The first thing I need to do is reply to a couple of readers comments from the last blog post.
Thank you Kevin TOO. Actually I have considered changing my name by deed poll from Tom Jones to Nobody Jones. As you will appreciate… Nobody is perfect!
Yes David, the wheel carrier includes No8 wire and duct tape. Still working out how to include the hay baling twine!
Now I wouldn’t want readers to think the spare wheel is held in place by the wire and ratchet strap. Today I lowered the wheel and took a photo. The main purpose for this was to wire brush and prime the welds.
Red arrows and letters for Pip on NB Oleanna
I’ve used some box section steel [C] as the load bearing member. I cut out a bottom section at each end [B] to give access to the welds. Two parallel angle bracket [A] have been welded to eliminate the potential for the wheel to rock on the retaining shaft.
The strength of the vertical securing bolt has been over engineered.
A slightly burred photo, but you can see drilled a hole thought the box steel member before cutting the top out. The allowed the head of the bolt to be welded to the inside top of the box section. The cut out portion was then reinstalled and welded. Finally the box steel has been welded to the trailer chassis cross member.
Raising and lowering the wheel using the ratchet strap works!
The next task is to fit the jerry can holders to the trailer. I’ve had a change of mind and decided they won’t be welded. Instead they will be bolted. This will enable me to replace one should it get damaged. However drilling the holes for the bolts meant I needed to drill around a corner. That’s where Lidl assisted.
A handy adaptor for drilling holes in confined spaces.
2 comments :
Hi Tom
Is that bolt the only fixing holding the wheel up when on the move or does it sit on a hinged cradle that the bolt holds up?
If its just the bolt going through the wheel center, i would have designed it so the bolt was dropped through the chassis from above and not welded in. That way should it fail in the field you can retrieve the wheel, drop in your spare bolt and off you go. By welding it you may have weakened it or possibly made it slightly brittle.
I see you can get an off the shelf winch for a spare wheel https://www.transitcenter.uk/spare-wheel-carrier-ford-transit-2000-p-4026.html
If you have the room and time i would go down the hinged cradle route, put the wheel on the cradle use your ratchet to lift it then bolt it up. More secure and could have a bash plate fitted to protect the spare as well
Hi Dave,
I can't drop the bolt in from above as that is where the trailer water tank is situated. I did look at purchasing a second hand winch mechanism similar to the one in your link. The problem was there wasn't room to access the winch mechanism between the wheel and the base of the trailer. Actually the bolt is far more substancial than the chain on the winch of the 4x4 spare wheel carrier. I did consider a hinged cradle, but again it was an issue of how to secure the cradle to the underside of the trailer. Of course I'm also trying to design something from the bits of scrap steel I have on hand!
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