work.

Count this one as another stupid and useless show vehicle.

Oh yeah, that bumper is butt ugly and doesn't fit right either.

you guys are all talking about reinforcing the door like it's revolutionary, i started out by saying that i knew i needed to do that...
anyway, i just wanted to know if anyone had any slick hook-ups or something, but it doesn't look too good.
anyway, i will let everyone know what i come up with, that's all for now.

david

cbx,

check out this site
WWW.JAOSUSA.COM/PRODUCTS/REARLADDER

I actually thought about it, but wasn't sure if the hatch can support the weight. I assume all the weight would be transfered to the bottom and eventually dent in.

What do you think?

Has anyone ever been in a rear end collision with a hatch mounted tire? I have, and talk about $$$. Idiot didn't have insurance, and I had opted out of that coverage... $500 just for the hatch...

Enough talk. If someone wants to do something like this, just freakin' do it and come back and give us the results, cost, and success/failure. It's pretty much been said it won't work or would cost a fortune. Have fun.

funny you should mention that, because i have...
bashed the fuck out of the acura's driver side door and moved my tire in 1" on the bottom, my truck was fine...

oh, and brent, if it can be done, which i am hoping that it can, i am going to do it and i will let everyone know how it works... but just because people on the board say it won't work and will be expensive doesn't mean that there isn't a cheap-but-still-good, functional way of doing this, i posed the question to see if anyone knew about some stronger struts or had a source.

i'll keep everyone posted.
david

Geez, it's sooooo simple to do. Just look at the earlier(hardbody) series Pathfinder. I guess it's called a swing away tire mount. Bet a clever person could fabricate one using Pathy or other parts.

dave and xtoy - one of the few things on our rustfinder that did'nt rust

Actually, I thought about adapting a Pathfinder mount to my X, but quickly realized it's not possible. The X has no metal below the tail light for the bottom part of the mount, nor does it have that 2" piece of the body between the hatch and the bumper for the latch to attach to.

Try again,
Brent

Brent -
I consider you a clever person. Figure something out. The pathy set-up is just an example.
Fabricate.
Come up with a kit. The $$$ will pour in.
So now that we've made you rich....

dave and xtoy - try harder

As for the rear hatch - Electric actuators that are commonly found in custom go-fast boats as engine hatch struts would work.

From what I recall each one is rated for 100+ pounds, so two would fit the bill...

However if you concider the geometry of the stock struts there is no way anything would be able to raise the hatch from a closed position without another set of actuators to lift the hatch to the break-over point of the current stabilizers...now you're talking serious cha-ching!

I suppose Dave's suggestion is closer to reality!

I have an idea how it could be done and may just work on that if I get super bored this winter. Basically, the pivot support would have to come from below the bumperette because of the light and attached to the frame. The trick will be to be able to do it without blocking the light. I was looking at doing something like that before I went with a complete bumper. I'm glad I went with the bumper because it's many, many times more sturdy and useful, but it would be nice if something were available for those who don't want a whole bumper setup.

why wouldn't you be able to put the swing-arm mount on there? i've never seen one on the X. i have seen it on the blazer though. where would youlook for that?

I know dozens of Xterra owners with 31" tires fit comfortably underneath their Xterra. You're doing something wrong.

David - don't post your results, people on here have no money. Since nobody else has done it , obviously it can not be done. Please curb your creative ideas. I mean after all if you came up w/ a useful suggestion that can be done in a driveway then what? Do you know what kind of dilema you would cause on the web? This idea is about as useful as creating/modifying your own skid plates and then having them professionally powder coated saving yourself $193 ....

I mean, how would that be?

Chuck, check out what Slee Off-Road has done on some FJs.

http://www.sleeoffroad.com/past_projects/custom_swing.htm

http://www.sleeoffroad.com/past_projects/custom_tire_carrier.htm

Here's something I was actually thinking about when I was looking at my hitch mounted bike carrier...Making a hitch mounted spare tire carrier in the same idea as the bike carrier..This way it has no worries about ruining the hatch nor the bumper and you can pull the pin to still have access to everything inside your hatch compartment....

Oh man I smell smoke I think I'm starting to think too much..

I have thought of that possibility as well.....but maybe, somehow, design it so it were like the bike carriers that can swing down and allow access to the hatch. It would have to be designed to fit the hitch rather tightly, or otherwise be stabilized. I don't think I could stand the sight of looking in the rearview and seeing the tire wobbling around back there too much.

Hmmmmmm........

Well the fabricator would have to just make it where it fits tight or there's various shims that can be bought for this type of reason thru many of the companies that make accessories for hitches...

That's pretty much what I was thinking about and actually I had looked at their stuff before I bought the "heap." Problem is that pivot would come up right where the brake light is on the Xterra and I haven't figured out a good way to remedy that situation short of adding an additional brake light to the swingarm or doing a lot more cutting on the plastic bumper piece.

Hmmmmm....

Hitch mounted carrier has been done..
hitch mounted spare

Well....sumbitch......

Looks nice....but G-D they're proud of that thing aren't they?

The whole hitch-mounted spare defeats the main reason of taking the spare tire out from underneath - departure angle. That thing hangs lower than the hitch itself. Talk about dragging ass!

Good point......I would actually be very interested in devising a way to weld a holder onto the existing hitch, without extending the length of the hitch or having something that, God forbid, drops down from it.

somebody makes a bolt on kit for the Jeep GC to attach to the receiver itself (not into the 2" opening)...

....any Long Islanders (Suffolk Co) Xterra guys listening? There is a place called the Truck Shop in West Sayville on Montauk Hwy....there is ALWAYS a green Grand Cherekee there w/ this set up. If anybody passes this place or lives near there can can take a picture to post...?

It's a swing-a-way set up that is bolt on to the receiver arm.

Hope this helps.....

BTW - the TS owner's name is Paul and Dave and Russ are the best mechanics to deal with.

Yeah, but you're more than halfway to the cost of a whole bumper that way and if you have to add the hitch you are at the same cost, but still have a low hanging hitch.

Also, I can't imagine what a PITA it would be to load the truck with that thing folded down like that. Sometimes it's annoying enough trying to get around the swingarm.

Hey Emt Diver..
I know what grand cherokee you are talking about.
I have been to the "overpriced" Truck Shop.
He must have changed his bumper since the last time you saw it because he has a Road Armor (trailready) rear tire carrier that was painted to match (green..yuk!) with the corner/taillight protection..It looks really heavy..
come to think of it, the entire truck is decked out with trailready crap. Front and rear bumpers.

Whenever I've been there I've always gotten an attitude.

I have never seen this Jeep.

it's a hidden hitch firth-dawg, that's why, no choice in the matter, it came with me X.

david

If I remember correctly, Johnnyx has a hidden hitch and had no problems fitting in a 31" tire underneath.

Oops.. Im meant to address that to EMT diver..
My bad..

No prob.... I was being a bit o' a smartass anyways.

KJ Dragon- When this first started I looked for current pics of his Rear Bumper. I looked in the "custom lisence" thread, but it only showed the front. He went and bought a swing away from a TJ I believe. It doesn't truly mount to the hatch though, it IS a swing-away.


After having on MY swing away carrier bumper for a while, and constantly opening and closing for my dog to git up or out,I can say you'd definitely want that to swing down (as opposed to removing the hitch/tire manually each time.)If you went that way at all.

--------------------------------------------------
I'm still sayin' the actuators (2 ea.), pushing up the reinforced door and a true hatch mount will rock. Seemingly simple for the mechanization, I'm just not sure what strucural change is needed to the hatch interior. An 2" angle iron X with a plate for the bolts to the carrier? That extra 100# will cause a lot of vibration and stress on just the door.

But think of the departures/dropoffs you can do ^\
\
\
\
\
-- Yeah.

Yes, at one point I did have a 31" all-terrain something brand tire w/ the hidden
hitch and it fit just fine. The 32" MT on the other hand was way too tight and
rubbed on the diff.

The current set up came from a jeep and I had custom brackets made to fit my frame.
This is the best pic I can find at the moment. The pivot for the swing-arm is on the
passenger side.

EDIT: IF you're curious, I found the old close-up pics: http://www.pbase.com/ncclubx/bumper_tire_carrier

Nice to see your feling better , We missed ya' at the party.

Thanks DBAX. Yep - we actually spent two nights in the hospital with the little one and she's almost recovered. I don't think she even knows she's sick still.