Spare wheel cradle Peugeot Boxer and similar.

Dicknmaggie

Dicknmaggie

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In the process of servicing my Warwick Duo. Decided to renew the tyres and at the same time have the alloy wheels powder coated in shiny black.

Noticed the spare wheel looking a bit sad so I thought drop it down clean it and give it a coat of black gloss.

Am I glad I hadn't had a puncture out on the road. I would not have been able to remove it with the limited tools I carry.

The “hand wheel” securing nut was seized also the carrier plate was suck fast to the centre of the wheel rim. Pipe grips and a beating got both free.

Along with the corrosion on the rim the tapers on the wheel nut holed were very crusty with rust and would have compromised the wheel security if fitted without serious attention.

Lots of cleaning, painting and greasing followed.



Checking and maintaining the spare may seem obvious to most. I thought I fell into that category but I obviously overlooked the importance.



A bit of extra info. If you have never attempted to remove the spare check you have the correct “Allen Key”. Some have six flats others have five. Both my Sisters and my vans were initially supplied with the wrong tool.
 
I use water proof marine grade grease on things like that, dont ever use copper grease anywhere near alloy.
 
I thought it was a ridiculous set up with the same cradle on my Fiat PVC, placed where maximum road filth, salt and water would cause corrosion of the mechanism and wheel. Imagine lying underneath in the dark and rain trying to drop the spare with a flat rear tyre. I removed the spare after 2 years and put it inside the van. We had it on a ramp at the time and although the mechanism operated correctly the wheel would not release without a struggle due to corrosion.
 
korky said:
I thought it was a ridiculous set up with the same cradle on my Fiat PVC, placed where maximum road filth, salt and water would cause corrosion of the mechanism and wheel. Imagine lying underneath in the dark and rain trying to drop the spare with a flat rear tyre. I removed the spare after 2 years and put it inside the van. We had it on a ramp at the time and although the mechanism operated correctly the wheel would not release without a struggle due to corrosion.
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If its inside do makes sure its bolted down safe or it will become a missile in an accedent taking you out.
 
korky said:
Good point, but yes it is strapped down with ratchet straps attached to lashing eyes in the van floor. However my fridge and oven which sit behind me held in by a few screws,. are not something I care to think too hard about.
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Yes most vans are death traps, even a dog in the back seats of cars will break you neck, hence proper dog guards which folk seem to forget about.
Again loose pots/pans and cupboards with out locks etc letting things fly, there should be building standards to comply with same as car builds.
 
underfloor spare wheel carriers can be a nightmare. I thunk very few people actually do any maintenance on them and probably never even touch them until they need the wheel and find they cannot undo the nut to release.
I bought a VW T5 and it took maybe an hour of grunting and effort with a breaker bar to get the securing nut freed and off. (IIRC, one thing that WAS good about the design was the nut size they used for the securing bolt was the same as the wheel nut size, so that was a very logical bit of design. using a hex key is just stupid IMO).
Fortunately in my case, I did this on the driveway shortly after buying the vehicle to check the tyre (bald!) and not at the roadside after getting a flat.

I don't bother doing any maintenance at all on the spare wheel or the carrier on my current Ducato motorhome though :eek:
Don't see any point (as I don't have either :D ).
Not provided with the vehicle and place to carry one so I don't. Simples.
 
Fitted one 9 months ago, gave the spare wheel a coating with lanoguard removed the other week to check the tyre pressure and make sure nothing had seized up before my trip away the steel wheel as in good condition so lanoguard has worked in saving the rim from rusting.
20221023_140828.jpg
 
My Burstner was only supplied with a can of sealant- no use if you ever get a split in a tyre. I wanted to carry a spare wheel and adapted a Sprinter wheel carrier to suit the rear of mine under the garage floor n
IMG_3393.jpeg
IMG_3392.jpeg
 
SimonM said:
My Burstner was only supplied with a can of sealant- no use if you ever get a split in a tyre. I wanted to carry a spare wheel and adapted a Sprinter wheel carrier to suit the rear of mine under the garage floor nView attachment 121155View attachment 121156
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That looks very similar to the spare wheel carrier that I had on my LT. Repurposed it as a Kerosene Fuel carrier but great design where you can release and drop the carrier and get the spare wheel without the use on any tools at all.
 
wildebus said:
That looks very similar to the spare wheel carrier that I had on my LT. Repurposed it as a Kerosene Fuel carrier but great design where you can release and drop the carrier and get the spare wheel without the use on any tools at all.
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The above looks like it needs 2 x Nuts slackening before it'll unhook

The one on our Ducato/swift has 2 clips to release once spare has been pushed up slightly ....

My 71 plate work Relay has a winch on the rear drivers side that winds down the spare using stuff in the jack pack ...

Works unusually well
 
mistericeman said:
The above looks like it needs 2 x Nuts slackening before it'll unhook
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Nah. If you put it up high enough, you can just lift the frame sufficiently to release it with some reasonable effort, and the weight is such it is kept safely in place when resting on the hooks when driving
That is precisely how I used mine and it worked very nicely
mistericeman said:
The one on our Ducato/swift has 2 clips to release once spare has been pushed up slightly ....

My 71 plate work Relay has a winch on the rear drivers side that winds down the spare using stuff in the jack pack ...

Works unusually well
Click to expand...
My DS3 and DS5 cars had an optional spare wheel with that system. I elected to keep the spare in the boot space instead as it saves crawling underneath to retrieve the wheel and also put it back. You would get filthy if you are doing this to fix a puncture on the side of the road, plus the wheel itself is covered to road filth. (I think the people who design these systems only picture them being used on a nice clean garage floor, but that is not where you get a puncture!)
 
wildebus said:
Nah. If you put it up high enough, you can just lift the frame sufficiently to release it with some reasonable effort, and the weight is such it is kept safely in place when resting on the hooks when driving
That is precisely how I used mine and it worked very nicely

My DS3 and DS5 cars had an optional spare wheel with that system. I elected to keep the spare in the boot space instead as it saves crawling underneath to retrieve the wheel and also put it back. You would get filthy if you are doing this to fix a puncture on the side of the road. (I think the people who design these systems only picture them being used on a nice clean garage floor, but that is not where you get a puncture!)
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If its the holder with the 2 nuts hooks ...they should be tightened enough to lock the assembly in place
If the nuts/hooks are low enough for the wheel cradle to be lifted to release it ...then it's possible to come loose after being bumped over a pothole etc ....

Absoloutley no need to get anywhere underneath my 71 plate relay van to remove the spare ....

Fully Lower winch using the tool provided in the toolkit (takes seconds )
Winch located behind drivers side rear wheel
When spare lands on ground pull it backwards from rear of vehicle
Disconnect thumb nut that locks spare to the winch cable
Replacement is the reverse ...

At no point is there ANY need to scrabble under the vehicle.
 
mistericeman said:
If its the holder with the 2 nuts hooks ...they should be tightened enough to lock the assembly in place
If the nuts/hooks are low enough for the wheel cradle to be lifted to release it ...then it's possible to come loose after being bumped over a pothole etc ....
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no problem with mine. maybe you need to see and try it to understand it in practice (rather than from just a photo)
mistericeman said:
Absoloutley no need to get anywhere underneath my 71 plate relay van to remove the spare ....

Fully Lower winch using the tool provided in the toolkit (takes seconds )
Winch located behind drivers side rear wheel
When spare lands on ground pull it backwards from rear of vehicle
Disconnect thumb nut that locks spare to the winch cable
Replacement is the reverse ...

At no point is there ANY need to scrabble under the vehicle.
Click to expand...
wheel still gets filthy. horrible system :)
 
wildebus said:
no problem with mine. maybe you need to see and try it to understand it in practice (rather than from just a photo)

wheel still gets filthy. horrible system :)
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I've both seen it AND understood it ...if it can be deployed manually by pushing up and swinging the hooks ...
Then it can be accidently deployed by a pothole etc ....

The nuts should be tightened fully to clamp the whole assembly to the underbody ...
IF they weren't designed to be tightened then they wouldn't be nuts ...

As for the spare getting dirty ....

Seriously ...if that bothers you so much remove the spare and wrap it in a bin liner
Or just call the aa etc
 
mistericeman said:
I've both seen it AND understood it ...if it can be deployed manually by pushing up and swinging the hooks ...
Then it can be accidently deployed by a pothole etc ....

The nuts should be tightened fully to clamp the whole assembly to the underbody ...
IF they weren't designed to be tightened then they wouldn't be nuts ...

As for the spare getting dirty ....

Seriously ...if that bothers you so much remove the spare and wrap it in a bin liner
Or just call the aa etc
Click to expand...
doesn't bother me at all - as I don't have a wheel hanging down collected all the road filth :D

Ref the hook hanger .... guess we will have to disagree. I had no problems at all with mine and there are plenty of potholes here it was tested on ;)
the nuts are also here to accomodate different wheels for example. thinner tyre, you could tighten the nuts to raise the carrier for example. But no point in discussing further as you will never agree and vice-versa.
 
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