15 replies to this topic

[Tom Hampton]

Hi all -

I'm looking to build a tire rack for my 18', wood deck open trailer. I've looked at a ton of pics on Google images.

The general plan is a welded steel H-style rack, 30" off the deck or so, to leave room for tool storage. Also, I plane to make it bolt to the trailer rails rather than weld it permanently.

I'm going to check my tongue weight to see how much leeway I have with car fore / aft placement.

Are there any other design considerations, or features that improve the basic concepts?

[Kevin B]

Tom,

 

Sounds similar to mine.

You've probably already thought of this but it's helpful to make your "axle" locking bar free to move vertically somewhat in its carrier/frame to accomodate different diameter wheels/tires.  I'll post pics if that's not clear.

[Tom Hampton]

Thanks, Kevin.

 

Yes, I'm planning on two parallel bars spaced 1 - 1 1/2" apart, with appropriately sized keepers attached to the axle to prevent it from sliding through the bars.   I was planning on making it tall enough  to accommodate 17" wheels (not needed for SM, obviously, but 2" of steel is way easier to add now).

[Keith Novak]

I boutght one from a dirt track driver who used theirs as a spotting tower.  Much too high so I've been developing plans for how to modify it as my welding skills improve.  Puttomg a tool box in front of the car can be handy but the truck box style tend to be wider than the track width of a Miata.  Strapping the car down from the wheels and planning out where the D-rings go can avoid this problem.  You will want to make the rack high enough to open the tool box and not just clear the nose of the car.  If you want to put a winch on the trailer however, the tool box is right in the middle of your winch cable path.  The tool box either goes up to make more room for the winch or cable, or you mount the winch behind the tool box and the car goes further aft (or just ditch the winch idea and count on friends to help load the car on the trailer if the car is broke.)

[Tom Hampton]

Thanks, Keith.  

 

I'm only planning on putting the tires up 30-36" off the deck.  I didn't want to put the tires much higher than that, for the obvious structural and aero reasons.  

 

Yes, I'm using wheel straps.  I bought the Mac's pro-pack wheel straps (8 foot length), and D-rings.  I put the rear D-rings about 6" forward of the read edge of the deck.  I put the forward D-rings 48 Inches rearward of the leading edge.  I did all this placement with the car on the trailer to make sure I had plenty of room and lined up well with the track width.  

 

I don't have a winch today.  But, I think eventually I'll enclose the space under the tire-rack and make it a custom cabinet with shelves and doors.  When I do that, I'll leave a channel for the winch cable (1 1/2" pipe or something).    For now, its just going to be open volume...and I'll strap anything down that I put there (spares and tool boxes).  

[Ralph Dommes]

Make sure you can lock your tires.  My spare got stolen, so be careful.

[Brandon]

Tom,

PM sent w/my e-mail address.  I'll send you pictures of mine (heh - not those kind).

 

Brandon

[Cy Peake]

Tom, PM me your email and I'll snap some photos of my tire rack tomorrow for you.

[davew]

On my little open trailer, I have a similar system. For the securing bar that runs through the center of the wheels, I used a simple piece of conduit with a hole drilled in each end. On one side I used a padlock for normal use. On the other end I used a long 3" bolt and a nylock nut to keep the rod from sliding out into oncoming traffic. I also carry tools to remove the bolt/nylock in the glove box of my truck. This way if the lock rusts up or breaks or the keys get lost, I can simply remove the nut and slide the bar out the other side. The people trying to steel the tires are not willing to unscrew a nylock nut many turns.

 

Dave

[dstevens]

Last season we put a rack on one of the circle track guys trailer.  He had 1/8" x 2" angle and it worked well for 15x8 wheels with 275-50 tires.  We also did a winch mount based on the one I have on my trailer.  The winch is mounted on a receiver and slide mount so it can be removed.  Around here if it's not permanently attached within a day or two it's gone.  A locking hitch pin is used while the trailer is working with the winch removed when the trailer goes into storage.  I picked up one of these at HF last year, a 12k electric winch.  It works well and you can get them on sale for $299 during the parking lot  events.  It's roughly the same quality as a Smittybuilt but a couple to few hundred less expensive.  It's not a Warn but it's not a grand either.

 

It's nice all you guys are sending Tom pics of your racks...    

[steve]

Put the opening at the front, it makes it easier to get tires on and off.

[Tom Hampton]

Put the opening at the front, it makes it easier to get tires on and off.

 

I'm not sure I understand which opening you might be referring to???

[Brandon]

Last season we put a rack on one of the circle track guys trailer.  He had 1/8" x 2" angle and it worked well for 15x8 wheels with 275-50 tires.  We also did a winch mount based on the one I have on my trailer.  The winch is mounted on a receiver and slide mount so it can be removed.  Around here if it's not permanently attached within a day or two it's gone.  A locking hitch pin is used while the trailer is working with the winch removed when the trailer goes into storage.  I picked up one of these at HF last year, a 12k electric winch.  It works well and you can get them on sale for $299 during the parking lot  events.  It's roughly the same quality as a Smittybuilt but a couple to few hundred less expensive.  It's not a Warn but it's not a grand either.

 

It's nice all you guys are sending Tom pics of your racks...    

 

What?  Our racks aren't good enough for ya?  ;-)

[Brandon]

I'm not sure I understand which opening you might be referring to???

 

Perhaps he's being cheeky and implying to occupy yourself with a front-clasp retention mechanism when working with your "rack"?

[Rob Burgoon]

Perhaps he's being cheeky and implying to occupy yourself with a front-clasp retention mechanism when working with your "rack"?

 

I understand that to be a common feature with larger racks.

[SaulSpeedwell]

My first DIY tire rack was unorthodox in that it stacked tires vertically on the forward corners of the trailer.  Pipe flange bolted to the trailer floor, then black pipe cut and threaded tall enough for a stack of tires, with threads at the end for a "cap" to thread on and keep the tires from jumping off the vertical "posts".

 

It worked great and was extremely cheap - as long as your trailer has room for the tires to sit in front of the front corners of the car, versus over the hood.