New Twist on an old modification, Pathfinder swingaway tire

[Jahbah]

I have been working on this one slowly over the last 9 months and its mostly there. I really wanted to have the luxury of a full size spare ready when needed and due to the change from the stock 14 to larger tires I cannot fit my spare in the clam shell.
After up grading my tires to 235X65X17's I found my van was much better performing on the road in the wind, on corner and especially in bad traction. They are almost twice as wide.
I looked at all of the swing-away options Burly, RMW, Gowesty and the DIY Pathfinder option. The store bought options all look great to me well thought out and well constructed. What I was looking for was a swingaway that could hold a tire, a jerry can and purhaps a fold down table for outdoor cooking. I wanted to avoid drilling holes in my van. I did not like the reports of the denting of the body pannels on the pathfinder swing-away.

I started with Gowesty bumpers that I bought to provide some protection for my 2.5 soobie motor. At the local pick and pull I got two pathfinder tire carriers for 10 bucks a piece. Some two inch square stock and eight nuts(so I could recycle the pathfinder bolts) and two spray cans hammerite black.

I cut the hinges down to two inches to match the square stock. Also welded in are the tabs on the top that act as a stop to prevent accidental over closure of either side.

Chopped one of the tire carriers down to 16 inches to be my drivers side tire carrier and capping the holes. I am using a bike lock to secure the tire to the carrier.

The next step was making a bracket that would mount to the bumper. I decided to wrap the bracket around the side of the bumper to help with strength. Also a little squirt of undercoating to make a weather tight seal.

I removed the tire mounts and welded one of the two to the driverside swingaway. Marked and moved the studs to hold a mercedes wheel. The two sides butt right up against each other and prevent a lot of lateral movement. I fabbed up a gate latch that really helps make them stout when latched togeather.

The two tire carriers make a 70/30 split and I had to flip the shorter one upside down to use the original hinges. I really like the original hinges and they have a built in pin that will lock them wide open. I have found that the gowesty bumper is not totally designed to hold weight on the outside of the bumper, and there is a little wiggling on bumpy roads. So I reinforced the bumper with some square stock on the inside and its now up to the task. My last step after the holidays will be mountin a jerry can on the passanger side and creating a fold down table for the Mrs.

All in all it was about a hundred bucks in parts. It probably took about 10 hours of time and a dozen beers. Hope this helps!
Cheers
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'87 Westfalia Weekender + '86 Syncro Tintop +'02 Impreza 2.5RS
= '86.5 SuperWestySyncroSubyWeekendermobileagon =
Bueno.
Jahbah~D

[vannin]

Looks good .
Nik

[shadetreetim]

Nice work.
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Tim Potts

Doing my best every time I drive it to dispel the myth these Vanagons have to be slow!


'89 Vanagon Bluestar/Country Homes 1.8T & .77 4th
'74 Jeep CJ5

[carterzest]

Incredible in pictures, even more so in person. Wow. Thanks for writing this up Jahbah~D.
Good luck with your Syncro strip and ship over Christmas. Brrrrrr!
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Happiness=Portland, Oregon in the rearview mirror!

[thasty07]

Curious to hear how your mounts are holding up. I have several different styles of tire carriers and I think bumper mounted posts are probably the best.

I was thinking about cutting a hole for the verticle riser and welding it at its base and then at the pass through, but your idea seems nice and simple.

[[email protected]]

Looks great, very clean install

[hdenter]

While bumper mounted tire carriers are popular, I personally think that they are a mistake. First your bumper will have to be heavy and stout to take the weight. Second, if someone gives you a modest tap on a corner, Instead of just the bumper getting deflected, damage will be inflected to the body when the tire and carrier are pushed into it. Finally, regardless of the tire carrier, that heavy bumper will cause frame damage in a collision instead of just a crunched corner or rear apron. I would stick with the body mount and keep the spare up and away from the bumper. That's JMHO.... The stock bumpers are quite flimsy and something a little stiffer would be fine. But to be strong enough to hold a tire carrier will be too strong to do it's job right.

Hans
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'79 triple white convertible bug
'84 sunroof vanagon
'85 weekender

[thasty07]

[vanhelper]

I am trying to replicate the Pathfinder install. Maybe I can get some advice. I note that many mount the Pathfinder carrier with the top bar just below the bottom edge of the hatch window and it ends up pointing down slightly. I find, with my smaller diameter spare tire (Cooper Discoverer 205/65R15C), that I could mount it lower down, with the latch mounted to the hatch lining up with the very bottom edge of the hatch, while still not blocking the view of the license plate with the spare. Since the body quarter panel slopes out at the top hinge and in at the bottom hinge, this helps to level the carrier (and lower the CG of the carrier and spare). The main problem is that the gap along the top edge of the upper hinge increases and there is not enough meat to the top hinge to grind it to make a snug fit to the body over its full footprint. So I need something to fill the gap, something firm enough to take a compression and shear load. Any ideas? Maybe JB Weld? I could mold it with non-stick paper separating it from the body to keep it removable.

Also I am thinking I will make the backing plates linked together with angle iron or something so the lower one is easier to hold in place 'til I get the hinge bolts started. I can make the backing plate assembly using the carrier itself as a jig, off the van. If the backing plates match the carrier and the carrier is a good match to the body, then the backing plates should fit nicely inside. Again, any thoughts?

I will also add a short cable to prevent the carrier from swinging too far and denting the body at the hinge mounts.

[danfromsyr]

a quick question for you vanhelper
why don't you put your 205/65/15 tire in the stock location on the clamshell?

edit: meant to add that it should fit, but can be made to fit easily enough.
I've put 205/70/15 in there. and some get bigger with modifications..

alot less work and stress on the bodywork and less hassel to get into the back hatch for an item you don't really use all that often..
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[Red Ryder]

[vanhelper]

I would actually be in favor of squeezing the spare under the cab, but it's not my van and my wife wants it on the back. So "just following orders." She also want to add a jerry can or two, since range is limited with the 1.8T conversion. And maybe some more storage to boot. In any case I think the swing away will benefit us some way, whatever ends up being stored back there.

Anyway, waiting for the SteelStik.

I note that others doing the Pathfinder carrier often end up with a large gap along the top edge of the top hinge that they fill with silicone, so I am trying to do better by putting something in there that can actually transfer the load to a larger area of the quarter panel sheet metal.

[DuncanS]

Don't know about your state, but illegal here to carry gas in an exterior mounted Jerry can.

Duncan

[11BC2]

[DuncanS]

It's not live free or die--once again we have been lied to. It's live free and die.