Tire mount to hatch?

I’d like to mount my tire on my 5th generation but feel like I might get annoyed every time I have to swing it out to the side to open the back hatch. Anybody successfully mounted a tire directly to the hatch rather than the bumper or hitch so that it swings up when you open it?

 

That would be a lot of weight for the hatch, you would have to use kings for the hatch struts.

 

Not possible. You'd destroy the hatch, the hinges, the struts...

Even Jeeps with side opening hatches can barely tolerate the weight of a spare, if you upsize at all you have to upgrade the hinges.

Wheels and tires weigh a fuckton!

 

To be fair, those are Jeep hinges.

It would be nice if Toyota offered an option for this. The struts would have to be massive, though.

I'm thinking about a roof mount option, but not super excited about lugging a heavy ass wheel and tire up to the roof.

 

Awhile back i was just browsing for some way of mounting a HiLift and found a couple of manufacturers had some nice mount systems for tires and lifts that were integrated with a replacement rear bumper. Dual “doors” so you didn’t need as much rear clearance to open them.

 

I dropped the hammer on just such a bumper this week!

I ordered the bumper, universal tire mount, right-side swing-out carrier and camera relocation kit. All in bare metal, I'm going to have everything all Line-Xed in the same colour as the truck, which is wrapped the same colour as our service trucks!

https://idealmec.com/en/ideal-mechanical-about/


https://www.victory4x4.com/product/V4R5RS.html

 

Yeah, I have a Victory front bumper which mounts a winch and it’s great. I’ve been thinking about their rear bumper too. My only hesitation about the swing out carrier is that I’ll have that extra step every time I want to use the rear hatch area and 2x if I add the second one. Although, I could set it up so that I could remove the carriers and only use them when I’m on a trip. It would be nice to get the spare tire out from underneath the vehicle. Up here in Canada, it’s a place that traps a lot of salt and sand in the winter, and the mechanism will seize up if you don’t service it regularly.
Victory’s rear bumper is one of the nicest on the market, IMHO.

 

I got these pics. from the other forum, this is made by J&W Offroad. The Lexus hatch swings out instead of up so.

 

I can see right away that my wife would never go for that, haha. I might not even be able to support the rear hatch cover to use the cargo area with a full size tire on there. I guess you’d just need to be strong and carry a long broom handle with you to prop it open, or else restrict access unless it’s from the rear side doors.
That assumes the sheet metal can carry that load.

 

True! I'm in Quebec and have already lost a spare from under a service van I was driving, caused quite the racket.

I agree that it's an extra step, but I can't see myself crawling under the truck in slush/snow/mud to get to my spare. Fair trade-off in my book...

 

Ok, it probably works on this vehicle because the hatch swings out from the side not hinged from the roof like a 4 Runner. It shows it on their web site. I thought only LRs and Jeeps had side swinging rear doors. Cool.

 

I agree, peter2772000. When I had my Tacoma I always carried the spare in the bed for that reason. There’s not many options with a 4 Runner. The Victory bumper is great but it’s a bit of a gulp when you add it all up and factor in shipping to Canada and the exchange rate. Still, it’s nice though.

 

$2,375 including $300 shipping. Add whatever customs/duty may have to be paid and top it off with whatever Line-X is going to charge me to paint it all. Yeah, it'll be interesting LOL

 

With the swing outs and other accessories like the camera relocate kit, reverse lights etc. + GST etc, mine comes in at about $5k

 

You would at the very least lose the function of the glass, and also it would require plates and who knows what on the inside of the hatch.

 

FJ Cruisers too...

I found that the spare I had mounted on my FJ really blocked a lot of the rear window - 255/85-16 pizza cutters. Visibility out the back of an FJ is bad enough! I'll probably go with the Detours Swingaway mount on my Runner:

https://detoursofmaine.com/

I HATE having the spare under the truck.

 

I must be the only guy who likes the spare in its original location. What's the reasoning for moving it? Because it's a liability off road - hangs too low and / or hard to access if you need it?

Dunno, I've done some legit off road and I've never ripped a spare sidewall. To be fair I've never had to change a tire offroad, but I have a hard time thinking it's really that hard to move the truck 8 feet to a better spot to drop the spare.

I feel like the possible minor advantages of having it not under the truck in very specific offroad scenarios are totally outweighed by the pain in the ass it would be to access the cargo area for day to day stuff with a swingout tire carrier. Yes, I understand OP was asking about not a swingout for this same reason...

It's your money so more power to you... but that's a SIXTH of the cost of my truck... are you getting $5k of use out of that thing versus the free spare carrier already bolted to the bottom of the truck?

Okay, that's a legit point that maybe counters my disdain for the rear tire carriers. Don't have that issue in California. Although, I am from Ohio, where they salt the every loving fuck out of the roads, and the solution was simply to drop the spare once in a while and make sure the mechanism works. The frame of my Tacoma rusted away but the spare tire carrier still worked and held securely.

 

Good points, MeefZaw. It’s kind of mission creep. There are reasons why a real bumper is preferred over the plastic cover, and then if you decide that, you may as well add a swing out. Of course, US prices for off-road products are cheaper than here in Canada. And yes, ask anyone on here about how mods add up beyond reason very quickly if you don’t stay practical, haha. As for me, personally, I haven’t ordered a bumper yet for all the reasons you’ve mentioned plus a few others. Especially now, with the uncertainty of covid 19. I’ve read on here that some members are anticipating losing their vehicles once they lose their ability to make their payments. Fortunately mine is paid for, and I never buy anything I can’t pay for.

 

Right on MeefZa! Keeping the spare in the stock location makes the most sense. From a changing out a flat, you’re most likely going to need to roll a few feet to find an appropriate place to position a jack anyway. Finding a spot where you can also get to the spare should be no big deal.

Mitigating crud buildup on the spare (salt, dirt, etc) is just simple maintenance. Crank it down, hose it off, then crank it back up. No need to crawl under the vehicle or actually remove the tire from the lift chain. And, at the same time you can check the pressure.

One legit reason for having to mount your spare to the back is, in your zeal for just having to run oversized tires (with the requisite $$$ suspension and body mods to get those GripperMax babies to fit), you have supersized your spare also and it no longer fits in the factory location.

Another reason might be, if you frequent sand as your terrain of choice, you could possibly get the rear end buried enough to make it difficult to get the spare out to use as a deadman anchor. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1br1lQjithg

And, as OldToyotaGuy alluded to, what’s the point in the fancy mount if you have to sell your rig if you can’t make the payments.

 

BTW, that's $2,375 US which is around $3,300 Canadian. Oldtoyotaguy, you must have gone whole-hog on the options to come in at $5k and I'm guessing that's Canadian?

I dunno about y'all, but for me, seeing a big-ass spare hanging off the rear of a 4x4 is a thing of beauty. I've got a 295/50R20 stuck on the rear of my FJ and it looks gorgeous. Easy to get to/remove/re-install, easy to check if its inflated.

Visibility: Yes, a rear-mounted spare does reduce visibility somewhat. In my particular case though, I'd driven service vans for 40+ yrs. What with the wall partitions, the rear-view mirror becomes a vanity mirror and little else. I'm very comfortable using my side-view mirrors and actually rarely rely on a rear-view camera when a vehicle is so equipped. Not 'cause I'm a stubborn ole codger, but because I don't want to become reliant on such equipment and lose my hard-earned driving skills.

 

Yes, it adds up quickly and the crunch comes when you convert to CDN and add in the GST! But I agree, it looks cool, but dealing with two swing outs on a daily basis to access the rear cargo area might be too much. Although the swing outs can be taken off and only used when you’re actually travelling somewhere. I agree about the rear camera and the view rearward. I always use the side mirrors. Where I live, the rear camera is obscured most of the time for about 4-5 months by salt and sand.
The reason two swing outs would be good for me, is that if I decided to carry a rotopax for extra gas it’s a good place to put it. Once you get into the northern parts of Canada a bit of extra gas is peace of mind.

 

Mine's installed. Pics soon....

 

Coming from an FJ, be happy the spare is where it at. The swing door was the biggest flaw in the FJ in my opinion. Of course I don't live where it's muddy or wet. At least there are options.

 

Unfortunately... but kind of fortunately... I bought my 4runner with oversized tires so my spare won’t even fit underneath