'05 SX230 Custom Spare Tire Carrier

[mntnresq58]

I've had my boat for about 2 months, and am loving it for the most part. I've done a few other mods to the boat itself, but the first thing I needed to do was find a way to manage the trailer spare. The previous owner never had it attached to the trailer in any way- he kept it in the garage, and just threw it either in the boat, or the back of his truck when they went out, which isn't practical at all to me.

I'm not a fan of the aftermarket clamp on style carriers that stick out to the side at some funky angle, and then you run into it all the time. So, I started looking for another solution.

I knew I wanted to have it attached to the trailer in some way, but that maximized the space available and kept it out of the way. I did some measuring, and "mock up" by holding the tire up in various places around the trailer to see where it would fit best. There is a lot of room in the front of the trailer, kind of under the bow of the boat, but finding ways to mount it that didn't stick out, or down below the trailer wasn't going to be easy without some more major fabrication.

Then I hit on the idea of mounting it to the winch tower under the winch, which looked like it could work. My tower is still (for now) just bolted on, but that worked to my advantage. There is a bolt on the bottom facing the boat which seemed like a good spot to be able to tie into. I found an old U shaped bracket I had laying around, got a 10" long 1/2" eye bolt, and made up a plate and nut that could just suck the tire up against the tower and frame cross brace. In theory.
That kind of worked, but after one trip down the highway to the lake, the tire was nearly dragging on the ground. Even with tightening the nut with a wrench instead of the big T nut I 3d printed, it still couldn't hold it up. So, I had to add a way to support the tire below.

I grabbed a piece of 2x3 angle I had laying around, and cut a piece to span the frame rails below where the tire sat. I put the long side of the angle horizontal so the tire had more to sit on, and notched the vertical to fit between the rails so I could weld it on both the bottom and the vertical edge. I had to nip one corner off on the port side, to clear the mount for the tongue jack, but not a big deal, there is still plenty of weld surface to support the ~40lb of tire.

I drilled a few drainage holes into the inside corner, and burned it in. Then just slathered it in about 5 coats of Rustoleum and let it dry.

Now the tire is nice and solid, and tucked out of the way (this pic is from before the brace, but it sits just the same). One final thing I need to do is move the safety cable up above the tire, under the winch plate, instead of running it through the tire like it is now. I don't know that the cable would cut if it were to be loaded the way it is now, but it's an easy fix. I'll do that when I weld the tower in at the end of the season.

That's about it, I did a couple other minor mods- Swapped out all the lights for LEDs and added a reverse lights, and replaced the aluminum diamond plate steps (which were getting pretty rusty underneath due to trapped water) with some generic SeaDeck. I'm probably also going to add some guide poles to the back of the trailer to make landing easier.

 

[drewkaree]

I'm not a fan of the aftermarket clamp on style carriers that stick out to the side at some funky angle, and then you run into it all the time.

Congrats, always good to hear people enjoying their boat! I agree with you, finding a spot for the spare every time out sounds like a nightmare. For those who can't or don't weld, I only want to point out that running into the spare all the time with the clamp on carriers is a complete non-issue.

I wish the newer trailers had your winch post setup, so I could use the top as a step, but I suppose that's a "retrograde" for when I'm done with everything else I want to do ?

Adding guide posts made a huge difference in helping to land the boat, definitely a great idea, and please share your reverse light addition, I'm sure many would be interested in seeing that, great mod for dusk/dark retrievals

 

[mntnresq58]

For those who can't or don't weld, I only want to point out that running into the spare all the time with the clamp on carriers is a complete non-issue.

I wish the newer trailers had your winch post setup, so I could use the top as a step, but I suppose that's a "retrograde" for when I'm done with everything else I want to do ?

Adding guide posts made a huge difference in helping to land the boat, definitely a great idea, and please share your reverse light addition, I'm sure many would be interested in seeing that, great mod for dusk/dark retrievals

Well, I honestly can't say how it would be with the clamp on style, as I don't have one, but since I have already bashed my shins on the tongue jack when folded, which sticks out even less- I don't know that my experience would be the same. Regardless, I don't like the way they look, which was enough for me. I would, however, ideally like to have two spares for the trailer, which will mean some more fabrication at some point. I think I know how I want that to go, but need to play with it some more.

I have seen a few folks on here who have switched to the nicer Attwood winches which have sort of a built-in step on top of them, which could be nice to have. I have indeed used mine as a step when boarding from the front on the trailer. When I do the final positioning and weld in the tower, I intend to add an angled brace on the front side to give it more strength, and will probably add another lower step to that.

I'll have to get some pics of my trailer lights setup, I didn't really take any, I'll probably create a separate post for that.