- May 29, 2013
- 2,734
- 22,363
- Funster No
- 26,231
- MH
- Chausson best of Flash 10
- Exp
- Several years now
Like many on here I have been nervous about not having a spare wheel available on my MH.
Crawling about underneath my Chausson Flash Best of 10 with a tape measure quickly confirmed that there was no space big enough to fit a spare wheel underneath.
I considered fabricating a couple of new, smaller grey waste tanks, mounting them more forwards and tubing them together to replace the current tank which sits right at the back. But the amount of bother that would have been put me off real quick.
So next idea was to hang the spare wheel on the back of the MH. I looked at using the already fitted bike carriers, but I really did not like the idea of hanging 32k directly onto the back wall. It also occurred to me that you'd be lifting that amount of weight pretty high, not easy.
So the next plan was to fabricate a structure which would bolt to the chassis rails rather like a tow-bar, but just carry the spare wheel. The carrier was designed never to touch the back wall of the MH as I think there would be some relative sideways movement of the Hab wall and the chassis.
First off I made a 2 dimensional space model of the diameter of the wheel (bought from scrap yard to get the rim, so disregard the state of the tyre in the photos, new one will be bought) and stood it on the back of the MH to see if it would fit.
So it was a goer. I then bolted together some 3mm wall 75mm x 50mm section to 5mm x 50mm x 50mm angle, attached the 3mm wall 50mm x 25mm uprights and got them professionally welded (I'm OK with tacking stuff, but needed these joints to be perfect).
This then slid into the chassis rails.
I then made a small plate out of 3mm thick and had the mounting spigot and bolts welded on. This is removable as the back of our MH is literally an inch from the gate and people pass close by, no chance of leaving the spare wheel on so might as well take the mounting plate off as well (more on this bit later).
And with a wheel on.
After getting it all powder coated.
Into position
And finished
Well not quite finished !! I'm thinking of dropping the upright heights by about 2" as even at the present height to lift the wheel to just about chin height it not easy, (tho I'm guessing it's a lot easier than trying to haul it out from an under chassis mounting), so 2" lower might be a lot better.
I'm also thinking of adding a third upright to the right of the present two, by using the idea of the removable bit which the wheel hangs on, I could make a removable bits which carries say two jerry cans or a large extra luggage box. The MH might get re-named as Thunderbird 2 !!
It was a fiddly job to get all the measurements correct, but a stroke of luck was that there is exactly 25mm space behind the number plate recess to take the 25mm thick upright metals !!
Crawling about underneath my Chausson Flash Best of 10 with a tape measure quickly confirmed that there was no space big enough to fit a spare wheel underneath.
I considered fabricating a couple of new, smaller grey waste tanks, mounting them more forwards and tubing them together to replace the current tank which sits right at the back. But the amount of bother that would have been put me off real quick.
So next idea was to hang the spare wheel on the back of the MH. I looked at using the already fitted bike carriers, but I really did not like the idea of hanging 32k directly onto the back wall. It also occurred to me that you'd be lifting that amount of weight pretty high, not easy.
So the next plan was to fabricate a structure which would bolt to the chassis rails rather like a tow-bar, but just carry the spare wheel. The carrier was designed never to touch the back wall of the MH as I think there would be some relative sideways movement of the Hab wall and the chassis.
First off I made a 2 dimensional space model of the diameter of the wheel (bought from scrap yard to get the rim, so disregard the state of the tyre in the photos, new one will be bought) and stood it on the back of the MH to see if it would fit.
So it was a goer. I then bolted together some 3mm wall 75mm x 50mm section to 5mm x 50mm x 50mm angle, attached the 3mm wall 50mm x 25mm uprights and got them professionally welded (I'm OK with tacking stuff, but needed these joints to be perfect).
This then slid into the chassis rails.
I then made a small plate out of 3mm thick and had the mounting spigot and bolts welded on. This is removable as the back of our MH is literally an inch from the gate and people pass close by, no chance of leaving the spare wheel on so might as well take the mounting plate off as well (more on this bit later).
And with a wheel on.
After getting it all powder coated.
Into position
And finished
Well not quite finished !! I'm thinking of dropping the upright heights by about 2" as even at the present height to lift the wheel to just about chin height it not easy, (tho I'm guessing it's a lot easier than trying to haul it out from an under chassis mounting), so 2" lower might be a lot better.
I'm also thinking of adding a third upright to the right of the present two, by using the idea of the removable bit which the wheel hangs on, I could make a removable bits which carries say two jerry cans or a large extra luggage box. The MH might get re-named as Thunderbird 2 !!
It was a fiddly job to get all the measurements correct, but a stroke of luck was that there is exactly 25mm space behind the number plate recess to take the 25mm thick upright metals !!
