nutterbutter
2004 LTV Free Spirit T1N
Suggestions, review, and short write up for the Surco TS100-B Rear Door Spare Tire Carrier for the T1n:
Someone rear ended my T1n while parked, and damaged the LTV continental tire carrier that was attached to the trailer hitch. I never liked it anyway--you need a wrench to lower the tire to be able to open up the driver’s side rear door.
I purchased the Surco TS100-B for the T1n. Made in USA. I believe it is the same one pictured in all the various sprinter accessory sites. As far as I can tell, it is the only one sold for the rear door of a T1n, but I could be wrong. Oddly, is not listed on the Surco website, but a mention is made in their PDF catalog.
http://www.surcoinc.com
http://www.surcoinc.com/downloads/Surco_catalog.pdf
It arrived in a giant box with the corner a little torn. Bag of hardware included, but no instructions. Called Surco about instructions possibly missing, was informed that no instructions are included, as it is usually installed by companies. The engineer on the phone was happy to explain where all the hardware goes.
Unlike others who have said the hardware included does not fit, it all fit for me. Using just the included hardware will make a working tire carrier. I made a few upgrades to the hardware to make for a better install.
Installation:
Gather the 3 large carriage bolts, 3 large washers, 3 large nuts.
Purchase:
1 large carriage bolt that is 1” longer than the originals (you will be discarding one original carriage bolt)
3 more washers for the carriage bolts
3 more large nuts
3 washers that fit OVER the square portion of carriage bolt.
The large carriage bolts are what hold the wheel to the carrier. Having one longer carriage bolt makes it a LOT easier to align and get the wheel onto the carrier. The extra nuts/washers will lock the carriage bolts in place.
You MUST install carriage bolts before fully installing carrier to door. Don’t be like me, and have to loosen/remove the door hardware to get the carriage bolts in afterwards.
Note: I have a 2004 Long Tall with 16” stock wheels and tires. There are a bunch of holes/slots in the carrier for different wheel sizes. This setup works for me--does not obscure the license plate, does partially obscure window. Can’t be any lower.
There are two square holes on top for the carriage bolts. Ignore the lower square hole. For strength, I wish the square holes were part of the solid metal plate and not welded on. Install one long+large carriage bolt, and one large carriage bolt to the two square holes. Doesn’t matter which gets the long--whatever suits you works.
Gets installed in this order Bolt Head [metal carrier] large washer, regular washer, nut. Tighten the nut. This holds it all in place .
Install the third carriage bolt in the long lower slot. Install loosely, as you will have to locate it in the vertical slot to line up with the wheel as a final step.
At this point, you may want to lay the whole thing on the ground, and make sure your wheel fits the 3 bolt location properly.
Mounting carrier to door:
The 2 smaller carriage bolts go through the holes in the rear door hinges. On the outside of the hinge goes a washer, lock washer and the matching nut. My suggestion: file/grind off the top of the rounded head of the carriage bolt about 1.5-2mm. Make sure it is very smooth. The top of the bolt makes contact with the hinge bolt when closed, and creates a little springy pressure to close. Grinding it a bit creates better clearance.
Remove interior door panel. Mine was just those plastic connectors you pull hard on.
Loosely fix the nuts on. I let the carrier find a spot it was happy to hang in. Line up the 3rd hole on the door and mark the center. Get a nail or awl, and a hammer, and put an indent on the center. This will help the drilling. Get a drill bit and drill a hole the size of the last non carriage bolt.
I purchased some very thin neoprene gasket material (about 2mm thick), and cut it the same size as the square flange of the carrier that will make contact with the door. Cut a hole in center of neoprene. This was to prevent rubbing/rust/water. (My neoprene material came in a LARGE sheet. If you are in the area and want a square for your install, let me know.) I had some white paint on hand for another issue, and put a couple drops on the exposed metal of the hole. I placed some leftover marine grade Goop adhesive on the square plate/washer to hold it in place and prevent any water intrusion. Some type of glue on the plate is helpful to hold it in place, as the space inside the door is very tight. There was a steel reinforcement beam right behind in my door, and I dropped the lock washer and nut a couple times trying to get everything together.
Gets installed like this:
Purchase an additional washer.
Bolt head, additional washer [steel carrier flange] neoprene gasket [door sheetmetal] square plate, lock washer, nut.
It’s a tight fit inside the door. Bolt can’t fit the other direction in my door.
Tighten up the three points on the door good and tight. I would put some miles on with the tire installed, and re-torque the 3 bolts before putting the door panel back on.
Back to the large carriage bolts: put the spare tire on the carrier. See how having the longer carriage bolt makes it easier to line up? You’ll have to find the proper location of the bottom bolt to line up correctly in the slot. Remove tire. Snug bottom bolt down. Put tire back on. Place washers and remaining nuts on. Tighten. It’s hard to know exactly how tight to make these nuts, as it just pushes the tire onto the steel carrier. Seems important to make them all about the *same* torque/tension. Tightening one loosens the other 2. I may replace one nut with a nylock nut for peace of mind.
Make sure it doesn’t obstruct your license plate. Put some miles on, and recheck the hardware torque and you are done.
Notes:
Downside for me: The higher tire location compared to the continental obscures my backup camera a lot more. Even though van is shorter than with the continental kit, I see less. May make a spacer/arm to move camera out about 5 inches to see over tire.
Tire does obscure some of driver rear door window. Not much of a big deal in my RV, as the shower is behind the driver seat already, and I can’t see much out of that window anyway. May be an issue for some of you.
If you get rear ended or back up into something, this will likely increase vehicle damage greatly. I wish it just bolted to the door and not the hinges--a good rear ending would bend the body where the hinges attach.
Surco says they don’t see why you couldn’t install one of these upside down on the other door, and use to carry other stuff.
Someone rear ended my T1n while parked, and damaged the LTV continental tire carrier that was attached to the trailer hitch. I never liked it anyway--you need a wrench to lower the tire to be able to open up the driver’s side rear door.
I purchased the Surco TS100-B for the T1n. Made in USA. I believe it is the same one pictured in all the various sprinter accessory sites. As far as I can tell, it is the only one sold for the rear door of a T1n, but I could be wrong. Oddly, is not listed on the Surco website, but a mention is made in their PDF catalog.
http://www.surcoinc.com
http://www.surcoinc.com/downloads/Surco_catalog.pdf
It arrived in a giant box with the corner a little torn. Bag of hardware included, but no instructions. Called Surco about instructions possibly missing, was informed that no instructions are included, as it is usually installed by companies. The engineer on the phone was happy to explain where all the hardware goes.
Unlike others who have said the hardware included does not fit, it all fit for me. Using just the included hardware will make a working tire carrier. I made a few upgrades to the hardware to make for a better install.
Installation:
Gather the 3 large carriage bolts, 3 large washers, 3 large nuts.
Purchase:
1 large carriage bolt that is 1” longer than the originals (you will be discarding one original carriage bolt)
3 more washers for the carriage bolts
3 more large nuts
3 washers that fit OVER the square portion of carriage bolt.
The large carriage bolts are what hold the wheel to the carrier. Having one longer carriage bolt makes it a LOT easier to align and get the wheel onto the carrier. The extra nuts/washers will lock the carriage bolts in place.
You MUST install carriage bolts before fully installing carrier to door. Don’t be like me, and have to loosen/remove the door hardware to get the carriage bolts in afterwards.
Note: I have a 2004 Long Tall with 16” stock wheels and tires. There are a bunch of holes/slots in the carrier for different wheel sizes. This setup works for me--does not obscure the license plate, does partially obscure window. Can’t be any lower.
There are two square holes on top for the carriage bolts. Ignore the lower square hole. For strength, I wish the square holes were part of the solid metal plate and not welded on. Install one long+large carriage bolt, and one large carriage bolt to the two square holes. Doesn’t matter which gets the long--whatever suits you works.
Gets installed in this order Bolt Head [metal carrier] large washer, regular washer, nut. Tighten the nut. This holds it all in place .
Install the third carriage bolt in the long lower slot. Install loosely, as you will have to locate it in the vertical slot to line up with the wheel as a final step.
At this point, you may want to lay the whole thing on the ground, and make sure your wheel fits the 3 bolt location properly.
Mounting carrier to door:
The 2 smaller carriage bolts go through the holes in the rear door hinges. On the outside of the hinge goes a washer, lock washer and the matching nut. My suggestion: file/grind off the top of the rounded head of the carriage bolt about 1.5-2mm. Make sure it is very smooth. The top of the bolt makes contact with the hinge bolt when closed, and creates a little springy pressure to close. Grinding it a bit creates better clearance.
Remove interior door panel. Mine was just those plastic connectors you pull hard on.
Loosely fix the nuts on. I let the carrier find a spot it was happy to hang in. Line up the 3rd hole on the door and mark the center. Get a nail or awl, and a hammer, and put an indent on the center. This will help the drilling. Get a drill bit and drill a hole the size of the last non carriage bolt.
I purchased some very thin neoprene gasket material (about 2mm thick), and cut it the same size as the square flange of the carrier that will make contact with the door. Cut a hole in center of neoprene. This was to prevent rubbing/rust/water. (My neoprene material came in a LARGE sheet. If you are in the area and want a square for your install, let me know.) I had some white paint on hand for another issue, and put a couple drops on the exposed metal of the hole. I placed some leftover marine grade Goop adhesive on the square plate/washer to hold it in place and prevent any water intrusion. Some type of glue on the plate is helpful to hold it in place, as the space inside the door is very tight. There was a steel reinforcement beam right behind in my door, and I dropped the lock washer and nut a couple times trying to get everything together.
Gets installed like this:
Purchase an additional washer.
Bolt head, additional washer [steel carrier flange] neoprene gasket [door sheetmetal] square plate, lock washer, nut.
It’s a tight fit inside the door. Bolt can’t fit the other direction in my door.
Tighten up the three points on the door good and tight. I would put some miles on with the tire installed, and re-torque the 3 bolts before putting the door panel back on.
Back to the large carriage bolts: put the spare tire on the carrier. See how having the longer carriage bolt makes it easier to line up? You’ll have to find the proper location of the bottom bolt to line up correctly in the slot. Remove tire. Snug bottom bolt down. Put tire back on. Place washers and remaining nuts on. Tighten. It’s hard to know exactly how tight to make these nuts, as it just pushes the tire onto the steel carrier. Seems important to make them all about the *same* torque/tension. Tightening one loosens the other 2. I may replace one nut with a nylock nut for peace of mind.
Make sure it doesn’t obstruct your license plate. Put some miles on, and recheck the hardware torque and you are done.
Notes:
Downside for me: The higher tire location compared to the continental obscures my backup camera a lot more. Even though van is shorter than with the continental kit, I see less. May make a spacer/arm to move camera out about 5 inches to see over tire.
Tire does obscure some of driver rear door window. Not much of a big deal in my RV, as the shower is behind the driver seat already, and I can’t see much out of that window anyway. May be an issue for some of you.
If you get rear ended or back up into something, this will likely increase vehicle damage greatly. I wish it just bolted to the door and not the hinges--a good rear ending would bend the body where the hinges attach.
Surco says they don’t see why you couldn’t install one of these upside down on the other door, and use to carry other stuff.
Attachments
-
90.8 KB Views: 999
-
111.2 KB Views: 924
-
137.6 KB Views: 956
-
146.8 KB Views: 969