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.