SAlexander Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 This weeks little project was to move the spare wheel out of the garage in my Rapido 640. It was never properly secured and took up a load of space, plus it was never an ideal location to have the 26Kg wheel/tyre sitting so far behind the rear axle. I did a bit of measuring and established that the spare would fit under the van between two crossmembers. I managed a buy an unused standard Fiat spare wheel carrier on eBay for a good price, this is effectively a little winch mechanism that lifts the spare into place (those who have a panel van conversion will be familiar with these). Did a bit of designing, bought some steel rectangular hollow section, added various bits of steel plate from my existing 'stock' - and after a lot of cutting, welding and trial fitting - ended up with the mount shown (hopefully) in the photos. Pleased with the result. The weight of the spare is now better distributed between the axles and I now have a tidier garage! The weight of the new mounting beam and carrier mechanism came in at only 7.9Kg, so not too much extra. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyboyprowler Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 No Piccys, and I would be interested to see the result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 Nice job, but (IIRC) it is not unheard of for these winch cables to fail and the spare wheel to fall off so I would suggest adding a security cable to prevent this happening and also prevent any light fingered passer by from 'borrowing' your spare wheel! Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witzend Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 When I bought a fiat ducato van sometime ago there was a recall by Fiat where they replaced the spare wheel winch because it was common for it to fail dropping the spare wheel ever since they keep coming up on ebay so be sure you have the newer one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebishbus Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 Sometime ago,I was cycling home in a country lane from one of our club rides.A Fiat van passed me with its spare wheel dragging behind and swinging from side to side. Fortunately it missed me but half a mile down the lane there it was,a new spare wheel in the middle of th lane. Brian B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAlexander Posted April 6, 2020 Author Share Posted April 6, 2020 All very confidence inspiring comments chaps :-D The carrier is new and unused and came from a new van, can't remember why it was removed. I've had the same spare wheel carrier on two previous motorhomes, a 2006 Trigano and a 2011 Adria. In spite of quite a few years of road crud, salt and rain neither of the carriers failed. I can imagine that in older vehicles the steel cable could indeed corrode and fail though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2GB Racing Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 Having just gone through a similar process, make sure that your wire cable / wheel Centre lifting plate is the correct size for your wheel Centre bore 118 or 130 pcd etc. Also the pressure plate that the actual tyre presses against when in the transport position is important in design if you have made your own then perhaps check that all is in order Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAlexander Posted April 6, 2020 Author Share Posted April 6, 2020 Yes, the carrier is for 15inch wheels. The reason for the second forward facing 'leg' on the mounting beam is to ensure the wheel has a more stable platform to sit on. The three downward facing 'fingers' are angled to guide the wheel into position and to provide longitudinal and lateral support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 SAlexander - 2020-04-06 4:54 PM All very confidence inspiring comments chaps :-D The carrier is new and unused and came from a new van, can't remember why it was removed. I've had the same spare wheel carrier on two previous motorhomes, a 2006 Trigano and a 2011 Adria. In spite of quite a few years of road crud, salt and rain neither of the carriers failed. I can imagine that in older vehicles the steel cable could indeed corrode and fail though. It was a faulty batch of carriers for early x250's, not because of age. https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Fiat-spare-wheel-recall/26949/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2GB Racing Posted April 7, 2020 Share Posted April 7, 2020 The one I recently purchased of e-bay was new, boxed, from Italy and has the yellow marker behind the clear window and the correct size Centre bore / pcd lifting plate, so I can sleep easy now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted April 7, 2020 Share Posted April 7, 2020 SAlexander - 2020-04-06 12:18 PM This weeks little project was to move the spare wheel out of the garage in my Rapido 640. It was never properly secured and took up a load of space, plus it was never an ideal location to have the 26Kg wheel/tyre sitting so far behind the rear axle... The Rapido 640 model was not available with a spare wheel as standard or as an option, so it would be interesting to know how you were transporting yours in your 640’s garage before moving it to beneath the motorhome. I’ve attached a photo of a Rapido 640F’s garage. I carry a spare wheel positioned upright against the bulkhead on the right in the photo. The wheel sits on the ‘shelf’ shown in the photo and is held firmly in place by a home-made massively over-engineered mount. My 640F has 15” wheels and 215/70 R15CP Michelin “Agilis Camping” tyres (including the one on the spare wheel) and the distance between the shelf and the garage’s ceiling is only just sufficient for the spare wheel to be fitted. I had to relocate the cheapo garage light (visible in the photo) and linked an LED lighting strip to it to illuminate the rear of the garage. At least in the garage the spare wheel stays clean and is easily accessible in an emergency, and its impact on weight distribution does not bother me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John52 Posted April 7, 2020 Share Posted April 7, 2020 I've got a bolt (the type used in wire fencing) straight through my spare wheel and the floor, so it doesn't matter whether the carrier holds it up or not. The mechanism is only used for raising the wheel before it is secured with the bolt. With the locknut on the inside it prevents the wheel being stolen as well. As I recall, we never found out whether the missing spare wheels had fallen off or been stolen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliB Posted April 7, 2020 Share Posted April 7, 2020 I did a similar fitting a few years ago on my Swift 630L. There is no garage or other obvious place to carry a spare wheels. On the rare occasion I crawled under the vehicle to inspect the underside I noticed some of the locating points for the standard Fiat spare wheel carrier were present. Purchased one online but as the vehicle is on the Maxi chassis with 16" wheels I could not find a cheap second hand wheel. Eventual found a place in Manchester that offered a good price for a new wheel and tyre. Job done. I have read that the winding mechanism can often seize as it is exposed to the elements. I always make sure it is greased at its annual service. Although I get the local garage to do that now as I would be tempting fate with my dodgy back crawling under the vehicle. I know I would not be able to extract the spare wheel if I had a puncture. It is very heavy to lift out of the cradle when lying on one's back. I'll leave that to the rescue crew. For that reason I do not carry a jack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted April 7, 2020 Share Posted April 7, 2020 Employing the Fiat 'windlass’ spare-wheel raising/lowering mechanism on a coachbuilt motorhome with an AL-KO chassis was described here (with plentiful photos) in 2013. https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Hints-and-Tips/Spare-wheel-carrier-for-Alko-heavy-chassis-D-I-Y/30732/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John52 Posted April 7, 2020 Share Posted April 7, 2020 AliB - 2020-04-07 10:48 AM It is very heavy to lift out of the cradle when lying on one's back. One doesn't need to lift anything whilst lying on one's back. The winding rope should be long enough to drag it out from under the van, with the cradle still attached Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 My first two coachbuilt motorhomes (both Ford Transit based) had the spare-wheel mounted beneath the chassis with a cable-operated raising/lowering mechanism similar to that used on Ducatos. As you rightly say, the mechanism’s cable needs to be long enough to allow the spare-wheel to be dragged from under the motorhome sufficiently far for the cable to be detached from the wheel (as shown in attached photo.) At home I used to put an old rug beneath the motorhome, lower the wheel on to the rug and then drag the rug with the wheel lying on top of it. Putting the wheel back involved carefully positioning the rug beneath the motorhome, putting the wheel on the rug and then winding it back in place as I shoved the wheel across the rug. (Wind a bit, shove a bit, wind a bit, etc.) This was a reasonably straightforward task when there was no hurry, and I was also able to change a wheel in France when a tyre valve failed. But I did not relish the challenge and one of the attractions of the Rapido 640F model was that it had a rear garage that could accommodate a spare-wheel where it would be easily accessible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 Photo (Not a very good one!) attached of my Rapido 640F’s garage showing the spare-wheel’s position. As will be seen, there’s now a ‘double floor’, with the items I rarely use - external windscreen cover and grip mats - kept in the lower area. The thing on the left with the black/red straps is a bag containing levelling blocks. Although not visible, the leisure-battery is on the far side of the spare-wheel in a sturdy enclosed box (with an easily removable top) that protects it from potential damage from stuff stored within the garage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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