I'm thinking about having my wife's family steel fabrication shop work up a custom rear bumper - but 1 thing I notice is that most of you with custom rear bumpers with tire carriers have the spare tire on the right hand side. Why is this? Wouldn't it be less of a visual obstruction in the rear window if it was behind you on the drivers side?

I know when I pile boxes into the rear of the 4Runner I stack them higher behind me than in the passenger side of the cargo area - I feel like I'm not losing as much visually as when I have them piled higher or blocking more of the passenger side of the rear window.

Am I missing something as to why the tire shouldn't be on the Drivers side? The only thing I can guess is a weight issue with the gas tank also being on the driverside.


John

 

mine is on the right side...but, i dont see a reasoning behind it. i think it would be ok to go on either the left or right side..but..who knows

 

You're right about the visibility, behind the drivers side is better. For example, all VW camper vans have the closets etc behind the driver.
The main reason to decide what side to have the tire swing out is access to the rear keyhole. Being able to drop the window without swinging the carrier is convenient. The key on the 1st gens is on the right, so better to have the tire on the left. Also, chances are you will be unloading and moving things to the right toward the curb, so if the tire is there it gets in the way.

 

Hmmm... I always figured it would be to counterbalance the gas tank and the drivers weight while on the road.

 

Its so that when you pull over on the right hand side of the road, the tire swings to the right toward the side of the road, not out into traffic.

 

That is what I would say too...wouldn't want to get clipped while ubolting the spare from the carrier.

 

... so then would it be safe to assume that the asian models are on the opposite side?

 

Good Point! I think the Runners were all on the right weren't they? In US and Asia?

 

Bing,bing,bing,bing.... Johnny, tell em what he's won!!!!
That my friend, is EXACTLY why they are all on the right. You're pretty sharp for a guy with "867-5309, Jenny" running through his head constantly.

 

I think the engineers just flipped a coin. The ones in japan are on the right side too. Jeff the marmot pretty much stated the reasons why I put mine on the left in the ODW thread, but in a nutshell:

Better visibility out the rear, I can open the window with the keyhole, I don't have to walk around the carrier when I'm parallel parked.

 

Dammit! I just shook it you bastard! ARRRRGGHGHGH!

 

What'd I say? What'd I say?

 

Ring any bells?

 

I agree with the whole visability thing. But dajabr, I had two VW camper vans and the closets were both on the right side, but they were both 67' and a 69'. They may have changed it.

I am going to have mine built swinging down from the top, with the wheel covering the whole window. Because with my SPEED RACER 3.0, nobody will be able to catch up to me anyway!

 

Oh, that? Phhhhbbbbtt! Thats no problem. Just think of "Unchained".

 

They must have, my 84 vanagon had them on the left and my buddy's eurovan does too, I did see an old bus camper with them on the left, never on the right. Interesting. Anyway if the only reason to put on the right is traffic I'd still put it on the left. My 2 cents.

 

Ahhhhhhh! Much better now!!

 

Mine is hinged on the driver's side and the tire is on the driver's side so that I have some rear visibility when I drive in the city.

Jeff made some good points in the other thread, but the best reason that I have heard to hinge it on the passenger side is because that way when you are coming from the driver's seat, you don't have to walk around it.

I have a hold open stopper on it so that even it it swung open, the impact on the adjacent lane would be negligible.

 

Personally if I did it again, I would design the bumper so the 33" tire stayed under the truck. What I don't think anyone mentioned is that it is a pain in the but to open the rear tailgate. The tire under the truck would have also kept the center of gravity lower too.

You would have to move the little winch thing toward the back and design the main bar to accommodate the larger 33" tire under there.

But mine is on the passenger side, it's fine, not even really worth going into. Either side, flip a coin.


If/when the FJ-62 get a new rear bumper, that tire will stay under the Cruiser.

 

I posted the following on 4x4Wire and figured I'd copy it here.

Before I do, I will add that I don't think the traffic scenario holds any water. Among other things, you can always hold the carrier in place while you open the tailgate if you don't have the catch pin for it to stop straight back.

Anyway:

I guess I'll add my pocket change and am quite happy I can now do so on this matter. I think I am slightly regretting putting it on the passenger side. Too bad since it's real new. For me, the on-road obstruction isn't bad at all. In fact, it's a non-issue. I use my rear view mirror all the time and when passing other cars, their rate of travel can easily be monitored using the mirrors.

My only concern, as it was even before I had it built, was for off-road purposes. Backing down single lane trails, often shelf roads, creates the biggest difficulty for having the tire on the passenger side. Perhaps the biggest reason is because the right mirror isn't true as the driver's side is, thus making seeing things a little further away and requiring more focus and attention to what you're backing down. In those situations, I always looked at all 3 mirrors and through the back window seemingly every couple of feet. Now I can throw out the back window part of the equation as I can't see nothin'! A 1:1 ratio passenger mirror would help me greatly, I think. I have done a lot of backing up on the trails since I've had mine due to snow blockage, and though the view is something I would like to have back, I've done real well handling this.

I saw Adrian's new Rock Ware bumper a couple weekends ago when he came up and it looks pretty much just like mine--real slick! He did choose the driver side mounting, and also unlike mine, it doesn't swing out as far. It pretty much goes straight back and just enough room for the tailgate to swing down. Mine swings out at an angle. Either way works great.

I think one of the big things to consider on the tire carrier arm is to not make it go the distance of the bumper. You only need it to go as far as the tire basically. This means less leveraged weight on the hinge and more walking room around the thing. Personally, I love the look of the shorter arm, as you can really tell the smallness of the bumper in the area that's not covered, if that makes sense.

Reasons why I went with passenger side mounting:

1) The main reason was that I will walk from driver's side to the cargo area at camp packing/unpacking stuff etc. way more than vice versa. In retrospect, it's no big deal if it were mounted the other way.

2) Counteract the weight of the driver's side--me (solo traveler) and gas tank compensation. As it turns out, I lost ~.5" of lift on my right side and now sits identically with the left. With the ~120 pound unit, I didn't lose any lift on the left. Had I not gone this route, my driver's side would be sitting 1" lower than the right. Something to consider there.

Overall, I belive this to be personal preference. Whatever you think will work best for you. I hope the aforementioned items helps in making your decision. Personally, the only disadvatange I see with a driver's side mount, is the weight issue to that side.

As for how high the tire sits, Adrian was initially wanting it to sit higher, but has his at the same height as mine. I forget what he said as to why he went with the "standard" height. Maybe he'll chime in again some time. I kind of think it had to do with the explanation of more weight leverage on the vertical arms. I would think going taller would increase the tire vibrations/oscillations and potentially greater stress/wear on the welds, but maybe that is a non-issue, I don't know. As for clearance at that height, I don't think I'll see too much of that, if any, to where the tire will hit. If I do, I'll cross that bridge when I get there. I don't foresee myself being in those types of situations, but I also thought I wouldn't have done some of the stuff I've done and am planning to do, so we'll see.

I do know that I am still EXTREMELY happy with the way mine turned out. It is just awesome. I always find myself looking at those MT/R side lugs ALL THE TIME via the mirror just because they're so dang cool to look at! I actually need to spend more time looking at what's ahead of me! You can do this no matter which side you choose to have it mounted on! You do have to get a 5th MT/R though, John!

Good luck with your advances on this project, John.