Bracing the floppy floppy spare tire cargo cover

It's been a while since I've done any updates. I'm in the process of cleaning out the interior so I thought I'd fix up this wafer thin metal bit that covers the spare tire, while I had everything apart.

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If you have hauled anything heavy or maybe the previous owner wasn't so careful, you probably had a spare tire cover that shared some similar structural properties as a pringle.


It may be hard to tell from the photo above, but with a straight edge across things it was a nearly 4" bow that it had. Maybe this happens when the spare tire is in used and someone hauls something heavy. I don't know. Either way it's a super flimsy piece of sheet metal.


So my thought her on this is to use some small 1/2" angle steel to brace things up. I picked some up at the Home Depot for not too much money and got on to cutting things.


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My first thought is to reinforce the middle hinge area with just a straight piece across there. So I measured it to fit, which was about 26" and then sanded off the paint to get a good weld.


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That went pretty well. I tacked one end and then would press down on things to get it as flush as possible.


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Fortunately my welder can do some pretty thin gauge stuff so I wasn't worried about blowing out the welds.
Then came the nasty part. I knew the foam residue was going to cause a problem, but that coupled with the bigger sheet being double and having an air pocket. Well it was nasty.


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It was sputtering and popping all sorts of fierce. I basically just had to grunt through it and take some solace that it won't be visible. You can see above that my plan is to weld an X.


And done. Yuck.


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Like I said it's probably hard to tell the difference but it does sit much flatter.


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And as for strength.


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Here is a 100lb anvil sitting right on the center with the spare tire on top just to show that it's not merely sitting on the spare for support. Far more rigid. Now I won't have to be too concerned if I am hauling anything heavy back there. Like anvils.

Comments

  • HaydzHaydz Moderator
    Passengers, please ensure all carry-on anvils are secured before Shuttle launch.
  • JHMEE4JHMEE4 New Wagonist
    Awesome, I was trying to come up with something similar. I lack a spare so anything I put back there, from pumpkins to puppies it just sags. Pretty annoying. I think I may need to learn to weld.
  • p3skykingp3skyking Band Wagon
    I got a full sized spare tire and it solved my sag problem.
  • That sounds like far less fun to be had with a welder.
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