boot rack spare wheel holder

[shadow]

right, done a mod to carry a spare wheel as me and the wife are going on a tour of france (south coast) next summer for 3 weeks journey which should be around 3k miles in total and did'nt want to travel with just a bottle of gunk, i managed to buy a boot rack off flea bay for £20 bargin or what .
the intension was to carry a spare in the boot and put the luggage on the rack, i then got thinking why not put the spare on the rack and the luggage in the boot so set about making a bracket,




i have a spare full set of alloys that i'm in the middle of referbing so fitting off the car and measuring was easier


secured in place with 19mm locking nuts

protection when wheel taken off

all can be removed in less than 5 mins just leaving the H bracket in place for luggage as designed. just waiting for the wheel cover to arrive then it will be fitted to the car on a sunny day with the roof down for some proper pics of it in situ.

[GrandadMonkey]

Looks like a useful modification. Our space-saver spare sits belted-in permanently in the passenger seat behind the driver. We rarely remove our wind deflector so it cannot be seen from outside.

Will you be using a locking wheel nut as a precaution against theft?

[Capncol]

I must admit that the one thing that I don't like about the 'CC is the lack of spare wheel. That's a neat solution.
How is the "H" bracket fixed to the rails? Are the gas struts strong enough to hold bootlid open with wheel in place?

[shadow]

Looks like a useful modification. Our space-saver spare sits belted-in permanently in the passenger seat behind the driver. We rarely remove our wind deflector so it cannot be seen from outside.

Will you be using a locking wheel nut as a precaution against theft?

trying to source one at the moment but i have another idea yet to try.

[shadow]

I must admit that the one thing that I don't like about the 'CC is the lack of spare wheel. That's a neat solution.
How is the "H" bracket fixed to the rails? Are the gas struts strong enough to hold bootlid open with wheel in place?

the H bracket is held on by 5mm rivets (the wheel is resting on the rack) so no weight issue whith that, the boot stays up once fully open but i think i will have to upgrade the struts as it would'nt take much for it to slam down, putting the roof down while in situ is a no no at the moment not sure the hydrolics for the boot would take it but i can live with it at the moment.
this is just my prototype and i,m already planning a few changes for a kit based system without rivets and having the H bracket chromed etc it just depends on intrest and how far to take it.

[gazza82]

Might catch on! What's the rear visibility like through the rear mirror?









PS They make my blood boil. No not you shadow ... Clip on weights on alloys!! I've just had to clean up and respray two wheels due to these ... loads of corrosion where the lacquer and paint is damaged ... stick-on weights aren't that difficult to fit! Sorry, rant over

[shadow]

Might catch on! What's the rear visibility like through the rear mirror?










PS They make my blood boil. No not you shadow ... Clip on weights on alloys!! I've just had to clean up and respray two wheels due to these ... loads of corrosion where the lacquer and paint is damaged ... stick-on weights aren't that difficult to fit! Sorry, rant over

[shadow]

visabilty is better than i thought, you can see trafffic to the left and right of the wheel but thats it, i'm a class 1 lorry driver (well used to be but office bound now) so used to just using door mirrors and with the added reversing sensors with distance indicator theres no problem with parking.

agree about the weights aswell but once the set is referbed they will be having the stick on ones, the smart car i had before this had the rim less alloys so had to have the stick on type and never lost a weight in 10 years.