Community Forums

BradBev · 05-09-2015, 12:13 AM

For our Alaska trip, I was thinking of strapping a couple of unmounted tires On the rear corners of the roof. Good or bad idea?

Thoughts?

the_vfox · 05-09-2015, 03:22 AM

I would not do it. That is allot of weight bouncing around on the roof. Unless it is designed for storage, I would put them in the bed of the truck.

dw8ite · 05-09-2015, 07:56 AM

Rubber roof: No way. Fiberglass or Rhino roof: maybe. How about mounting them to a cargo tray mounted to your rear hitch?

BradBev · 05-09-2015, 09:47 AM

Thought I'd said but apparently not. It is fiberglass. "Limited". I'll check out cargo carrier option. Harbor Freight has them on sale frequently but was reserving the receiver in back for bike carrier.

lyncjim · 05-09-2015, 03:24 PM

I have 2006 limited and I have carried my blue tank on rear corner of roof many years. I made mounting bracket out of thin( 14 or 12 ga) stainless steel ( so would not rust) steel would be ok. It was 1 1/2 or 2 in wide strap about 3 1/2 or 4 in long. I drilled two small holes in one end of the strap and one large hole in the other end of strap. Then I fast end strap to side of 14 in x 14 in vent down through fiberglass into vent wood frame. And bent strap up so that I could put racket strap through the big hole. The I put other end racket strap to roof railing.

rockintom · 05-09-2015, 06:11 PM

Jim......I bet you looked like the Beverly Hillbillies going down the road!!! (Smiley emotion not working again) Ha.

Just FYI, with the change of the fiberglass roof lines in the later years (2009 forward, I think) they do have the roof rails anymore. I miss mine. They claim that with the new sleek roof line it looked funny.

BradBev · 05-11-2015, 03:05 AM

Climbed up on the roof to measure for solar panels and saw that putting tires up there was not an option. The sat TV dome and the TV antenna were in the way.

Harbor Freight has their 500 lb. aluminum carrier on sale that attaches to the receiver in the back of the trailer. Bought one to store misc junk for trip.

dw8ite · 05-11-2015, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BradBev

Climbed up on the roof to measure for solar panels and saw that putting tires up there was not an option. The sat TV dome and the TV antenna were in the way.

Harbor Freight has their 500 lb. aluminum carrier on sale that attaches to the receiver in the back of the trailer. Bought one to store misc junk for trip.

I did this once so here is a tip. Buy a used innertube for the unmounted tire. Insert it into the tire cavity and slightly inflate it to keep rain water out.

Don

rockintom · 05-11-2015, 09:55 AM

Don, what a great idea.....and here I thought you were just another pretty face!!! Ha!

BradBev · 05-11-2015, 01:03 PM

That is a great idea! I'll start scrounging.

rfhtlh · 05-11-2015, 05:37 PM

we went to Alaska in 2008 without taking any extra tires. if your tires are fairly new, I would not think you would have any problems if you drive sensibly and take your time. we saw some people driving way too fast for the roads and they are the ones that probably have problems. we spent a total of 4 months driving in Alaska and Canada.

drfife · 05-11-2015, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BradBev

...Harbor Freight has their 500 lb. aluminum carrier on sale that attaches to the receiver in the back of the trailer. Bought one to store misc junk for trip.

Does it fit into the receiver and not interfere with the ladder on the Excel? Or did you get an extension to get it to work?

chief02 · 05-11-2015, 08:24 PM

I had to extend the tube on my carrier to clear the ladder

BradBev · 05-16-2015, 10:06 AM

You had me worried because I'd already bought the carrier from Harbor Freight (#60771), list $100, sale $75 with the Mother's day coupon.

Assembled this morning and fits perfectly.

I'll cut some plywood for the base to help distribute loads.

I don't know how standardized the distance from center of hitch to ladder is, but in this case, center of receiver to edge of carrier is 24 5/8. This gives me about 1 1/4 inch clearance between ladder and carrier.