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Home made swing away spare wheel carrier

Posted: 30 Jan 2018, 22:05
by JohnDee
Hi Guys
Loving the Forum and have got a lot out of it. Here is my contribution
See below a link to a video I made showing how I made my own Swing away spare wheel carrier.
I couldn't afford a really good Kit, and some of the others I worried about damaging the bodywork. And I didn't fancy the lift up with the tail gate variety as i like to sit on the engine cover (as a bum warmer) with my tailgate up at the local beach while i eat my ice cream. Lincolnshire is pretty breezy and i would feel like there was a guillotine above me :(

https://youtu.be/fzWzFh_oguE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you like the Vid then subscribe as i have a few more in the pipeline.

Re: Home made swing away spare wheel carrier

Posted: 31 Jan 2018, 06:30
by Winchweight
Very ingenious, nice to see something different.

How did you stop the rain coming into the van where you drilled the holes for the Allen key access? Did you weld them back up, as the holes are behind the door rubber and in an area where the water runs through?

How long has it been fitted now? Any panel deformation?

Re: Home made swing away spare wheel carrier

Posted: 31 Jan 2018, 16:49
by scottbott
nice to see something different,I have my spare wheel over the engine as my LPG tank is in the spare wheel tray I just cannot justify the cost of the American ones at the moment

Re: Home made swing away spare wheel carrier

Posted: 31 Jan 2018, 19:12
by JohnDee
Hi Thanks for the interest
Covered the holes over with aluminum tape. The sort a heating engineer would have. I intended to weld up at a later date but it works just fine as is.
Its been on for about 8 months and absolutely no deformation.
All the weight is on the towbar. the plates into the tailgate shut gap just stop it twitching and potentially fatiguing the metal elsewhere

Re: Home made swing away spare wheel carrier

Posted: 31 Jan 2018, 19:14
by JohnDee
Hi Scottbott
Mine also is LPG converted and has a toroidal tank where the spare should be.
If you ever fancy making up a similar rig for yours and you want any specific still photos or basic dimensions, let me know.

Re: Home made swing away spare wheel carrier

Posted: 09 Feb 2018, 16:38
by JohnDee
Anyone got a picture of an original equipment Jack. Ive always just had a bottle jack and was considering intergrating Jack storage into my swing away spare wheel rack. Bottle jacks are quite heavy so just thought I would ask what the original style looked like before I get busy with the welder again.

Re: Home made swing away spare wheel carrier

Posted: 09 Feb 2018, 16:43
by R0B
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds ... id=1039832" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Re: Home made swing away spare wheel carrier

Posted: 09 Feb 2018, 22:55
by bigbadbob76
Nicely done John.
I like the subtle touches like the roller bearing and the door closer.
Good on ya for making it yourself, that's half the fun of the van for me. (and half the woes :lol: )

Re: Home made swing away spare wheel carrier

Posted: 11 Feb 2018, 16:04
by Slider2
Well done John... it is one of those projects that no doubt so many of have 'in the pipeline' but never het round to actually making!
Thanks for sharing the details. Anything you'd do differently in hindsight?

Re: Home made swing away spare wheel carrier

Posted: 14 Feb 2018, 20:02
by JohnDee
bigbadbob76 wrote:Nicely done John.
I like the subtle touches like the roller bearing and the door closer.
Good on ya for making it yourself, that's half the fun of the van for me. (and half the woes :lol: )

Thanks Bigbadbob

Re: Home made swing away spare wheel carrier

Posted: 14 Feb 2018, 20:15
by JohnDee
Slider2 wrote:Well done John... it is one of those projects that no doubt so many of have 'in the pipeline' but never get round to actually making!
Thanks for sharing the details. Anything you'd do differently in hindsight?

Thanks Slider 2
Well.... I painted the metal with a decent primer and 4 coats of rattle can van Colour but you can clearly see rust stains starting to come through. I now have some excellent Bilt Hamber Spray Zinc that would have made a better job of it although i would then have to use an etch primer as well. The bottom of the 'gate post' is a little too 'wide' to fit inside the bumper end cap and so I had to cut a rectangular hole in the end cap to make the end cap fit. A mitred cut on the bottom of the post would have sorted that better.

In the main im very pleased though. Absolutely no strain on body panels. zero drop or wobble on the hinge. Nothing vibrates or moves when you are driving. Body colour means it blends in really well.

As well as potentially integrating the Jack storage, I also have plans to install a small LED spot lamp on the top of the 'Gate post' to supprt the lousy efforts of the OE reversing lights.

Re: Home made swing away spare wheel carrier

Posted: 14 Feb 2018, 20:23
by JohnDee

Thanks Rob. I have sourced one and it is now its way to me

Re: Home made swing away spare wheel carrier

Posted: 14 Feb 2018, 21:20
by Slider2
JohnDee wrote:
Slider2 wrote:Well done John... it is one of those projects that no doubt so many of have 'in the pipeline' but never get round to actually making!
Thanks for sharing the details. Anything you'd do differently in hindsight?

Thanks Slider 2
Well.... I painted the metal with a decent primer and 4 coats of rattle can van Colour but you can clearly see rust stains starting to come through. I now have some excellent Bilt Hamber Spray Zinc that would have made a better job of it although i would then have to use an etch primer as well. The bottom of the 'gate post' is a little too 'wide' to fit inside the bumper end cap and so I had to cut a rectangular hole in the end cap to make the end cap fit. A mitred cut on the bottom of the post would have sorted that better.

In the main im very pleased though. Absolutely no strain on body panels. zero drop or wobble on the hinge. Nothing vibrates or moves when you are driving. Body colour means it blends in really well.

As well as potentially integrating the Jack storage, I also have plans to install a small LED spot lamp on the top of the 'Gate post' to supprt the lousy efforts of the OE reversing lights.


Thanks for he feedback. Very tempted to get started on a very similar design proposal. With The strength largely being provided by the tow bar I'd wonder whether you could get away with far fewer bolts to body on the upright....

Re: Home made swing away spare wheel carrier

Posted: 20 Feb 2018, 07:31
by JohnDee
I would say that the plates only really need 1 bolt in each as they only stop it wobbling. And to be honest you could save yourself a lot of trouble by only having the one plate (top one as its much easier to fit the bolts to). Before I built it, I imagined that the plates would be doing a large portion of the work. Now I know they only really eliminate vibration and therefore eliminate the possibility of fatigue damage on the 'gate post'

Re: Home made swing away spare wheel carrier

Posted: 20 Feb 2018, 10:09
by clift_d
I wonder whether there's a chance that the wheel might 'flex' on the carrier - most wheel cariers I've seen have three attachment points for the wheel to hold it rigid, but you only have two and they're in a horizontal line. My concern would be that the weight / inertia of the wheel might mean that the connection between these two wheel bolt standoffs and the carrier frame flex every time you go over a bump. It might be a good idea to make this one of your occasional inspection items.