Easy roof mounted tyre carrier.

Hondaslayer

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Covington, WA
Over the weekend I decided that the spare tyre well would be better suited to holding recovery gear, ratchet straps etc.... (plus a 215/75-15 is too large to fit when inflated) so I pulled out the tyre, aired it up and headed off to the hardware store. Picked up a 4in x 5in pipe clamp (as they called it) and two wing nuts.

The "pipe clamp" included a small metal lock down bar. I removed the provided nuts and ran the clamp through my roof rack and into the lug holes on the spare. Placed the steel tie bar back on and ran down the wing nuts, viola! spare is now on the roof. Next step is to move the roof basket back and put the clamp onto a spare cross bar so I can use the entire basket and not just part of it.

Pics to follow tommorow.
 
Looking forward to the pictures, Hondaslayer. As if your Outback were not cool enough already. ;)

Just make sure to get locking wingnuts and/or secure the tire with an extra strap. You don't want vibration loosening your nuts, eliminating your spare's sole attachment point, and sending your heavy wheel hurtling toward somebody's windshield.
 
:confused: What do locking wingnuts look like?

This is what they look like.

wingnut.jpg
 
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Worked later than expected last night, I'll get pics up later.

Don't worry about the wheel falling off, the wingnuts are safety wired on.
 
Interesting idea :cool: but...

I'd probably be happier if the "pipe clamp" piece was shaped more to the profile of the roof rack it's bolted to... ie more squared off across the bottom.

I tend to think that a lot of corrugated road may lead to the small contact points rubbing into the roof rack material and, ultimately, causing a weakness or fracture point. No matter how tight it is/feels there will always be some movement/bounce due to the rubber of the tire.

Good concept (and cheap) though..

Cheers
Garry
 
Interesting idea :cool: but...

I'd probably be happier if the "pipe clamp" piece was shaped more to the profile of the roof rack it's bolted to... ie more squared off across the bottom.

I tend to think that a lot of corrugated road may lead to the small contact points rubbing into the roof rack material and, ultimately, causing a weakness or fracture point. No matter how tight it is/feels there will always be some movement/bounce due to the rubber of the tire.

Good concept (and cheap) though..

Cheers
Garry

I was hoping for the same thing myself, I had actually considered putting a spacer between the x-bars, we'll see what happens this weekend :biggrin:
 
I think for a short trip, this would be a good way of doing it. Wouldn't do it as a permanent thing tho, nice job.
 
I had an idea of getting a rear tire holder off a Honda CRV or similar from the wreckers and welding it onto some type of frame which could be mounted to the roof racks.

Any ideas on how this might work or possible flaws?
 
I had an idea of getting a rear tire holder off a Honda CRV or similar from the wreckers and welding it onto some type of frame which could be mounted to the roof racks.

Any ideas on how this might work or possible flaws?

Why not just get a generic trailer spare holder and use that? I picked one up for my camper from Harbor Freight for $8
 
The clamp,bar and wingnuts



Under the bar and through the wheel



IMG_2236.jpg


Wired in



And on

IMG_2245.jpg


Detroit
Ben, do you have a full length side view? I have been thinking about doing something similar, but either my basket is longer than yours, or the Gen4 roof rails do not allow for as much fore - aft attachment of racks as Gen3. (Suspect the latter.
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Am still cogitating on a solution.
 
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