Thanks for the review. I've been looking for some guidance on picking a rack...I'm leaning toward one of the hitch-mount type but I don't like that you can't open the rear door without removing the bikes. With the spare tire mount, I assume you can still swing the door open, yes?

 

That's correct about this - the door swings open, bikes and all. Of course they kind of clunk around when you do that, but its not a problem.

I have no knowledge of the hitch type racks, but I certainly hope they have some mechanism which allows the door to open. That would be annoying as :cowsmile:. Yes, annoying as :cowsmile:.

 

How does the rack stop the front wheel of the bike from turning? Looking at the pics it seems it has been hitting your rear door or bumper.

 

I have the Yakima version of the tire mount rack and it works well. I use a bungee cord to keep the front tire from spinning. THe rack does prevent the rear window from opening though. I use the bike rack all the time.

 

Mine does not prevent the window from opening, with or without a bike loaded - there is plenty of room between the rack/bikes and the swing of the window.

How does the rack stop the front wheel of the bike from turning? Looking at the pics it seems it has been hitting your rear door or bumper.

The bike is far enough away (being out on the tire) from the door that it does not reach to hit the door. The wheel is sometimes free to turn, but that can be fixed with a bungee, having two bikes on, or the bike can be mounted in such a way as to prevent it.

 

I have a hitch mounted rack that I use on my current truck. It can be lowered out of the way to gain access. I picked mine up on ebay several years ago.

You can find them all over the net.

Yakima, Thule, Saris, Rhode Gear to name a few.

On my Bronco I used a spare tire rack bike rack, it didn't ask as spare tire lock.

 

I noticed that the rack is mounted on alloys. Does the rack also work on the stock steelies?

 

The rack isn't really alloy or even FJ specific - I'd assume it would work with steelies. Its on there via a mounting bracket that goes inbetween the wheel and door.

 

I stayed away from the tire racks because I didnt want to take a chance of bending anything on the door or the door itself. The way I see it, the spare tire holder is designed only to carry the spare tire. My hitch has 500lb toung weight capacity. So I purchased a Yakima Kingpin 4 (hitch rack) and love it. Just finished a 3000 mile roadtrip carrying 3 bikes without any problems whatsoever. The bike arm folds down when no bikes are being carried. The whole rack itself folds down to get the rear door open. Only gripe I have is with the rack folded down you can only get the rear door open to 45 degrees.

Yakima: Kingpin 4

Good Luck,

Bobby

 

Yea, that's a nice rack too. I stayed away from the hitch racks because... well, I don't have a hitch.

I will say however, that you really don't need to worry about the strength of the tire-holder-thingy. I weigh 300lbs. and regularly stand/sit on my spare tire. Also, consider all the people who have substantially heavier wheel/tire combos who hang them off that thing. The weight of the bicycle or two is probably not going to cause any problems. And, as I said in my first post - I drive 2000 miles with two bikes and several overstuffed duffel bags hanging from the thing, no problems.

 

tiball89 thanks for the review and info. Just got mine at REI (20% off fall coupon) and it works great. Tight fit with the H/T Duellers but it fits and the bike stays on.

 

I just won the auction for the older version of this model, Thule 943. I hope the features are not too far from what you describe in your newer version.

I got it brand new for $116 after shipping....no tax.....Ebay

 

I installed the THULE 943 last night. It fits the stock "17 with the stock Dunlop on it. It's a little snug so I can't confirm how much thread is in the center bolt supporting the bike rack. The rack and the 10 year old alum mountain bike can't weight more than 30 lbs combined. I don't think I'm causing any damage. I really like being able to access the door without having to remove the bike. I also like the fact it has a lock so it kinda protects the spare tire from theft.

I'm not totally sure if this will work with a larger tire.

 

Great review! I have more than two bikes to haul so I went with the Thule Revolver. It swings out so I can still have access to my cargo.

 

Looks like a pretty good solution. Maybe it can be used to mount spare gas can too.
Do you know if it hinges in the opposite direction also?

 

What modifications, if any, were required to get the 963 to mount properly? I just learned that Thule says the rack doesn't fit. By the way this is my first post!

 

No modifications necessary on my part. I will admit that it was pretty tight, though. If the tire was 1mm thicker it wouldn't fit. However, they do make a piece that extends the thing that goes through the tire, so it should work with any tire, really.

I didn't know there were any issues. Do you have the stock tire spare? The 943 fits and I thought the 963 was not any different except for the fasteners and grips.

This bike racks also works as a tool mount as well Just had to add this...

Brilliant!! I never thought of that...

 

I didn't know there were any issues. Do you have the stock tire spare? The 943 fits and I thought the 963 was not any different except for the fasteners and grips.

This bike racks also works as a tool mount as well Just had to add this...

 

Thanks for the info. I ordered the rack and I'll report on how it fits. Just in case it doesn't...where did you find the extension?

 

I second the positive review on the Spareme rack from Thule. I love the ease of use. The two arms fold down when not in use, there are no straps in the mounting setup, very solid, no receiver hitch rack to fold out of the way to open the door, FJ rear door opens with bikes, lock on the rack to prevent removal, rear window opens (for what its worth). I use a large version of a twist tie about 8 inches long that I found at Kmart to keep the front wheel of the bike from swinging. I bought from Moosejaw for about $110 and had it on my Jeep Liberty first. Plate mounts on the spare tire mount inside the spare wheel hub and the rack attachment post protrudes thru to the outside of the tire. The rack attaches via a single threaded bolt with a locking knob. Photo in the SirVive photo gallery. Enjoy.

 

I have a single "factory" roof rack bike mount made by a company called INNO Racks. ($150) But what sucks about it is that you can't put two of them pointing forward. I had a friend flying in to Nor-Cali for a Moab Bike trip and I went to work looking for a hitch mount. I found a rack on performance bikes called a XXTERA 2 bike mount. (#130) (In Picture) It works freakin awesome but I would not roll thru difficult 4x4 trails with it because I would feel like a retard explaining to Tony E that I smoked another frame while 4x4'n.

 

Just got my 963 mounted. I have the 17 inch tires and the tire height was 1/4 inch too tall for the top horzontal bracket, but I got it to work by slightly flexing the vertical frame. The fit was very tight initially but once on...no problem. I own expensive race MTB and road bikes and I'm very comfortable placing them on the rack for travelling.
No extensions needed by the way.

 

is there anyone in the salt lake area that has put on a thule spare me? i have bf goodrich 285's. if you know what your doing i would pay to have the mod done right. i dont want to f**k it up. thanks

 

Is there any rattle from the spareme when not being used with a bike on it?

 

nope

 

After reading this thread I picked up the Spare Me and installed last evening. I have a 2007 TRD SE, which the stock TRD wheels and BFG's.

At first I was having a heck of a time with the install. Easy enough to remove the spare, install the male end of the fit plate, and re-install the spare. My concern was that I wasn't getting enough "penetration" once the rack with the female end was aligned with the male. I re-read this post and spent some time on the Thule site to see about an "extension", but the only thing close I could come up with was "additional spacers" - those rubber pieces which fit on the rack between the rack and the tire.

No way you can fit the rack on the TRD SE BFG's with those spacers on. I "opened" the rack by raising the bar which the bikes rest on, and lo and behold, I was able to insert the male end into the female on the rack far enough to thread on the locking bolt. Feels pretty snug and I'll take a spin around town before interstate speeds.

Wife and I are taking a trip from Tampa to the Keys in a week with the fat tire bikes. If you all don't hear anything from me, you can take it that the rack worked like a dream...

 

I have the same Thule as Sapper. VERY solid and I've bungied my Hi lift to it as well.

Only thing is in renders the back up sensors useless.

 

wooow. didn't know such a thing existed. I also don't have a hitch or a roof rack. I'm going to order one of these. Price? Does anyone know if they make a snowboard attatchment also?

 

Reviving this thread to give my $.02 on the Yakima version-the Spare Joe bike rack. I'm a diehard Yakima fan (since the early '90's) and have spent thousands on their great products. I expected the same high level of quality of the Spare Joe as with all other Yakima products. I'm somewhat disappointed. The tubes are too thin, the system is a PITA to fit on the tire and frankly, it just hangs on there with two little straps, seemingly ready to fall off the tire at any given moment. Also, the bars are so wide that I can not fit a 17" Stump Jumper without tweaking the angle of the bike, so that it doesn't even go through the frame (not safe).
I was also charged $180 for a rack that lists on Yakima's site for $125.
I'll be taking it back tomorrow and trying the Thule version.
However, I was under the impression there was a company that made a good, solid system for the tire-one that can be adapted to be used for skis, bikes, snowboards, etc - the way the base Yakima roof rack works-allowing you to attach other accessories to meet your needs. If there is, I'd really like to know who makes it.
Thanks.

 

There are a few rack threads in different sections, but I'll post these here.
I ended up getting the Thule rack-there were absolutely no mounting issues. It looks great and folds down and holds both our bikes with no real drama.
Also, someone mentioned that by adding this rack renders your backup sensor useless. As far as the system goes, I tested it and it works perfectly. As long as the arms are folded down, the added length to the vehicle is negligable as you can see with these photos.
Great rack. 1000% better than the Yakima version.
Here are pix.

 

One more data point for the Spare-Me bike rack. I have a 2008 with the TRD wheels and stock BF Goodrich All Terrains. My rack fits fine.

I had to file down the mounting bracket just a tad to get it to fit. In order to mount this you must first remove the spare tire. You then place the metal bracket over the existing lugs and then put the spare back on. On my 08 it didn't fit perfectly and just required a magic marker and then a dremel tool on the bench for 2 minutes to remove just a tad of metal. Remounted the spare tire and the rack fits on just fine.

Was concerned it would not fit as some said it was tight and Thule does not have this rack on their fitment guide for the FJ. But it does fit. Don't think it would fit if my tires were any bigger.

Glad this worked as I can't put bike holders on the roof rack or my FJ won't fit into the garage and don't like the hitch mounted racks as they are a pain to open the door with and are quite expensive compared to this one.

Hope this helps someone.

T.

 

I have 17" Bridgestones and there isn't enough room for the rubber thinks that come with the rack. Anyone else have this problem? I'm using it without and it works.

Thanks.

 

Mine would not fit the rubber mounts that go between the bars and tire.
I have to file my mount down in order to fit flush behind the spare.
Mine is barely tall enough to open with the factory spare. And where the rack mounts the the piece sitting behind the rim, it barely mates together. I am going to have to modify mine a good bit for it to fit now that i upgraded my spare to a 285/70/R17.
The tire is too tall for the arms to open up.

 

I've yet to have the rack on since I put a MT/R 275/70/17 back there... will have to see how that goes.

 

I have some ideas to fit mine, add spacers and long bolts to the sleeve piece that attaches to the rack and slides over the spare mount. This will mean eliminating the locking device and buying a longer bolt.
Removing the main cross bar and drilling some holes and rebolting it to allow for the taller tire. Going to do it as soon as i get a free weekend.