Roof tire mounting-hazardous?

HB 4X4

HB 4X4

New member
I am thinking about putting some bigger meat on my truck, however, tire mounting options are limited with a 4Runner. Rather than doing a front/rear bumper right now, what if I just threw it up on the roof for off road trips?

Winter is coming up, so I will have a snowboard rack on my cross beams. If I put the tire between them, sandwich the tire in the middle, and secure it, could it cause any potential problems?-Being directly on the roof, and not on top of the beams?

This will only be for off roading. Around town I will just throw on the 265/70/17 spare if I need to, but that seems unlikely.

Just wondering if this could cause any damage to the roof such as denting, etc?
 
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There's some small raising of the CG. The biggest problem I see is the potential for projectile damage to something/somebody in an on road (high speed) crash. Tie it good and as you stated, between the cross rails will help. I'd try to have the tire contacting the front crossrail.

As far as the cosmetic aspect is concerned: a feshly waxed roof and a freshly cleaned tire should be ok. Give you have such a dark color and even the slightest scratches will show I'd consider putting some clear film or window tint on the roof. Prior to resale you could remove it and have a good looking roof.

The roof metal seems to be pretty solid. The combo of adequate sheet metal thickness and the ridges makes it pretty stiff.

Getting the tire on and off of the roof is the biggest cosmetic hazard.

I offer these suggestions as someone who carried everything imaginable (I mean it:D )on the roof of my old Trooper. I didn't own a utility trailer or any special roofrack in those days.

Has anyone tried taking a rachet strap, deflating a 285, cinching the strap around it and putting in the proper place? If you carried a compressor and if that would work that might be cool.

:cheers:
 
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CJ3Flyr said:
There's some small raising of the CG. The biggest problem I see is the potential for projectile damage to something/somebody in an on road (high speed) crash. Tie it good and as you stated, between the cross rails will help. I'd try to have the tire contacting the front crossrail.

As far as the cosmetic aspect is concerned: a feshly waxed roof and a freshly cleaned tire should be ok. Give you have such a dark color and even the slightest scratches will show I'd consider putting some clear film or window tint on the roof. Prior to resale you could remove it and have a good looking roof.

The roof metal seems to be pretty solid. The combo of adequate sheet metal thickness and the ridges makes it pretty stiff.

Getting the tire on and off of the roof is the biggest cosmetic hazard.

I offer these suggestions as someone who carried everything imaginable (I mean it:D )on the roof of my old Trooper. I didn't own a utility trailer or any special roofrack in those days.

Has anyone tried taking a rachet strap, deflating a 285, cinching the strap around it and putting in the proper place? If you carried a compressor and if that would work that might be cool.

:cheers:
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I carry a compressor (MV50) but I have never seen anyone go through with that idea.
 
CJ3Flyr said:
Has anyone tried taking a rachet strap, deflating a 285, cinching the strap around it and putting in the proper place? If you carried a compressor and if that would work that might be cool.
Click to expand...

Good idea...but i am not sure what that will do to the sidewall/tread over a long period of time??? Maybe if you rotate it with the rest of the tires (5-tire rotation) often, then it will be OK???

I like the roof idea, but you better measure your 4runner height out! Josh, with your lift and now your big meaty tire, you may not be able to fit into your own garage or other public garages.

Like CJ3Flyr said, it will be a PIA to take it down....
 
Thai said:
Good idea...but i am not sure what that will do to the sidewall/tread over a long period of time??? Maybe if you rotate it with the rest of the tires (5-tire rotation) often, then it will be OK???
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:iagree: a 5 tire rotate would probably be important.

You wouldn't have to cinch it in much. A slight indentation created by the strap would allow for swaybar clearance. The difference in OD between ProMeds 275's and a 285 is minimal. Based on ProMeds pics a little room for swaybar clearance would be the issue.

I wish I had a mounted 285/70/17 to try it:biggrin2:

:cheers:
 
Josh , if you do put it on the roof , you could look into having 3M clear bra stuff put up there .

Thai is right I know most garage doors and public parking are usually 7ft.

BUT once you lift it again for 35's it will be a tight squeeze .............:D :D :D
 
Buy one of those roof top carriers or something in that nature. Or you can just put a piece of rug underneath the tire so you won't have any scratches on top.
 
Doesn't someone sell rear bumper with spare tire carrier that swings out so that you can open the rear hatch?? Maybe look into that since you are making your 4runer into a trail rig anyway.
 
MikesToy said:
Buy one of those roof top carriers or something in that nature. Or you can just put a piece of rug underneath the tire so you won't have any scratches on top.
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I think carpet may rub through the paint , maybe if you had the 3M stuff there and the carpet.

Josh also I think it would be a major PIA to get it on off , even for cleaning purposes. I would look into Thai's idea of a rear swing away since you are heading for an off road rig anyway.
 
Thai said:
Doesn't someone sell rear bumper with spare tire carrier that swings out so that you can open the rear hatch?? Maybe look into that since you are making your 4runer into a trail rig anyway.
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DSCN1767.jpg~original


via crozhawk

4th Gen Rear Tire Carrier
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&postid=264745

HB 4x4..

Message him!! He builds them.
 
For roof mounted, I say roof basket. Although that increases additional height creating more clearance issues, but it'll be a way to solidly secure the tire without damage your 4Runner's finish. I think the Yakima ones also allow the other regular roof rack attachments to be mounted.
 
I will try to answer some of these for Josh.

He is not really making this into a trail rig quite yet which is the reason that he is not looking at a front or rear bumper.

There are some members here who run a rear tire mount that goes into the hitch (Net4n6 I believe runs one) but it would also be a hassle to take on and off and I believe Josh is not crazy about the looks.

We were hanging out and started talking about the roof mount a few days ago (which I am also considering if I ever do a long trip/expedition and want 2 spares) and it seemed like a good approach and very temporary.

My thought is that it would not be too difficult to fabricate a 3rd crossmember for the factory rack. One that is both stronger and wider to support the weight of a 285 and distribute it over a decent sized area (also lower than the factory crossmember to minimize height of the setup). Once you had the crossmember you could mount it there in one of many ways.

I feel that strapping a tire directly to the roof could definitely give you some serious dents, I even have two small dents on my roof from who-knows-what, I could only imagine what a 285 could do.
 
Yeah, as always, Blair is right. He usually is since we generally know exactly what the other is planning, the same day they have the idea. :D

Anyways, I am not a huge fan of a rear bumper just yet. I am still contemplating a front bumper, but have come nowhere close to a decision. Mostly because of a 4 month wait. So regardless of Thai's 10th time saying I am building a trail rig, not exactly. I still want it to look nice on the streets, so a full "trail rig" setup isn't exactly what I am going for....yet....

The 3rd cross member sounds like a good idea. If it is made a little lower than the other 2, it can be wedged between them for added support. Then all it would need is one of those giant "wing nut" tire fasteners.

It would all be much easier if Nitto or BFG made a 275 size tire, or if Toyota allowed a larger spare. What I find interesting, is that Nitto makes a 275, but only in the 18", not a 17".
 
HB 4X4 said:
Then all it would need is one of those giant "wing nut" tire fasteners.
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That is exactly what I was thinking, but I didn't know how to describe it without sounding like an idiot :twak:
 
BlairB said:
That is exactly what I was thinking, but I didn't know how to describe it without sounding like an idiot :twak:
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Haha,

Any idea what type of place to call for this kind of request? Seems like it's so simple, that they may have never been asked to do it before....
 
HB 4X4 said:
Haha,

Any idea what type of place to call for this kind of request? Seems like it's so simple, that they may have never been asked to do it before....
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I am sure if we call around we can find somewhere, or we can just try to make it ourselves.

You know how busy I am though, but maybe some weekend soon we can try to plan it out.
 
BlairB said:
I am sure if we call around we can find somewhere, or we can just try to make it ourselves.

You know how busy I am though, but maybe some weekend soon we can try to plan it out.
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Yeah but you know how I am. I'll call tomorrow, and have it by next week. Haha.
 
HB 4X4 said:
Yeah but you know how I am. I'll call tomorrow, and have it by next week. Haha.
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My money would actually be on this week, not next.

Ask about a discount if we got two :bigok:
 
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