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A Simple, Cost-Effective Spare Tire Relocation Kit for Most Roof and Bed Racks
Relocating your spare tire is important when off-roading and overlanding for a multitude of reasons, and this universal spare tire carrier by MELIPRON is perhaps the easiest and most cost-effective solution for relocating your spare tire. This kit comes with everything you need to mount your spare tire on most bed racks and roof racks, including both platform and basket style roof racks. This carrier is also powder coated for maximum rust and scratch resistance, and is lockable to prevent theft of your spare. At this price point with such a simple and universal installation, this spare tire carrier should be considered by an serious off-roaders and overlanders wishing to relocate their spare. In this article, I go over the importance of relocating your spare tire when off-roading and the downsides of other mounting solutions. Then I cover how I chose to install this carrier on my platform style roof rack, and my overall thoughts on this carrier from MELIPRON.
Contents:
1.Overview 2.Find it Online 3.Why Relocating your Spare Tire is Necessary for Off-roading 4.Issues with Other Spare Tire Relocation Solutions 5.What's in the box and What You Need to Get Started 6.Installation 7.Final Thoughts
Why Relocating your Spare Tire is Necessary for Off-Roading:
A spare tire is of the upmost importance when off-roading, especially on multi-day overlanding excursions. Even if you carry a tire plug kit or fix-a-flat, these will be of no use in the case of a ruptured tire or a punctured sidewall. Furthermore, deflating your tires, while necessary, increases the likelihood of your tires coming off the bead, and reseating a tire is a difficult repair out on the trail. However, if your spare tire gets popped or your wheel damaged, you can be left immobile on the trail with few options.
When stored in the factory location, you spare tire is subject to all kinds of abuse, on and off the road. For one thing, when Off-road, your spare is susceptible to mud and debris that can lead to corrosion and wheel damage. Also, a lesser-known fact is that mud can get caught in between the bead of your tire and cause a flat. This is especially common in the Southeast where I am from where red clay and sandy mud is commonplace. Furthermore, there is also the risk of popping your tire when bottoming out, such as when going over rocky terrain. Relocating your spare tire from underneath your bed will prevent this from happening, and give you even more ground clearance in the rear. This is especially important for tacoma owners, as the total length of the tacoma is 18.75 feet, making it more likely to bottom out than, say, a 4Runner which has a total length of about 16 feet.
Lastly, relocating your spare tire will help you avoid unforeseen issues when getting bigger tires. It's important to have a full size spare tire, as driving on a smaller spare tire puts more strain on your drivetrain, suspension, axles, and your differentials. Your differentials work to spin your tires at different speeds to aid in cornering, and a smaller tire on one side will undoubtedly effect this. While smaller spares can be used in a pinch, they are a temporary fix that can cause a plethora of issues if used more than 50-100 miles. This can be a real issue when on a rough trail miles away from a tire shop, not to mention it is uncomfortable to drive when one side is lower than the other (although people with squatted trucks would likely disagree). The point is, bigger tires (anything above a diameter of 275) will likely not fit underneath the bed without modifications.
Issues with Other Spare Tire Relocation Solutions:
For jeep wranglers, this relocating the spare is not an issue because wrangles come from the factory with a swing out tire carrier, but for those of us who drive trucks and SUVs it's a different story. Especially for us Tacoma owners, other than the factory location there are few options to store and mount a spare tire. Swing-out tire rear bumpers, while nice, can be costly and they can restrict access to your tailgate, cover your backup camera and license plate, and prevent you from hauling long items with the tailgate down (such as kayaks/canoes, lumber, furniture, etc…). Hitch-mounted spare tire carriers share these same downsides, and can also shift weight to far to the rear and can drastically reduce your ground clearance. Other's may simply throw their spare in the bed, but not only does this take up a lot of bed space but can also risk damaging or popping your spare with other gear crashing into it on bumpy trails.
What's in the Box:
In the box you get everything you need to mount your spare tire on most bed racks and roof racks, including both platform and basket style roof racks. This includes your counting plate which bolts on to your rack, the tire plate that goes on top of the spare, and the j bolt that hooks onto the mounting plate and holds the tire securely in place. The tire handle screws on top of the tire plate, allowing you to tighten the top plate to accommodate a variety of tire sizes. Hardware is included for securing the mount plate to both styles of roof racks and even comes with foam padding for the tire plate to prevent damage to the wheel and reduce vibrations as well as a travel lock to prevent theft (although, I would recommend upgrading this lock as the shackle is thin wire that could be easily cut through).
What You Need to Get Started:
to get started with installation, you only need a few basic tools. You will need a simple set of sockets and wrenches, and I opted to use an impact wrench rather than a ratchet for tightening the bolts. These are primarily only needed for securing the mounting plate to your roof rack or bed rack, as the rest easily screws together.
Installation:
Why You Will Need:
This install is fairly simple and does not require many tools. All you will need is a socket set or adjustable wrench to tighten the bolts to the roof rack. Overall, it only took me about 15 minutes to complete the install.
Step 1:
Remove your spare tire from underneath the truck bed. Use your tire iron to lower the spare and disconnect the central hub bracket. Once disconnected, raise the bracket and chain all the way back up to so that it is not dangling. Failure to do so can cause damage to the bracket or cause it to snag and break off.
Step 2:
For a platform style roof rack like mine, take your 4 bolts and slide the bolt heads into the track of the roof rack crossbar. Some adjustment of the crossbars may be necessary.
For a basket style rack, 4 circular plate clips are included. Slide the plate clips over the round cross bars and insert the bolts into the holes.
For a bed rack or MOLLE panel, simply insert the bolts into the mounting locations.
Step 3:
Set the mounting plate over the 4 bolts with the metal loop facing up and tighten each nut. Position your wheel and tire in the center of this loop. Ensure the mounting plate and tire are centered on roof rack, since adding more weight to one side or the other could cause you to lean hard into turns or even tip over.
Step 4:
Take your J hook and hook it to the metal loop on the mounting plate.
Grab your wheel plate and attach the foam wheel protector strips to both sides. Place the wheel plate over the j hook, threading the j hook through the hole in the center of the wheel plate.
Step 5:
Thread the top handle onto the j bolt until the wheel plate is tight against the wheel. Align the side hole on the handle to the side hole on the wheel plate and place your lock through both to secure your tire to the carrier.
Final Thoughts:
This spare tire carrier is an easy and cost-effective way to relocate your spare tire. It mounts to most types of roof racks, bed racks, and MOLLE panels, and secured the tire tightly to the surface. Relocating my spare tire gives me piece of mind that my spare tire will not get popped or damaged while off-road and won't get snagged or cause me to bottom out on difficult terrain. The install only took a few minutes, and both the spare tire and tire carrier can be removed easily if desired. The only I didn't like about the kit was the included lock. While I think it's thoughtful of them to include a lock, the wire shackle could be easily cut with a pair of bolt cutters. However, the locking holes are large enough that I was able to replace it with a stronger padlock. Another thing to consider is vehicle height. For example, I can't pull into an average garage between my lift and the spare tire on top, but like I said, the spare can be easily removed. If you park in a garage everyday, it's entirely possible to keep your spare underneath the bed for day to day use, and relocate the spare in preparation of an overland trip. I will be installing a full overland bed rack in the next few weeks and plan to mount the spare tire carrier on the bed rack, which will be low enough to park in a garage. Overall I'm very happy with this tire carrier and would recommend it to anyone looking for a cost effective spare tire relocation option.
