Hide A Spare

[RStock]

This summer I'm heading up to the Dempster highway in NWT and the ALLCAN "Alaska Highway". Lots of gravel and potential for flats and not much for service close by. I wish to bring a couple of spares for the TT and I was wondering if anyone has experience with the Hide-a-Spare product and what your opinion is. I have a Cherokee Grey Wolf 20RDSE TT. Thanks in advance.

https://norcoind.com/bal/products/co...-a-spare.shtml

[fella10]

it's a very good product, BAL makes good stuff, but be sure to get the correct model for your camper

[tomkatb]

Nifty design.

We have one of those cable things from places Like e trailer. Lippert. Had to use it two weeks ago.

You have to crawl under the trailer to get the tire. But, you are getting dirty changing a tire anyway!

[DonMcKay]

Originally Posted by RStock

This summer I'm heading up to the Dempster highway in NWT and the ALLCAN "Alaska Highway". Lots of gravel and potential for flats and not much for service close by. I wish to bring a couple of spares for the TT and I was wondering if anyone has experience with the Hide-a-Spare product and what your opinion is. I have a Cherokee Grey Wolf 20RDSE TT. Thanks in advance.

https://norcoind.com/bal/products/co...-a-spare.shtml

I installed one on our Windjammer. I ordered the one for no belly cover and had to add a couple of bracket to get it low enough for the spare to fit, If your underbelly is enclosed get the one for the enclosed underbelly. They do work good though, you don't have to crawl all the way under the trailer to get to the spare.

[EmersonTT]

I don't have experience with the hide-a-spare, but I do have experience driving the Dempster up to the Arctic Ocean -- last summer. We tow a 21 foot travel trailer (Rockwood 2109s), but based on input from the folks at the Visitor Information Center in Dawson, as well as someone just returning from the Dempster trip all the way to Tuktoyaktuk on the Arctic Ocean, we decided not to tow the trailer past Tombstone Territorial Park. I'm glad we passed on towing over the remaining 400 or so mies. It was certainly possible, and we saw a few travel trailers, but the dust is so bad when it's dry that I knew from our past experience on long gravel roads (the Dempster plus the Tuk extension is 450 miles of gravel) that the trailer would have been a mess inside, even with all the precautions we take to keep out gravel dust. And it doesn't take much rain to create mud and long serious slippery sections on the Dempster. In addition, there are several rough, potholed and washboard patches. There is also the risk of gravel rocks thrown by the big trucks. So we decided to just drive our tow vehicle (Jeep Grand Cherokee) from Tombstone to Tuktoyaktuk, staying overnight in Eagle Plains, Inuvik, and Tuktoyaktuk. We experienced first-hand the dust, the slippery mud and the rough stretches, which was a great and fun adventure in the Jeep, but which would have been more of a nail biter towing the trailer, not to mention the annoyance of cleaning up the trailer in order to sleep in it. I also thought of this approach as risk management -- I cut my risk of flat tires in half by running 4 tires instead of 8 and eliminated the risk of window breakage (which I admit is pretty low, but not negligible on that road) on the trailer. Without the trailer, we stayed in the Eagle Plains Motel and found decent places to stay in Inuvik and in Tuktoyaktuk (Smitty's B&B). Overall it was a fabulous trip, and I'm not actually advising you not to tow the trailer up there, just sharing my own thought process and decision with you. I guarantee you will love it even if you have to change a few tires. The photo is taken at Eagle Plains -- about halfway to the Arctic Ocean (that's our red Jeep)

[RStock]

EmersonTT
Thanks for your travel post along the Dempster. Our idea is to park the trailer before the Dempster and drive up to Tuk. The wife and I are very excited to embark on this journey.

[rockfordroo]

I've had one on my Mini Lite for 5 years. Here's some info/pics on my install.

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ite-91088.html

I don't have an enclosed underbelly, so your experience may differ.

I haven't had to use the spare, but it's very good at keeping it out of sight and out of mind.

The screw knob part (Pics 4 & 5 in Post 2 of the link) that locks it in place tends to rust a bit. I'd suggest you unscrew it every spring to keep it from rusting in place.