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Tue Feb 15, 2011 7:00 am

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:roll: Hi folks. Cold morning here. Saw a syncro on here a week or so ago with the spare tire mounted on a rack that looked as thou it was fastened to the rear lift hatch. Since moving up to the 16" rims, the spare doesn't fit under the front. Anyone know about this rear rack with the tire set up over the left side of the rear window ?? Looked pretty good. Thanks.

Jm

Tue Feb 15, 2011 7:15 am

the best
http://www.telusplanet.net/public/gary2a/rack/vanagonrack.htm

Tue Feb 15, 2011 7:28 am

jfswesty wrote: :roll: Hi folks. Cold morning here. Saw a syncro on here a week or so ago with the spare tire mounted on a rack that looked as thou it was fastened to the rear lift hatch. Since moving up to the 16" rims, the spare doesn't fit under the front. Anyone know about this rear rack with the tire set up over the left side of the rear window ?? Looked pretty good. Thanks.

Jm

garylee's basic tire carrier: give or take a few rupees, US1000 lock stock and barrel, sorry but :lol: :lol: :lol:

Ford Bronco II, at Pig A Part or Craiglist, US$40 :lol: :lol: :lol:
Well it goes on passenger side, but a little inconvenience (for you I guess) for US$960 ?

Tue Feb 15, 2011 10:24 am

I think Gary's best bang for the buck is his ladder with tire and gas carrier

and this is the deluxe $etup

keep in mind that if you like to open your rear hatch often, you would be best served by his swing away tire carrier, not hatch mounted ladder.

as far as junkyard tire carriers, the pathfinder is also an option. more info here:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3626536#3626536

Rocky Mountain Westy makes some very nice stuff too:
The Rocky Mountain Westy tire and gas carrier is on Sale for $500.. But you have to buy their bumper too.
(imo, Gary is overpriced.)
http://www.rockymountainwesty.com/Single_Swing_Tire_Carrier_with_2_Can_holder_p/rmw-tcss01.htm

Van Cafe sells the Rocky Mountain Westy Heavy Duty bumper,
http://www.van-cafe.com/home/van/search?keywords=hdb&x=0&y=0
and a matching tire carrier (the combined cost is not much more than the Gary lee tire carrier alone).

Van Cafe also sells this inexpensive extended carrier, for the stock location

as well as Burleys steering shaft protector
see bottom of page
http://www.van-cafe.com/home/van/search?keywords=tire&x=0&y=0
===

and here is the link to Burleys site, and his current tire carrier
http://burleysmotorsports.com/index.php?main_page=...jlop6ni0a6

Tue Feb 15, 2011 11:01 am

Burley should have one coming in the next couple of months or so, too.

Tue Feb 15, 2011 5:31 pm

Don't forget that the tire size is the deciding factor not the rims. So if you are getting 16's but keeping the stock tire diameter you will not have an issue.

Wed Feb 16, 2011 5:39 pm

How do the ladder mounted carriers work? Difficult to open the rear door? Stronger struts used?

My bad I just found the answer in the link above. Surprising that all that all the weight does not make the door noticeably harder to open.

Wed Feb 16, 2011 9:50 pm

I looked at a syncro that had a good size pair of matching dents on the top and bottom of the rear hatch. The owner said that the secret combination to get them was this rack combination w/spare and washboard roads.
About 45 LBS. for a full gas can, 30 lb. Hi-Lift, 50+ LBS. for the spare(depending on tire size and rim) and the weight of the rack holding onto sheetmetal is asking for a lot.

Thu Feb 24, 2011 10:08 pm

Thu Feb 24, 2011 10:11 pm

Fri Feb 25, 2011 8:52 am

:)

Does anyone know of a "Front" mounted spare carrier?

I have a Doka and don't want it in the way. Perhaps a mount at the back of the cab would work.

Len

:)

Fri Feb 25, 2011 9:08 am

BoxsterGT wrote: :)

Does anyone know of a "Front" mounted spare carrier?

I have a Doka and don't want it in the way. Perhaps a mount at the back of the cab would work.

Len

:)

Could you just use a Yakima Load Warrior basket with the spare tire attachment? Could be a good way to keep a Hi-Lift, shovel, and a few other things out of the way as well. Not real fancy, but might be all you need.

Fri Feb 25, 2011 9:44 am

This is how I carry an extra spare for remote trips. It mounts to the tow bar which might come in handy also.

To answer some questions posed :
1. It doesn't make the temperature run hotter.
2. Since this is in addition to the normal spare in the clamshell I think
it would actually help a lot in a front collision by distributing the
force to a wider area.

Back to top

jbell

Fri Feb 25, 2011 12:13 pm

Here is my version of the pathfinder carrier:

[img]http://www.flickr.com/photos/subyvanagon/4902692558/in/set-72157624747893200 [/img]

$10 from pick n pull plus $50 for heim joints and steel post plus some scrap metal pieces. Flipped to open from the drivers side and extended about a foot. I reused the latching mechanism from the pathfinder. No connection to the hatch.

Fri Feb 25, 2011 12:48 pm

Jon_slider wrote: Van Cafe also sells this inexpensive extended carrier, for the stock location

as well as Burleys steering shaft protector
see bottom of page
http://www.van-cafe.com/home/van/search?keywords=tire&x=0&y=0
===

and here is the link to Burleys site, and his current tire carrier
http://burleysmotorsports.com/index.php?main_page=...jlop6ni0a6

I'm pretty sure both of those would be most help for a Syncro, not a 2wd. The cross member on a 2wd is closer to the undercarriage, and since the rear part of the spare tire has to rest on the top of the cross member, it ends up setting the pinch point (and fulcrum), regardless of what you do with the clamshell or wire hinges.

A link to a previous post of mine with a photo of my own solution to this issue:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4432968&highlight=#4432968

It's interesting to read all this concern with the steering shaft interference, which was not my problem with a 2wd install. Maybe the Syncro crossmember makes that more problematic. My 1985's 2wd steering shaft was completely clear, but shifting into reverse (pushing down on the shifter) would contact the tire sidewall on the shifter rod. I had to lower the tire pressure to about 30 psi to accomodate that, and rotate the tire periodically by a couple of inches to avoid chafe in the same area. The chafe is pretty trivial, relative to the curb rash the tire is doubtless designed to take, but I'm fussy like that. :)

Fri Feb 25, 2011 1:05 pm

Like it

Fri Feb 25, 2011 1:07 pm

toomanyveedubs wrote: Fixed it 4 u

I was thinking about this. Wouldn't this block the radiator thus wouldn't the van run hotter?

Fri Feb 25, 2011 1:37 pm

ericos_bob wrote: Surprising that all that all the weight does not make the door noticeably harder to open.
Hatch is definitely harder to open with a loaded GL rack on back. Additional support is needed if you want to keep the hatch open on its own.

Fri Feb 25, 2011 1:45 pm

syncrodoka wrote: I looked at a syncro that had a good size pair of matching dents on the top and bottom of the rear hatch. The owner said that the secret combination to get them was this rack combination w/spare and washboard roads.
Ouch. I've driven a bit of washboard roads with about 100+ lbs loaded on my G.L. full-size rack, with no ill-effect. (except for lots of loose interior screws!) I wonder if that owner's rack was loose, causing it to hammer down on the hatch?

Fri Feb 25, 2011 2:36 pm

So here is a new prototype we have been working on. These swings will work with basically any bumper, ie: GoWesty, All our RMW bumpers, Stock fiberglass or metal. They will be available soon.