Method of carrying a spare tire on the iQ
02-11-2013, 04:49 AM
#1
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Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Houston TX suburbs
Posts: 15
Method of carrying a spare tire on the iQ
Has anyone come up with a quality method of carrying a spare tire with their iQ? Unlike most young moderns, we old fogies have yet to accept driving around without a spare tire and wheel on board.
On our 2009 smart Passion, one of the first "add ons" that we pursued was a way of mounting a spare. With the smart's limited interior room, I opted for a "Continental kit" approach. We purchased and installed a Kurt trailer hitch, then obtained a post mount that held the spare behind the rear bumper and below the license plate.
Unfortunately, with the iQ, that simple solution won't work. The plate location on the Toyota/Scion product is lower than on the smart - mount the tire in the "Continental kit" location and it will obstruct the number plate.
While one solution to this dilemma would be to mount the tire up on the rear hatch, that would involve a lot of cutting and attaching to the hatch, as well as procuring lift cylinders with more "oomph" than the stock items. So, I see that route as a no go.
An alternate solution to the problem would be a trailer hitch mount with a "D" shaped member attached to the post inserted into the hitch receiver. The curved portion of the "D" would face upward and would surround the plate location, thus leaving it mounted on the car and still visible to the rear.
Welded to the top of the "D" shaped member would be an inverted "V", to the upper tip of which would be welded (at about a 10° from the vertical) would be a circular plate with the four studs, onto which would be bolted the spare tire and rim.
True, it would involve some bending of heavy gauge metal tubing (for the "D" shaped member) and careful welding (to fabricate the whole, including the inverted "V", attachment of the "D" to the post inserted into the mount, and to seam it all together, including some extra bracing here and there.
My question, finally, is "Has anyone among the Scion community attempted anything along such lines?" Inquiring minds want to know before they start running tubing through the roll former...
On our 2009 smart Passion, one of the first "add ons" that we pursued was a way of mounting a spare. With the smart's limited interior room, I opted for a "Continental kit" approach. We purchased and installed a Kurt trailer hitch, then obtained a post mount that held the spare behind the rear bumper and below the license plate.
Unfortunately, with the iQ, that simple solution won't work. The plate location on the Toyota/Scion product is lower than on the smart - mount the tire in the "Continental kit" location and it will obstruct the number plate.
While one solution to this dilemma would be to mount the tire up on the rear hatch, that would involve a lot of cutting and attaching to the hatch, as well as procuring lift cylinders with more "oomph" than the stock items. So, I see that route as a no go.
An alternate solution to the problem would be a trailer hitch mount with a "D" shaped member attached to the post inserted into the hitch receiver. The curved portion of the "D" would face upward and would surround the plate location, thus leaving it mounted on the car and still visible to the rear.
Welded to the top of the "D" shaped member would be an inverted "V", to the upper tip of which would be welded (at about a 10° from the vertical) would be a circular plate with the four studs, onto which would be bolted the spare tire and rim.
True, it would involve some bending of heavy gauge metal tubing (for the "D" shaped member) and careful welding (to fabricate the whole, including the inverted "V", attachment of the "D" to the post inserted into the mount, and to seam it all together, including some extra bracing here and there.
My question, finally, is "Has anyone among the Scion community attempted anything along such lines?" Inquiring minds want to know before they start running tubing through the roll former...
02-11-2013, 06:50 AM
#3
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Houston TX suburbs
Posts: 15
Roadside assistance isn't really the problem. Not being able to source a new tire should you have a blowout in the middle of God awful Nowhere (think west Kansas) is the problem.
When we bought the smart, the odd tire sizes were an obvious concern. A blowout around town here isn't really a problem - roadside service combined with dealer network and a second car would make for an easy solution.
Have the same problem on the road and it was a different kettle of fish altogether. I posed orders for the smart's odd tire sizes to the branches of the tire firm recommended by the smart folks, and in all cases but one was told "We can get it for you in a day or two." And, that's here in the big city. Out on the road in middle America, a one or two day delay can easily stretch to a three night layover if the mishap occurs on a Friday afternoon.
While we're both retired, we had no desire to cool our heels in the middle of Texas, waiting for a tire to show up. Hence the spare, mounted for all out of town trips.
Roof mount looks goofy, besides having to come up with a rack for that option as well. The trailer hitch (which we would not use for trailering, although we have hauled a loaded box trailer with the smart, just to see how it would handle) puts the tire and tire rack into a solid attachment point, no additional mount needed.
But, there is that welding and painting. We've done it once (a simple version, really just a vertical post with the tire mount atop same), and I could do it again if I needed to. But, if someone else has already invented the wheel on this, I'd like to know...
When we bought the smart, the odd tire sizes were an obvious concern. A blowout around town here isn't really a problem - roadside service combined with dealer network and a second car would make for an easy solution.
Have the same problem on the road and it was a different kettle of fish altogether. I posed orders for the smart's odd tire sizes to the branches of the tire firm recommended by the smart folks, and in all cases but one was told "We can get it for you in a day or two." And, that's here in the big city. Out on the road in middle America, a one or two day delay can easily stretch to a three night layover if the mishap occurs on a Friday afternoon.
While we're both retired, we had no desire to cool our heels in the middle of Texas, waiting for a tire to show up. Hence the spare, mounted for all out of town trips.
Roof mount looks goofy, besides having to come up with a rack for that option as well. The trailer hitch (which we would not use for trailering, although we have hauled a loaded box trailer with the smart, just to see how it would handle) puts the tire and tire rack into a solid attachment point, no additional mount needed.
But, there is that welding and painting. We've done it once (a simple version, really just a vertical post with the tire mount atop same), and I could do it again if I needed to. But, if someone else has already invented the wheel on this, I'd like to know...
02-11-2013, 01:16 PM
#4
If done right a roof rack can look slick seek it done many times regardless an iq with a spare tire on the back is going to look ridiculous like a mini jeep of some sort the issue here is the cars not meant to be a cross country car a semi sneezes and it's in the ditch lol the only two options I see here are your hitch idea and or a roof rack unless toy want it to be inside the car in which case you've got even less space
02-11-2013, 03:13 PM
#6
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Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Houston TX suburbs
Posts: 15
Inside the cabin is not an option; we do a lot of long distant touring to visit all of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and we need all of the interior space for our luggage outfit. (People also do cross-country in the smarts, small as they are.)
As for reusing the smart spare tire mount, I looked at that modification first, but there are several problems there:
a ) I've already got a buyer for the smart mount and its stock spare tire, and at a considerable mark-up (I originally got the tire and rim for free!) - enough to pay for the fab costs for a new one better suited to the iQ.
b ) At the current height of the post of the smart mount, the tire would block the license plate, necessitating a second mounting point for the plate and the illumination.
c ) The stud pattern on the current mount is wrong - three studs in place of the four used by Scion. Also, the tire is a bit larger, which could make for problems at the bottom of the mount - I didn't bother checking this out, since the studs are all wrong in the first place.
d ) I can put up a photo of the mount on the smart Passion, as I've had that on a photo site for a number of years. The universal opinion of smart owners has been that it is "cool" appearing; judge for yourself:
(Despite the low height appearance, it is clear of the ground under all conditions; the tire itself is well above the height of the hitch receiver.)
(Note the security cable through the wheel spokes - it's attached, through two swedged loops at either end to a lock threaded through a hole in the mount, keeping evil minded individuals from walking off with your tire. On a new version, I'll use another wheel lock nut instead.)
Note too that the mount is a fraction off of center. This was due to the way the Canadian dealer had the smart 450 hitch system produced by his supplier in China; the vertical post was mounted a half inch or so off of the center line of the post that was inserted into the hitch receiver. While it is barely noticeable as it is, a former bricklayer like me is offended by the slight asymmetry every time that it is seen. There will be no such problem with the new one.
By making the bottom of the mount for the iQ in that "D" shape (with the "D" attached to the post inserted into the receiver so that the flat side of the "D" is downward), I'll be able to put a "loop" around the center mounted license plate, and then mount the wheel mounting plate with the studs at the top of it on a short upwards extension. A little extra welding and ten pounds more weight, but no plate remounting or electrical work required.
I've got a former employee who is a master welder and who has the gear to run it up for me, requiring me only to spec out the dimensions and get the bow of the "D" made. Houston has no shortage of fab shops capable of doing that for me, and about a third of them owe me a favor or two anyway. The rest is simple layout and fab work, although I also intend to add a couple of plate gussets between the receiver tube and the bottom member of the "D" to stiffen things up and to help prevent vibration.
(Figuring out what the harmonic frequency of something like this is, so as to address vibration concerns once it is complete, is pretty much a trial and error process. What I have done in the past to "fix" vibration issues is to "mass load" the item so as to change the point at which it vibrates, putting it above the frequency of the vibrations from the car during normal operating conditions. The simplest way to do this is to pour molten lead through holes drilled in the tubing, progressively increasing the size of the slug of the heavy metal within the tubing until the vibration ceases. A bit of a pain, and up to five pounds more weight, but it works every time.
(By the way, if you have an aftermarket rear view mirror that vibrates once added to your car, you can do the same thing by attaching black ceiling fan weights to the back of the mirror. My little gift to the Scion community.)
Mounting is simple - slide the hitch tube into the receiver and put an anti-chatter pin/lock through same. Make the bolt up tight, and there's your spare mount, outside of the cabin and looking halfway like it belongs there.
On the smart, the extra weight outside of the wheelbase was slightly noticeable, particularly when the limited smart suspension had to deal with a railroad track. Other than that, no net effect on MPG or ride.
As for reusing the smart spare tire mount, I looked at that modification first, but there are several problems there:
a ) I've already got a buyer for the smart mount and its stock spare tire, and at a considerable mark-up (I originally got the tire and rim for free!) - enough to pay for the fab costs for a new one better suited to the iQ.
b ) At the current height of the post of the smart mount, the tire would block the license plate, necessitating a second mounting point for the plate and the illumination.
c ) The stud pattern on the current mount is wrong - three studs in place of the four used by Scion. Also, the tire is a bit larger, which could make for problems at the bottom of the mount - I didn't bother checking this out, since the studs are all wrong in the first place.
d ) I can put up a photo of the mount on the smart Passion, as I've had that on a photo site for a number of years. The universal opinion of smart owners has been that it is "cool" appearing; judge for yourself:
(Despite the low height appearance, it is clear of the ground under all conditions; the tire itself is well above the height of the hitch receiver.)
(Note the security cable through the wheel spokes - it's attached, through two swedged loops at either end to a lock threaded through a hole in the mount, keeping evil minded individuals from walking off with your tire. On a new version, I'll use another wheel lock nut instead.)
Note too that the mount is a fraction off of center. This was due to the way the Canadian dealer had the smart 450 hitch system produced by his supplier in China; the vertical post was mounted a half inch or so off of the center line of the post that was inserted into the hitch receiver. While it is barely noticeable as it is, a former bricklayer like me is offended by the slight asymmetry every time that it is seen. There will be no such problem with the new one.
By making the bottom of the mount for the iQ in that "D" shape (with the "D" attached to the post inserted into the receiver so that the flat side of the "D" is downward), I'll be able to put a "loop" around the center mounted license plate, and then mount the wheel mounting plate with the studs at the top of it on a short upwards extension. A little extra welding and ten pounds more weight, but no plate remounting or electrical work required.
I've got a former employee who is a master welder and who has the gear to run it up for me, requiring me only to spec out the dimensions and get the bow of the "D" made. Houston has no shortage of fab shops capable of doing that for me, and about a third of them owe me a favor or two anyway. The rest is simple layout and fab work, although I also intend to add a couple of plate gussets between the receiver tube and the bottom member of the "D" to stiffen things up and to help prevent vibration.
(Figuring out what the harmonic frequency of something like this is, so as to address vibration concerns once it is complete, is pretty much a trial and error process. What I have done in the past to "fix" vibration issues is to "mass load" the item so as to change the point at which it vibrates, putting it above the frequency of the vibrations from the car during normal operating conditions. The simplest way to do this is to pour molten lead through holes drilled in the tubing, progressively increasing the size of the slug of the heavy metal within the tubing until the vibration ceases. A bit of a pain, and up to five pounds more weight, but it works every time.
(By the way, if you have an aftermarket rear view mirror that vibrates once added to your car, you can do the same thing by attaching black ceiling fan weights to the back of the mirror. My little gift to the Scion community.)
Mounting is simple - slide the hitch tube into the receiver and put an anti-chatter pin/lock through same. Make the bolt up tight, and there's your spare mount, outside of the cabin and looking halfway like it belongs there.
On the smart, the extra weight outside of the wheelbase was slightly noticeable, particularly when the limited smart suspension had to deal with a railroad track. Other than that, no net effect on MPG or ride.
02-11-2013, 04:04 PM
#7
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Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Katy, Republic of Texas
Posts: 41
Get a small trailer. Yes it will hurt mileage some, but you can carry a lot more with you instead of what you can cram in the back of the car, and you don't have to carry the spare around when your local.
Otherwise, I would look into pyromans suggestion, find a way to mount the license plate to the spare (or the rack you carry it on).
Otherwise, I would look into pyromans suggestion, find a way to mount the license plate to the spare (or the rack you carry it on).
02-11-2013, 05:32 PM
#8
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Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Houston TX suburbs
Posts: 15
We already have a small trailer; but we don't want to haul it all the way from Texas to Vermont and back.
I'm finishing up the shop drawings right now for my solution, one with a "pass through" opening for the vehicle plate. (Fun with CAD software...) But, I have to wait on the installation of the Curt hitch receiver before I can be sure of all of the measurements.
I'm finishing up the shop drawings right now for my solution, one with a "pass through" opening for the vehicle plate. (Fun with CAD software...) But, I have to wait on the installation of the Curt hitch receiver before I can be sure of all of the measurements.
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