Spare Wheel Storage Idea with Sunliner RV Habitat Motorhome
In any caravan or motorhome, where to store the spare wheel(s), is often an issue. Not so much the actual storage bit, but rather getting the spare wheel on or off its mounting point. The much-favoured place on caravans lately is usually on the rear bumper bar, using a specially fabricated mounting bracket. The problem, particularly on offroad caravans, is the height of the mounting bracket and the weight of the wheel, especially when fitted with something like a heavy rough road tyre. Some folks just don’t have that physical lifting ability. The problem is just as bad on motorhomes where the spare is often fitted into a rack underneath the motorhome. Some of these racks are very awkward to get at and who wants to spend time grubbing around underneath a motorhome?
Sunliner is a well-known manufacturer of motorhomes and has everything in its stable from the diminutive Ford Ranger-based Trex, to the exotic Isuzu NQR-based Monte Carlo, with a price tag to match. The name says everything. In between is the Habitat. Although not a four-wheel drive motorhome, it’s been designed with rough road travel in mind. Built on an Iveco Daily cab chassis with a GVM of 6500kg and shod with All Terrain tyres, it has a decent ground clearance. Having more than 400Ah of lithium LiFePO4 battery capacity and over 500W of solar generating power, it’s fully capable of extended remote stays.
A feature of note is the purpose-built rack on the rear of the motorhome. It is designed to hold items like a jerry can, the spare wheel, fishing rods and even something like firewood. Included in the general framework is a washing line that can be folded up or down.
A first glance at this rather interesting structure suggests that it’s quite high off the ground with the subsequent difficulties of reaching the spare wheel, let alone the washing line. However, Sunliner has been clever and applied the same thinking as with the drop-down bed inside the motorhome, which can be lowered and raised with the touch of a switch. The rear rack works in much the same way and by using the remote switch, the entire rack can be lowered to ground level. It’s powered by a winch mounted on the rear wall of the motorhome.
It’s certainly a novel solution to the spare wheel problem but one applied with care. Having extra weight on the rear of a caravan, unless using something like Royal Flair’s Raptor design (with a short body length behind the wheels) is not good for towing and motorhomers always must remember the 60 per cent rule, which is the overhang length behind the rear wheels can’t be longer than 60 per cent of the distance between the wheels.