You know that *thump* when going over speed bumps or road imperfections? It 's the spare.

1.5" foam doubled up on the rear, and a single layer on the cross bar did it for me!

 

Well, that was a temporary fix
The foam compacted/hardened and not so foamy now at all.

Anybody else have any other ideas?
I spent an hour today strolling Home Depot and Sears hardware for *anything* that might fix it, even was eyeing metal springs

The *thump* is driving me nuts!:cry:

 

Try something a bit more sturdy yet flexible like rubber as your cushioning, old garden hose, heavy duty weatherstripping, etc.

Try putting your spare in the cargo area and using tie downs.

Take your spare off period when around town except for out of town trips or wheeling trips.

 

And then you run over a nail or get a blow out and you can have fun hanging out on the side of the road waving at people like a clown. A clown with no spare.:pat:

 

Thus the invention of AAA and a cell phone...and notice my edit above.

 

Taking it out would be the ideal situation, but I've had flats even in the Home Depot parking lot :cry: On a trail I'll probably manage to put a hole in all 5 tires

What I think would work is something that will retain its shape, and return to "expanded" state very quickly, i.e. when going over the bump that spare can stretch the spring loaded mounting cable and slam back into its place in a matter of 1/10 of a second.

Is this *thump* even common or should I just tighten it more?

 

when mine thumps, I hop out and give the crank another 1/8-1/4 turn. that usually fixes it for me for good. Mine doesn't thumb regularly, only when I don't tighten it enough to begin with.