Early Ford V-8 Club Forum

EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / Rear Mounted Spare Tire.

Reply to Discussion | New Discussion << previous || next >>

Posted By Discussion Topic: Rear Mounted Spare Tire.     jay 1124 10-17-2009 @ 11:53 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 3 Joined: Oct 2009 Gary, I too love the looks of continental kits but I have wonder about one on your car. There are some cars they just don't look good on at all, usually due to the design of the car or how the kit lines up with it. In my mind they look best on large, long, low cars. "53 Ford, '55 Lincoln, '65 Buick Wildcat convertible, etc. What I would do is print out some simple photos of the car and some continental kit photos. Then I would paste the kit photos on to photos of the car and see how it looked before scratching my head a lot about how to do it. If you still wish to complete the project, good luck. trjford8 10-16-2009 @ 7:14 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 4214 Joined: Oct 2009 Gary, as a suggestion I would use some repo bumper irons to work with your project. the original irons are spring steel and trying to weld to them or drill them is a monumental task. The repo irons are not spring steel and lend themselves to being easier to modify. Gary M. 10-16-2009 @ 2:58 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 218 Joined: Oct 2009 My plan was to build a tube steel bar with an arc the same as the rear bumper which would act as both a spacer(to push the bumper out) so the wheel is not hanging over the bumper. Then weld the straight up tube steel (square stock) in the center of the spacer bar with a fold away mechanism to clear the trunk. The trunk handle would remain as is but the license plate bracket would be moved. The spare would have a slight tilt toward the car to match that of the trunk lid. I would use a ww tire with hub cap and beauty ring and an outer cover painted the same as the car. I proped the tire up against the rear of the car to get an idea of how it would look and I like it. I will build the bracket over the winter and if I dont like the way it is turning out,I will scrap the project. Thanks for your opinions... wmsteed 10-16-2009 @ 9:24 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 613 Joined: Oct 2009 External mounted spare tires...A walk down memory lane: In the mid 1930's the auto designers started moving away from the external mounted spare tire, preferring to hide the spare tire in the "new intergrated truck" area which started to evolve in the mid 1930's. The customizers moved in two directions, either removing the externally mounted spares all together or modifying the mounts to make the spare "hug the body" as opposed to standing up. In 1949 the term "continental kit" was invented to describe the externally mounted spare tire that was hung on the back of many cars, especially the 49-53 Fords and some GM cars. The later was mounted to a bumper extension that folded down to allow access to the trunk. In 1955 Ford found that they had a very big problem with unequal weight distribution on the '55 T-Birds. The rear axle weight was so low, thereby causing the rear end of the car to come unlatched from the road. The very well know automotive designer Alex Tremulus'(Auburn/Cord/Duesenberg, Tucker, etc.) answer to the problem was to hang a continental kit on the back of the T-bird. This modification was touted as being to increase the trunk space. The large overhang of the added on continental kits became very ackward and expensive, so the "garbage can lid" e.g. a phony simulated tire cover attached to the trunk lid came into vogue. For all practical purposes, the only logical way to add a externally mounted rear spare tire to a '37 or later Ford would be to use the continental kit method via an extended bumper with a fold down tire carrier. Bill 36 5 win delx cpe trjford8 10-15-2009 @ 8:06 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 4214 Joined: Oct 2009 Gary, the solution would be to make brackets that mount to the bumper irons.You would want something that folds down backward so you can access the trunk. Maybe something similiar to the brackets used on a luggage rack. Tom/SC 10-15-2009 @ 7:33 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 51 Joined: Oct 2009 Gary, I strongly suggest that you consider the amount of weight that you would add to the trunklid. It will not handle it. You would have to be a strong guy just to lift the lid. Tom Gary M. 10-15-2009 @ 3:35 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 218 Joined: Oct 2009 Im really just looking for an installation that is both tastefully done but not a permanent installation. All bolt ons and no cutting or body work. I would never risk ruining the originality of my car. Kind of like the continental kits of the 50s. Even the Lincolns had rear mounted spares right up till present day. I thought maybe someone had tried this modification at some time and maybe had a picture to post. Thanks again... trjford8 10-13-2009 @ 8:21 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 4214 Joined: Oct 2009 The spares for all 39's(except the commercial models) were mounted in the trunk. The last trunk mounted spare was in 1936. I suspect Ford moved the spare inside the trunk to prevent theft and give the car a more modern look. It would definitely be detrimental to the value of your car to mount a spare on the trunk. This message was edited by trjford8 on 10-13-09 @ 8:23 PM Gary M. 10-13-2009 @ 4:24 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 218 Joined: Oct 2009 I love the look of a rear mounted spare tire but Im not sure it would be appropriate on my car(39 Standard Tudor).Has anyone ever seen this setup on this type of car? I would probably have to make up a custom tire bracket with a swing away mechanism. I dont think any kind of bracket was ever factory made for this model. Thanks for your input...

<< previous || next >>

NOTE: YOU MUST BE A REGISTERED USER AND BE LOGGED IN TO POST (and reply to) messages in this forum. If you are a first time user, please click the CREATE A NEW ACCOUNT in the masthead above to register and Log In. After that, all you do is LOG IN to enjoy using this site.

DISCLAIMER: The V-8 Club does no independent testing of any of the opinions, thoughts or suggestions presented in the website on the Forum, in the Tech Tips section, or any section. A reader should consider the website to be a forum wherein differing solutions to a particular set of circumstances may be discussed. Ultimately, the selection of an item for an individual's vehicle must be based upon the independent study of the vehicle owner in consultation with people in the hobby and restoration experts.

EFV-8 Club Forum Home | Back to Home Page | Contact the Webmaster

Copyright © 2009 - EFV-8.org
Powered by < CF FORUM > v.2.1