Mantec swing-away spare wheel carrier installation
May 09, 2005
I ordered the Mantec spare wheel carrier through Allmakes (product code GMN050). It came well packaged in a cardboard box.
You’ll need to remove inner cover from back door to get access to original spare wheel carrier nuts.
As you can see, spare wheel does not only put a lot of weight on door hinges, but also on bolts that hold it to the original carrier assembly. Here is one bolt that broke easily when I tried to undo it.
Here new assembly is fitted. It is probably a good idea to apply ring of Terosol or other sealant on back side of the assy plate to minimize amount of rain water that end up inside the back door.
Installation involves drilling some holes into the car body. Upper hinge uses 2 bolts, you need to drill out 2 existing rivets.
Upper mount installed.
Lower mount installed.
The installation is not difficult, but adjustment may require some attention. Don’t be tempted to use drills with the same size as your bolts, because the hinges need to have some play for adjustment. So slightly larger holes will allow better adjustment. Here you can see that the bottom hinge is not supporting the carrier and that is bad sign. This can be adjusted by moving hinges closer (not possible with exact bolt holes) or by adding some spacer washers. I think this adjustment is very important, otherwise weight of your spare wheel will end up on one hinge only, not both.
If you want to put back your right bumper the you need to cut a piece off it.
However, use proper hacksaw and not your Benchmade knife since it contains metal bars! ;)
Now everything is on its place.
Another view with 235/85R16 BFG MT mounted.
And one more view for your pleasure.
You can also download original Mantec installation manual in PDF format:
Mantec_spare_wheel_carrier_install_instructions.pdf (1,23 MB)
Links:
Product info at Mantec web site