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After looking over a lot of posts about this subject. I’m thinking of mounting my spare, not under the back, but outside. Anybody have a preference? Hood is out- would hate to have to lift that, every time I went under it. Thinking side, or back driver door. Is there any hardware premade that you can do this with?
Help always appreciated
I'm using HMMWV wheels in my M715, which are quite a bit heavier. There is no chance I can lift one of those myself to their pocket under the bed. I installed a strap winch to do the heavy lifting. It's inconvenient, but now I can actually lift the wheel by myself in a few minutes of cranking. Once the wheel is it's home, it's secured in place, so that the strap is only used for lifting, not for permanent holding.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ec4fish
I would hate to use valuable space for something that is going to remain unused 99.9999% of the time.
http://images.uscargocontrol.com/326...ount_1_640.jpg
There are not a lot of decent places along the outside to mount a spare tire that will not make problems. That is a ton of weight to add to any of the doors, either front or rear and I would be afraid or it wrecking the hinges or bending the door. Mounting to the body will be difficult because of double wall construction. Making the mount strong enough to not pull through the thin double wall will mean lots of mods inside. Plus that will add to an already wide vehicle making harder to park or navigate tight spots. About the only real option would be to build some sort of mount for the front of the vehicle. It would need to mount to the frame horns because the thin bumper would not be enough to support it, plus you run the risk of limiting air flow through the radiator.
My tank is in the rear (former M724) and I looked at different ways.. none of them good. In the bed was the only decent place but at the time I was hauling a lot of gravel and other stuff... so I put that project off and ran without a spare.
In the bed you lose cargo room but it's an easy mount. Maybe plate both sides of the bed wall for support, a little tubing and another plate with a bolt or two in it to mount the wheel to.
I didn't get around to measuring the areas in front of or behind the rear fenders to see if there's room on the outside of the bed. And I didn't want to pick that fat pig up to mount it out there...
... I guess if you wanted to get ambitious you could make a swing out rack for the back (like a Rodeo or other small SUV has), mounted to the side of the bed at the back, and have it angle around the back and up against the tailgate when closed.
ooh... maybe mounted high enough that you could open it up, lower the tailgate, close it again and have the tailgate support the wheel as you mount or remove the spare.
It would have to be supported really, really well...
Somebody oughta try that. Somebody besides me.
OR a swing down rack mounted to the frame on the side... when in the upright and locked position it holds the spare at the side of the bed, maybe behind the passenger door or behind the rear fender.. if there's room. With the rack down and on the ground, you lay the spare on it and bolt it down, then use a big ol cheater to pick it up and swing it into the upright position.. ?
Really, really, REALLY bored at work today...
LOL, just read the title and saw we're talking about an M725... or yous guys were talking about an M725...
The ratchet strap like Mikel uses...
OR... a swing down carrier on the front mounted to the frame rails. Swing down like the grill guard on a HMMV. ?
I wonder if one could use the drivers door mount from a M37B1/M43? You may have to modify it to work, but it would allow you to mount to tire to outside of the truck and would not interfere with the door and sheet metal. Maybe design your own swing away mount based off of it?
That's what I was thinking. Here's one for sale on eBay $180.
I just finished rebuilding both my M725 front doors inside and out and I ended up replacing one that was damaged. While I know the M43 style spare carrier that some referred to, I just don't see the front doors or the front ambulance body hinge pillar post being strong enough to carry that heavy of a load without a ton of engineering work to make it work. Same concerns for the mount it on the outside of the rear door option.Quote:
Originally Posted by k8icu
Of the ideas posited on here so far, I think the side of the ambulance body might be the easiest. Though I'm not sure how great that will look. . . . . . I think you would want to fabricate a mount that is mounted as low as possible and first remove the inner sheetmetal to expose the framing so you can weld/bolt in a gusset for the ribs/framing or build a header between two ribs to spread the load of the wheel.
Mikel- this sounds like a great alternative. Can you post a pic of this? Do you still use the metal strap? All I have in that area is nothing. Manual hasn’t been much help as it only mentions a retaining strap.
This is what I made. I relocated the winch away from the tire for ease of cranking. I made a plate with a sort of pulley and two 1/2" threaded rods to hold the tire, which go through two lug holes in the rim.
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1744/...04b704b8_b.jpg
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1730/...e88dc82c_b.jpg
Thanks, that looks great. What is the length of the bolts?
Sorry, I don't recall.
I'm not all that familiar with 725's, but my M43 was stout enough that a carrier could be mounted to the rear next to the door hinges. It would have to made full-width to latch on the other side of the truck, but I think it would work.
Here is a link to a YouTube video of a custom tire carrier that I think will work for my
M725. Just mount it to the rear door frame.
https://youtu.be/8pbV7zbt7Gw
If you click on my user name you can make your way to my photo album. I have several photos of my rear mounted heavy duty rear mounted spare tire. And, I added a narration to who welded it for me.
wantapinz2,
I like that design over my spare tire carrier. I don't like that I can't open my rear door from the inside to get out in an emergency. I also like the winch design, but I think my HUMMER tires are too big to fit in the original location.
There is a military HUMMER rear bumper tire carrier that also "spread-rods" down to lift the tire up into position, but they are hard to find. Here is a photo I found: http://www.armyproperty.com/Equipmen...ries/MASTC.htm
Good luck in your search,