Spare Tire

SilverFox2021

Good afternoon- I love love to hear some thoughts on carrying a spare tire. Is it better to carry your full size spare tire for the Tab 320S Boondock on the front basket or carry it behind on the Yakima rack? I am not sure how the difference will affect towing and the tongue weight. Thanks 

MuttonChops

If the T@B was empty (at dry weight) the spare on the rear rack might/would slightly reduce the tongue weight while the opposite would happen if the spare was mounted in the front.

Real-world with a T@B loaded for camping I doubt the spare position will have any noticeable effect (unless you can magically ideally balance your camping gear load front-2-rear).

So suspect the real question/issue is spare tire access.  If you ever do need to use the spare how comfortable/capable are you to lower the 45# spare from the rear rack which is at or above shoulder height for most folks - - - while being parked on the side of a busy highway?

I mounted the spare on the Front

Sharon_is_SAM

We carry our spare in the rear boot of the minivan.  Just another idea.

GatorEgg

My trailer is a 2018.  The only time the spare has been down from the Yakima rack was when I took it down for practice.  That was 3 years ago.  Mine stays “up there”.

SilverFox2021

Thanks for all the help!!!

CrabTab

A couple of thoughts on location of the spare @SilverFox2021

As @MuttonChops mentioned, putting the spare on the Yakima racks could be difficult. My Boondock spare weighs 57lbs. I'm a retired FB coach too and a pretty big human. At my age, holding that tire high enough with outstreched arms to place it on the back of the trailer, while roadside, might be dubious.

Also, I was told they started putting the spare at the front of the trailer in 2019 to better balance tongue weight for towing.

Here is a link to some data I collected about tongue weight on our 2019 Boondock...

https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/11535/what-i-think-ive-learned-about-tongue-weight-on-a-320#latest

gulfarea

I posted my way of solving the spare tire problem earlier and have another good point that I also learned. The spare tire that was on the front of my 320 weighs just a little more than the Honda 22000 gen I replaced it with. Now with several trips behind me I am sure glad I did it. Instead of carrying a heavy spare that I my never need, I carry a generator in its place. You can look up my earlier post which is where I use the T@B tire for a spare on the Jeep for BOTH the Jeep and the T@B only carrying 1 spare and it is on the Jeep where it is easily accessible! They make wheel adapters for most cars. Art