Spare tire rack

[Flower]

Spare tire rack and aluminum fender extensions for Vibe 6503.

[RussellReyn89]

Those are some very sharp modifications! Both much needed on my 6504 as well! I really like that spare tire rack. Did you build that yourself or would that be a kit?

[Exiled Bohemians]

Thanks for the photos, this is way up on my list to do on my 6504, not sure where it might go, though...

Very cool!


Traveling 9/1/2014 - 11/15/2014
2015 Vibe 6504 • 2005 BMW X5
http://instagram.com/bohemians_in_exile

[Flower]

I made the rack myself out of materials I had on hand. Needed to buy some hardware but not much. As far as working for other model Vibes I do not know. The 6503 had a perfect space for it in front of the axle and behind fresh water tank. The ground clearance with 15" tires from bottom of rack is 8".

[Exiled Bohemians]

About to break camp, been at a cool place on the Suwanee River, I will take a look!

Thanks again for the photos!


Traveling 9/1/2014 - 11/15/2014
2015 Vibe 6504 • 2005 BMW X5
http://instagram.com/bohemians_in_exile

[Blubear]

I loved this idea and was seriously thinking of doing this mod BUT....

... I also don't want to remove too much weight from the storage area as the Battery and Propane tank on the opposite side of storage area (6502) are heavy and want to make sure there remains a balance.

[Flower]

I think it depends a lot upon the tow Vehicle as to how much tongue weight would be considered safe. Our tongue weight with camper loaded will be close to 500 lbs. With the model 6503 almost everything is located in front of axle, hot water tank, propane tank, fresh water tank and battery and now with ours the spare tire too. We only carry about 10 to 15 gallons of fresh water when traveling. With a SUV that may be to much tongue weight but with our truck a Ram 1500 it works out good for us. We use the Equalizer 4 point sway control WDH, and we have no problem with sway or bouncing.

[Blubear]

Agreed. If I could I would probably move the spare tire up front but I don't know that I have room underneath as well different layout and different vehicle than yours as well with the Nissan Frontier v6

[Herk7769]

Just remember that the tongue weight must fall between 10 and 15% of total trailer weight for safe handling. Too light and you will have severe fishtail issues; too heavy and the truck will have steering problems (especially in a swerve).

Optimum loading is about 12.5% of total trailer weight.

Trailer Loading and Towing Guide

[Flower]

We are safely with in that range with about 13% of loaded trailer weight for our tongue weight. I agree proper tongue weight needs to be considered when loading a trailer for safety. I have heard of to many accidents where if the tongue would have been with in a safe range the accident may not have happened.

[pjnlorrie]

Our 2014 6501 tongue weight is within acceptable range with the spare in the storage compartment so we built a storage rack similar to what Flower did in that location under the trailer (there was not enough space between the fresh water tank and the front cross braces anyway). More room!

[Flower]

Sounds good the extra cargo space is nice to have and the spare moved under the camper helps balance weight better. If possible I would be interested seeing a picture of what you did. Now that the 6500 series Vibes have been discontinued I don't think there will be to many more Vibe owners posting on this forum than there has been.I have added extra shelves for additional storage inside our camper.

[pjnlorrie]

We have been modding a number of items since we purchased the 6501. Will post up pics soon.

[pjnlorrie]

OK, pictures as promised-

[Flower]

Your tire rack looks good, I find it a little difficult moving the heavy tire in place with ours but it's not something I will do very often. The benefits are well worth it, with the extra space in the cargo area and with us the weight is distributed better.

[pjnlorrie]

Agreed, I spent some time experimenting with how to get the spare off the rack and found that dropping the rack down and using my legs worked well. Pushing the tire up the bars is more difficult, but as you said, one hopes it is a rare event.

[soniclos]

Hopefully no one minds me putting some air into this old post.

Like you folks I found the lack of a spare tire mount a big issue especially since we have 3 little ones so ALLOT of gear we keep in the main storage space. I looked at a few different options, but when we then started talking about packing bikes too, really only one option stood out. We had a neighbor reenforce the rear frame, and weld up a spare tire mount as well as a 2" hitch to the back of our 2014 Vcross Vibe 6504. I'll get a few better pictures up of it the next time I have the trailer handy, the hitch and frame are said to be strong enough to tow a small boat, but it's only use will be to a 4 bike rack, or a cargo basket.

I've tried to attach one of the pictures from my testing LED lights which shows the placement of the spare at least on the back of the trailer.