Spare Tire Rack

I took the TM to the tire shop to get the tires balanced and at the same time I had them balance the spare. Getting the spare off of the rack under the TM was a breeze. When we went to put it back on, it took Myself the Tire Technician and my grandson, to get the rack back into position to be secured.

I noticed that the inner tubes of the spare tire rack seem to be made out of some kind of light weight metal tubing and they are coated with some kind of plastic film which was tearing off everytime we tried to slide the carrier back into position. In the process of sliding the carrier back into place I also noticed that there was an extreme curve in the light weight tubes and also a kink in the right hand inner tube. Anybody else having this problem with the carrier?? Any suggestions on how to fix this .

The tire rack is a great Idea, but in 90 + weather in the full sun trying to get this thing back in position I nearly had a heart attack getting it put back together.

revmrbill
Site Sponsor Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Foley, Alabama
Posts: 39

3023 tire rack solved




I called TM and Ed went right out to the factory to check and came back with the answer that they do not put any type of film on the galvanized pipes, and according to the mfg process it should not be doing what it is doing and said for me to lubricate it with a non sticky grease.

So after I got home from work today I went out to the TM and started taking the spare tire holder apart and because the tubes were bent I had a heck of a time getting the rack off. After I got it off I used the galvanized tubes in reverse to see what was going on, and lo and behold I think the problem is solved.

On one side of the tire rack the galv tube would only go in about 26" before it encountered an obstruction, the other side slide in a full 48" even with a bow in it.

So I took the one that went in short and coated it with some heavy grease and pushed it in until it stopped at the obstruction and then had to force it the rest of the way.

When I took it out, the grease showed two perfect straight lines about 1/4 " apart that started at the 26" mark, this happens to be the spot where the brace for the tire is welded and where the tire is bolted on.

I began looking at the tire rack to see what might be causing the obstruction and as I was looking at the weld on the short side I saw where the weld had blown thru the black tubing at approx 26" which was causing the obstruction.

I called Ed back at TM and explained the situation to him and he conferred with mfg and agreed that this is probably what the problem is and he took all my pertinent information model, serial number etc and told me he could do the fix in one of two ways ship a NEW Spare Tire rack to my dealer (800 miles away) or ship it to me if I felt comfortable intalling it. I told him it would not be a problem for me to instal(since I already took it apart). He then said ok it will be in UPS tomorrow after they double checked the new one to make sure there is no problem and then apologized for the problem.

WOW!!!! What a GREAT COMPANY to work with, I thanked him and Trailmanor for looking after their customers.

I am going to post this in a thread with some pictures in hopes that this will help others who may experience the same problem

(By the way the stuff that was scraping off the Galvanized tubes was glue and tape from where they receive them in a bundle and apparently they were not cleaned before they were cut and drilled.)

Ya gotta love service like that! Hope I never have any "issues" with my TM, but its good to know the factory has got you covered if you do.

[OneMoBear]

So, we're too old to bend the spare tire rack but we did. We have upgraded to 15" so we'll take some of the credit, but really. We should not be able to bend this. We can do it, they can help. Insert some rebar and there you go!

[tentcamper]

I also had an issue. I ended dropping the tire PSI and after installing the spare pumped it back up.

[OneMoBear]

We do that as well :-)

[Padgett]

Spare tire rack seem designed for about a 185 tire. My spare is a replacement but stock size 215x75x14 and didn't fit either. Since I always carry tools I just hung it on a pair of bolts with self-locking nuts and gained the half inch needed..

ps I always use stainless.