[grnole]

Hey Everyone-- I know that not a lot of you agree with some of the mods I made to my truck, to each his own. We can leave that to another thread. I was just curious if anyone has mounted their spare tire anywhere else? Has anyone made anything to replace the trim pieces in the back?

As many of you will agree, the wear and tear in a 20yr old truck can show in its trim pieces, and frankly I hate the wasted space in the cargo area of the RRC. I have since, removed both trim pieces, removed factory sub, replaced with upgraded sub and sub amp, mounted factory amp to inside of vehicle. Removed spare tire, jack, etc and placed my tool bag into the indentation of where the spare used to be. My tools are bungee'd to the side of the truck so they do not bounce around and this is OK, but could be better.

I am thinking of building a box out of wood, and potentially attempting to match it to some of my wood trim if possible. Has anyone done this? Has anyone tried anything else?

Also regarding a spare... I am not a huge fan of roof racks (i own one but took it off). Between the added wind resistance, and the clearance being just a little too high I have decided to remove for the time being. I looked into the hitch mounted spare tire holder, or even a bumper integrated spare tire mount. One of those would most likely be the way most likely to go, but both options are quite expensive, would probably be better off finding a buddy with a welder and building my own. Been keeping the spare at home... worst case jack up the car, go get it... deal with it at the time of. Does anyone have oversize tires, and have a spare tire solution for a RRC that they like?

 

[grnole]

current pic


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

 

[p76rangie]

Your correct to take the roof rack off. The roof is only rated to 75kg and that is about the weight of the rack without anything in it. That rating is only for on-road. You will find that if it has had a roof rack on it that the top of the A pillars would have started to crack. They also raise the centre of gravity, making the car more unstable.

A rear tyre carrier is the most common thing for tacking the tyre out of the back. But the issue with them is that if you mount the tyre too high it blocks your view out the back and if you mount it too low it stuffs your departure angle and gets hit by rocks, etc. Due to the leverage effect, it also adds more weight to the rear of the car.

You can fit up to a 32 inch tyre in the normal mounting spot if you are not afraid to use a big hammer to modify the area a little. I have just finished doing to mods required to fit a 235/85/16 wheel into the rear of my Rangie ute. The photos are below, but basically you dent in the back of the wheel arch, extend toward to wheel arch the dip for the bottom of the tyre, reduce how far the upright (that you bolt the wheel to) sticks out at the bottom, and weld a new nut to the side of the upright to bolt the tyre to.

 

[grnole]

Oh wow Ian, thats awesome. Thanks for sharing. The UTE keeps surprising me. I am off tomorrow for good friday, so I will do a few more measurements and tricks to see what may work.

 

[OkieRover]

This is what I did.
http://okierover.com/blog/organizing-your-kit-camp-table-package-shelf/

 

[grnole]

Okie.... That's a good idea. I could put my spare down and build that over it. Going to rings end this weekend for some wood.


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

 

[crazysccrmd]

I have my spare on the roof rack and use a large plastic bin to hold my tools, spare parts, fluids, etc and have it srapped down where the spare used to be located.

 

[OkieRover]

Okie.... That's a good idea. I could put my spare down and build that over it. Going to rings end this weekend for some wood.

Post some pics or send them to me. I'd love to see how you sorted your cargo boot.

 

[grnole]

yeaaaaaaa. In doing some mounting research, I started pulling my carpets to find that I still have some wetness after the most recent rain storm. I thought that I had solved this problem by replacing the old upper tailgate. NOPE. The nifty fun wood cargo box is prob step 3, and I have yet to correctly tackle step 1. Got some gasket sealer and molding in the mail yesterday. Going to try to stop the leak first. Then step 2 will be repairing my cargo floor... when i pulled the floor back it was UGLY. Either going to replace cargo area, or patch and seal. THEN, I can do the fun part. Box building. Might have to put this thread on hiatus.

 

[OkieRover]

This is what I found.
http://okierover.com/blog/panel-rust-and-rust-in-the-cargo-area/

 

[SwedishChef]

I've upgraded to 32.5" tires and currently don't have a spare because it won't fit the spare area and I don't really want to take a hammer to it. I'll eventually probably buy a swing-away rear spare mount, but yeah they're $$$.

I too am going to remove the sub & amp, and my spare area is already clear (I use it for road tools, coolant etc right now). But those two rear trim boxes take up gobs of space. I have a thread somewhere talking about my 3rd row seat installation, which I'm still planning.

I've got ahold of a second OEM split-fold bench seat, just like the current bench seat, which I'm going to put in the back. I'm working with some local engineers/fabricators currently on the design. In the LWB it fits just fine, but I doubt there'd be enough space in a SWB.

To get the 3rd row in, the two rear trim boxes MUST come out anyway, including the sub / amp. Since I'm planning to rewire a whole new sound system, I don't care about that. I'm planning to build new trim boxes for those two areas which will incorporate an armrest and possible a little bit of storage, and probably my new sub/amp. But they will not be as wide as the OEM boxes.

As far as quick/temporary solutions, the extra 'deck' like Okie's makes sense to me. Though I like the 'clean' look with all the OEM trim & decklid ON, it doesn't make good use of the available space.

I have a roof cargo box that I would use if I needed the space, but I have aftermarket roof 'rails' permanently installed right now. Love them because there's no extra noise, but I have the versatility to load something if I want to.

 

[scottt]

Land Rover UK used to sell some cargo area loading compartments. Pretty similar to what Okie Rover has, but the lower portion was slide-out drawer and everything was finished in wood veneer, etc. I came across some pictures a while back, and they looked really slick, though that may have had a lot to do with the hunting dogs and castles in the background.

Anyhow, on the more practical side, there's also something like this:

http://www.gizmag.com/ququq-van-camper-one-minute/28009/

http://www.gizmag.com/swiss-army-inspired-camper-small-car/22012/

 

[grnole]

Ok I finally decided to build something the rattling of my new jack has been driving me crazy

Needs some stain and sealer and maybe a bit of sanding but this does the trick for my issues.

Dimensions are 10" x 22" x 16" on the sides I did not get ply just screwed two 1x10s together so prob about 19" high on the sides that stick up.


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App