Jayco Under Trailer Spare Wheel Carrier Options (DIY Guide)
Spare tires are important. They are great to have around when you get a flat. All you have to do is pull it out, take the old tire off and place the spare on and you are on your way. The problem is where do you carry it when you do not need it? You can’t go on holiday without one so finding a good spot is equally important.
There are a lot of different options you can use. There is the old bolt pattern, the under chassis storage and tire carrier, and even a winch that you can use to hold that spare. You can even make your own but the key is to make sure that it is sturdy and strong enough as you can’t go on vacation without a spare tire.
To learn more about your spare tire options, just continue to read our article. It has the information you want to know about so you can place your spare tire out of the way until it is needed. Some owners even use the space under their bed to store their spare tires.
Spare Wheel Carrier 101
Where Does The Spare Tire Go on a Travel Trailer?
Actually, there are quite a few places where you will find a spare tire on a travel trailer. One of the more popular spots is on the tongue. It is out of the way, well secured, and easy to access at that location.
Or, it goes by the ladder just above the bumper. This too is an easy-to-access spot, out of the way, and makes sure you have a little buffer between you and the car behind you. Both locations are great, that is until you need those spots for extra storage, a battery box, or hooking up an extension or trailer for a double tow.
Then you need a different location and many owners opt to put their spare in the hidden reaches of the underbelly. With the right holder, there are some good spots that keep the spare out of your way and fairly easy to access.
There are different hidden spots that are big enough to hold the trailer. you just have to have the right holder to secure it in place.
Jayco Under Caravan Spare Wheel Carrier Options
There are different spare tire holders. One comes from Jayco and it looks to be made of aluminum and is made in a way that the arms bolt to the frame and the shelf holds the tire. This design allows you to move the spare tire anywhere there is room underneath the trailer.
Moving it to the front of the wheels seems to help with different trailer issues. The extra weight up front helps balance the trailer out more. Other options will include a winch.
This device pulls the tire up so that it is out of the way and holds it there until it is needed. Then you just use the winch to gently and slowly lower the spare tire and put it on your trailer.
There are traditional bolt spare tire holders that will need to be welded or bolted to your frame. Then there is an expensive Lippart design that offers storage boxes, a winch, and a spare tire holder all in one. It is a little long so you would have to measure your free space to see if it fits.
A simpler option would be a chain that holds the tire and winds up or down depending on the direction you need to go in. It is easy to use and is a strong option to get that tire out of harm’s way.
Class A Motorhome Spare Tire Carrier
If you bought one of these rigs, you may be surprised to find out that the manufacturer did not put a spare tire on board for you. Their reasoning is that the tire is too big, too heavy, and too bulky so they tell owners to let the road service people handle the carrying of the spare tire.
Roadmaster has taken advantage of this void and developed a spare tire extension. it is supposed to go into your receiver hitch with ease. They built this carrier to have an easy-to-use spring hitch system that folds out of the way as you move the tire down to ground level.
As long as your wheel meets these dimensions, you can get a spare tire in this extension- 16, 16.5, 19.5, 22.5, 24, or 24.5-inch wheel. Also, the extension comes with its own 2” receiver hitch which allows you to add your car. The towing capacity is 10,000 pounds with a 400-pound tongue weight.
The cost of this extension is around $700 but the word is you can find similar ones on the street selling for around $100.
RV Spare Tire Mount Under Frame
There is a spare tire carrier that bolts or needs to be welded to a long, empty spot on your frame. It is made of tough metal and has a winch to help you raise or lower it. The drawback to this option is that you need a lot of free space to place this spare tire holder.
There is a chain option that you can use. The place to look to find them may be at your trailer supply and accessory outlets. These are easy to bolt into place and do not need as much empty space as the previous option. Once it is installed you manipulate the chain to go down or up when you need your spare tire.
Or you can make your own out of tube steel. As long as the frame beams are fairly close together, the tube steel would be welded or bolted perpendicular to the beams and then all you would need would be end plates, a threaded down rod, an oversized wing nut, and a steel plate for a washer.
It wouldn’t take long to fabricate that into a very strong spare tire holder. The hardest part would be wrestling the tire to get it into position.
Enclosed Trailer Spare Tire Mount Ideas
There are far too many options at Amazon to worry about finding good ideas. It seems that an enclosed trailer is not going to be a problem for finding a spare tire carrier. However, most of the models we saw at that marketplace were for exterior locations and none were for under the carriage locations.
There is one at E-trailer that is both a spare tire carrier and a bike carrier. Doing double duty should work for those exercise enthusiasts that like to bike ride. If your enclosed trailer has a receiver on the back bumper then there is a rear hitch spare tire carrier you can invest in.
These options go from the extremely simple and inexpensive price to the more elaborate and expensive cost. Your selection will depend on where you would mount the spare tire.
One word of caution, you have to make sure that wherever you mount it, the trailer has the strength to hold both the carrier and the spare tire.
Some people suggest that you fasten braces to the frame of the enclosed trailer and then attach the holder to those braces.
How do You Make a Spare Tire Carrier?
There are many designs you can use and many different blueprints that will show you how to get the task done. We will only talk about one option here. The supplies you would need would be 2-inch tube steel, 6 x 2-inch end plates, a threaded down rod, an oversized wing nut, and a steel plate for a washer.
Plus, you would need a welder and tap and die set to help get all the pieces to work together. The first task would be to weld the end plates to the tube steel. Then Mark the center spot and create a threaded hole for the down rod to enter.
Or you can simply create a hole with a metal drill bit and high-speed drill, then weld the down rod into place. Make sure the threaded end is down away from the tube steel. Once these items are in place, you can either bolt the tube steel to the frame or weld it into place.
After that, it is a matter of placing the tire over the threaded down rod, putting the steel washer on, and then the oversized wing nut. Your biggest hassle will be lifting up the tire so you can adapt this style to include a winch for easier lifting and lowering.
Where do You Put The Spare Tire on a Toy Hauler?
Some owners place the spare tire in front of the rear wheels. There is what is called a hide-a-spare holder. It is a telescopic design and it is held into place by welding a little lip to the outside of the toy hauler.
Then the slide out goes over the lip and you need to remove a pin and the screw before you can pull out the spare tire. Before you pull, you need to lift up and then pull towards you.
The spare tire holder will then lower to the ground and you just pull it out from there. To get the spare tire back under the toy hauler, just reverse the directions. Push the tire back into place.
Then lift up on the holder until you get it back on the lip. Then all you do is put the screw back into place and finally push the pin into its spot. It is a very simple process and the spare tire remains out of the way until you need it.
Lippert RV Spare Tire Carrier With Winch
There is one model that comes built-in its own frame. This frame bolts to the frame of your RV and then you simply lower or raise the holder to get the spare tire on or off. It is a simple set up once you get the winch frame attached to the proper spot on your RV.
That model costs over $400 plus any installation fee if you do not install it yourself. Then there is a cheaper model that does not come with a frame.
It operates with a hand winch and off-set cables. It is not as elaborate as the previous model but it can work in smaller spaces if you do not have a large area to work with.
The cost of this model is under $100 and there are various lengths to help you find one that matches your RV’s design. The larger model also uses a hand crank and off-set cables. Neither are electric.
Fifth Wheel RV Spare Tire Carrier
If you want to be practical and save a lot of money, you can always use the truck bed as your spare tire holder. It will have plenty of room plus, it should not get in the way of the turning radius of the fifth wheel
That is the common sense location as the truck bed is usually large enough to handle a spare tire. The key is to make sure the tire is well secured and does not move at any time unless you move it.
Then, any of the models we have already discussed will work for a 5th wheel trailer. The lone exception would be the tongue models. If your 5th wheel has a rear receiver, then you can use a spare tire extension to hold that wheel. Or the toy hauler option we just discussed would work as well.
In addition to those, there are plenty of rear bumper attachments that bolt into place and will hold your spare tire or a tire and a bike or two. That combination will depend on how many bikes you want to bring with you.
If you want an underbelly option then you have to check to see how much room you have between the frame beams and the other features included in your 5th wheel trailer.
Installing Spare Tire Mount on Trailer
This is not that difficult if you have some good mechanical skills or are a very good DIY person. It just takes time to bolt the items into place and often you can do it yourself. Or you can spend the money and have the experts do it for you.
Some of the options will need some welding done and if you are not an experienced welder, leave that part of the job up to someone who is. Those who DIY their own spare tire holders will most definitely be good at welding.
In most cases, the holder you buy will come with instructions to guide your installation. Hopefully, those instructions are written in perfect English so you can understand them.
Weld-on Trailer Spare Tire Mount
It is said that a weld bond is stronger than the metal pieces being held together. It is possible that is true. When you weld, you will get a solid hold on the frame or bumper that shouldn’t drop the holder anytime soon.
Welding is a good option and should be stronger than bolting the holder into place. What welding does is provide you with more custom options. You can place your spare tire holder just about anywhere it will fit.
That includes those spaces where bolts cannot go. The good thing about these weld-on models is that they are adaptable. You can either weld them into place or find a spot where you can bolt them on. They come with prefabricated holes for bolting action.
How To Install a Spare Tire Carrier
To start, you need to select the type of spare tire carrier you want on your trailer. The bolt-on models will come with all the hardware you need so attaching them is not going to be difficult.
The hardest part of that process is finding the right spot to place the holder. Once you find that, it is just a matter of using a wrench or socket set to tighten the bolts in place. Underbelly locations keep the tire out of the way but they make it difficult to place the spare tire unless you add a winch to the holder.
If you bolt the holder on the back bumper, make sure the bumper is rated for the weight of the tire and the holder.
Some Final Words
Having a spare tire along for the ride will spare you hours of boring waiting. it doe stake some time for the road service people to arrive with the right tire. Thankfully, there are a lot of spare tire holders and locations to choose from.
Adding a spare tire and holder may add a little more weight but in the end, it will be worth the sacrifice. You get on the road again hours faster than if you relied on emergency services.
