spare tire

[bouterse]

Why are most of the spare tires offset from centre on the rear bumper? I wouldn't think they would be in the way of the bike-rack hitch.

Jack

[Brian B-P]

Just a guess, but are you thinking of specifically the 17' or 21' models? The battery is on one end of the back bumper of the 17' (for appropriate weight balance) so I can see mounting the tire toward the other end. The 21' spare also looks off-centre to the curb side; perhaps that's to balance the battery (or batteries)... I'm told they're inside under the rear dinette on that model - are they on the street side? The other models look pretty well centred to me.

[JohnB]

Our 15 has the bike rack ready and the spare tire is offset as can be seen in photo.
It looks like there is a bolt that goes through the bumper as part of the spare tire mount.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by JohnB

Our 15 has the bike rack ready and the spare tire is offset as can be seen in photo.
It looks like there is a bolt that goes through the bumper as part of the spare tire mount.

Nice detail photo - thanks John.

That mounting hardware certainly requires some offset... although not very much.

One ETI photo of the 21'- 21Escape_rear_drivers_side_ext.jpg - shows much more offset than needed for the bracket. There must be adifferent reason for that, but ETI's posted photo isn't as detailed as John's so I can't see the attachment structure.

[Jrn56]

The spare on our 19 with bike rack is offset just like John's. I think they should have put the Escape decal to the left of the tire where there is more room.

[dave macrae]

I will be have the spare tire under the bed in the front of our 21. That way Over all length will still fit in our 20 ft storage stall ( sort of ) . the 21 with out tire is onlt slightly longer than a 19 with one. If I have to go to a 30 ft stall its alot more money a month. But I suspect the off set is to accomidate the bike rack ready option.

[bouterse]

Thanks for the info guys. We are ordering our 19 without the bike hitch, so I assume the spare will be centre mounted. We have a bike rack on the front of our current trailer, which we will be installing on the Escape 19.

Jack

[Jubal]

We did not order the bike rack ready option on our 2013 Escape 19. A 2" receiver was welded to the rear frame requiring the spare tire support mounting offset to the right.

[bouterse]

I assumed the bike ready option was the 2" receiver. Does it perhaps include something else?

Jack

[JohnB]

My assumption was the same as yours bouterse.
I think the receiver also requires an additional horizontal member to support the front end of the 2" receiver?
Perhaps Jubal got a free receiver due to oversight at time of frame fabrication?

[KLRchickie]

The 17B in my driveway, with 2" receiver for bike rack, and dual 6V batteries, has the spare tire mount centred on the rear bumper.

[tractors1]

Has anyone requested a spare mounted under the tongue? Lance is one of the makers doing that - makes it very easy to use the spare and a leaves a clean looking posterior.

[gbaglo]

I don't see how that would be easier, or cleaner. I presume you would have to remove weight distribution hitch bars to access the wheel, and lay on your back to lower it? It would also add substantially to the tongue weight.

[tractors1]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

I don't see how that would be easier, or cleaner. I presume you would have to remove weight distribution hitch bars to access the wheel, and lay on your back to lower it? It would also add substantially to the tongue weight.

Depends on the design. No need to do anything like that on a Lance trailer, just unlock the support bar underneath the tire from above the A-frame and lower it.

I've sent Escape a request to implement on my trailer, we'll see where it goes.

[Buddy]

Our 17B has a 12 volt system with the battery mounted on the passenger side of the rear bumper with the spare tire offset to the drivers side. Just one more little complication to deal with should I decide to convert over to 2 6 volt batteries. Will need to centre the tire and put a battery box on each side.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by tractors1

Has anyone requested a spare mounted under the tongue?

Originally Posted by gbaglo

I presume you would have to remove weight distribution hitch bars to access the wheel, and lay on your back to lower it?

If I were to do this, I would probably use a spare winch like a pickup truck or my van - no laying underneath required. I would be concerned about road clearance, even with a 19' or 21' - between the frame rails under the rear floor behind the water tank might be an option if there is enough fore-aft room.

Originally Posted by gbaglo

It would also add substantially to the tongue weight.

I agree: moving 50 pounds from well behind the axle to far ahead of it would add perhaps 70 pounds to the tongue weight (very roughly).

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by KLRchickie

The 17B in my driveway, with 2" receiver for bike rack, and dual 6V batteries, has the spare tire mount centred on the rear bumper.

I was thinking of the single-battery 17... of course the dual-battery has this nearly symmetric configuration. Is the spare tire mount exactly centred, or just a couple inches off? If exactly centred, it must be fastened differently from the example shown earlier (which is possible - details change with time).

[KLRchickie]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

I was thinking of the single-battery 17... of course the dual-battery has this nearly symmetric configuration. Is the spare tire mount exactly centred, or just a couple inches off? If exactly centred, it must be fastened differently from the example shown earlier (which is possible - details change with time).

Centred.
There is a square tube a few inches above the 2" receiver tube - the upper tube is where the tire carrier is mounted.

[Jim Bennett]

A spare on the tongue would likely have an adverse affect on hitch weight, what with removing the weight from the rear, and adding it to the front. Some balancing would likely be necessary.

[tractors1]

With a WDH rebalancing shouldn't be a huge issue as long as the tongue weight doesn't exceed TV ratings. Half a tank of fresh water should balance things close enough.