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Why aren't trailer spare tire mounts standard?


wakeboarder3780

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I had an 89 sunsetter that had a trailer made by TI and it had a spare tire mount. I got an 06 LSV next and there is no spare tire mount. I guess it seems odd to me that this would be optional. Does anyone know why these aren't included from the factory? I need to find a spare trailer mount and quite honestly most of what i've seen visually look like garbage. If they were welded onto the frame and painted from day one they sure would look a lot nicer. Just my $.02 Anyone know why these aren't standard?

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MalibuNation

Save a few bucks here and there. I know people who live on Austin Lake where our dealer is and they only use the trailer twice a year, to put it Austin Lake and take it out in the fall and they never trailer their boat to other lakes. For them it's worth it to save a few bucks.

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Cost cutting - cheaper to make a trailer without it. Some people only tow a couple miles so a spare isn't really necessary. It's also a way to charge you for an option, where there is a profit margin associated with that option.

For certain options (such as a spare mount), there would be no production cost savings associated with putting them on all trailers (such as with automobiles, there is a production cost savings offering all models with power windows vs. having to engineer manual windows for the car and offering power as an option).

It's all about the $$$$$.

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When I bought my boat I asked the dealer for a spare tire & transom straps. The guy looked at me like I was an idiot. He told me I didn't need either of those on a tandem trailer. I told him I wanted them anyway. I get the impression that a lot of dealers think that way about these kind of items.

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I thought this was odd also when we ordered our boat recently. We ended up ordering the mount as an extra (I think it was $89) and not ordering the spare. You can get the spare wheel and tire from a tire center for half the cost of getting it from Malibu (or the trailer manufacturer).

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I guess it's surprising to me that all those things wakebrdr94 pointed out are "options". LED lights i could maybe understand. I guess I can understand it being about the money, but quite honestly I'm currently really looking down on my trailer manufacturer for not making it standard. The amount of extra metal it takes for them to weld it in is extremely minimal. Someone even listed the option as 89 bucks. Is it really worth p*ssing off the majority of people that really want to use their trailer for towing distances to be able to market your base price of trailer 89 dollars cheaper?

I guess in all things you have to balance "options" (freedom) with the "level of quality" your customers are going to associate your product with. If all your base models come with all the things nearly everyone wants anyway, your product is looked at with higher quality because everyone knows if you get a brand X trailer it's going to have all the little things you might want. I guess I just find it almost laughable that a trailer manufacturer would try to cut corners on something specifically related to safety. Especially when they have a chance at having a really p*ssed off customer if they do get a flat.

PS if you think you don't need a spare because you have a tandem axle you're sorely mistaken. I blew 2 tires last year and while they were at differing times, it could have happened on the same side at the same time if i ran over a sharp debris that popped both. Not to mention even if you only pop one, your rim is only a few inches off the ground. You sure as heck don't want to go highway speeds in that condition but you can limp home. From that regard, again most people towing any considerable distance would rather change a tire.

My personal take on it is I think it's cheap and it frustrates me. Not to mention now I have to go get an aftermarket spare tire carrier because I'm a second owner and it's going to look like garbage on my otherwise nice looking trailer. I honestly don't see the point in "optioning" things like spare tire carriers and paint. Whens the last time you saw someone rolling down the road with a steel trailer that was never painted?

:blowup:

Edited by wakeboarder3780
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... I need to find a spare trailer mount and quite honestly most of what i've seen visually look like garbage. If they were welded onto the frame and painted from day one they sure would look a lot nicer. Just my $.02 ...

I will have to pick something like that up. In my original post (no offense to anyone that has one similar) but personally I think those are really crappy solutions. The bolt on carriers tend to scratch the paint and help hold moisture so those are typically the first places to rust. As I said in my initial post, if they'd just weld it in as part of the frame and paint it with the trailer it would look boss and is not an expensive addition. My dad has made both of his own trailers as he hauled vehicles for his frame shop. It really doesn't take much...

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Thats exactly what I have now. Been on there for almost 4 yrs & maybe 10k miles. No issues, no rust, no one ever even notices it's there.

Just get one of these...$12.99

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Isn't the bolt on spare tire holder pretty easy to steal? At least with the welded on one, you can somewhat secure (lock) the tire to the mount without fear of it being gone when you come back. Not so if all you need is a wrench to pull off the tire mount, tire, and wheel.

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Isn't the bolt on spare tire holder pretty easy to steal? At least with the welded on one, you can somewhat secure (lock) the tire to the mount without fear of it being gone when you come back. Not so if all you need is a wrench to pull off the tire mount, tire, and wheel.

Only time I was ever concerned about it was when we had the boat in Cali..... I ran a bike lock thru it. Pretty easy to steal with locking lugs too so your still gonna need a chain thru it.

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I took a spare tire holder and instead of using the u bolts drilled holes through the mont and the trailer and bolted it to the trailer. It was galvinized and I had it blasted and powder coated gloss black to match my boatmate trailer. It turned out really good.

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I took the harbour freight mount and welded it on and painted to match my trailer. Also welded in a proper set of wheel studs as the bolts and nuts with the kit were gouging my wheel.

Edited by G-Mack
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I also don't have a spare tire mount on my boatmate t/a trailer and wish i had one. So I called boatmate and just ordered the factory under trailer mount and I'm gonna weld it on and paint it myself. Takin matters into my own hands. Will post some pics when it's done.

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Thats exactly what I have now. Been on there for almost 4 yrs & maybe 10k miles. No issues, no rust, no one ever even notices it's there.

Got the idea from you from another post a while back!

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http://s1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg552/PeteOOXXOO/?action=view&current=IMG_0208.jpg&mediafilter=noflash

We got the "drop down spare" on our new VTX tandem trailer. Probably the most visually appealing spare mount I have seen ( see photo attached ). Anything more than a few metres away and you hardly notice it. To access it there is a simple pin you pull, which we padlock for security.

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Only problem with drop down mounts are they are not ideal if using your boat in salt. Learned the hard way. The original trailer I had, the tire mount was welded to the front of the trailer and did not get wet. When I ordered a galvatube trailer, the mount was underneath and I forgot all about it. Needed the spare one day and the pin was seized in. Live and learn I suppose

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Got the idea from you from another post a while back!

I knew I liked it! ;)

I know the Harbor Freight stuff can be crap. But this one has served it's purpose.

Here ya go.... 4 yrs old. Could I spend more money & make it look better? Yep. Do I give a ****? Nope.

sparetire.jpg

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Only problem with drop down mounts are they are not ideal if using your boat in salt. Learned the hard way. The original trailer I had, the tire mount was welded to the front of the trailer and did not get wet. When I ordered a galvatube trailer, the mount was underneath and I forgot all about it. Needed the spare one day and the pin was seized in. Live and learn I suppose

Good point -thanks for the tip.. We mainly run in a river close to the ocean so I will have to hit it with WD40 :)

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Good point -thanks for the tip.. We mainly run in a river close to the ocean so I will have to hit it with WD40 :)

Slightly off-topic but there are better options than WD-40 for your application. Not sure if they are available in Australia but CRC Corrosion Inhibitor or CRC 3-36 are two such options.

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I knew I liked it! ;)

I know the Harbor Freight stuff can be crap. But this one has served it's purpose.

Here ya go.... 4 yrs old. Could I spend more money & make it look better? Yep. Do I give a ****? Nope.

sparetire.jpg

May want to put a new tire on there...it's marked BAD! :whistle:

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