Full sized spare underneath....

[aaronrules]

Okay so I have been rolling with my full size 265/75/16 spare in the cargo area since I put the lift and wheels and tires on. But I was curious today I just mounted underneath where the old spare used to be. It is close on some stuff under there, but it fits. Is there something I'm missing, other than nobody does this because of clearance/looks factor?

I have just been super cautious about safety lately and have a spare tire in the back even strapped down can be a lethal projectile in a crash...let alone the other stuff I have back there strapped down.

So is there any reason NOT to have the spare underneath...other than looking like a mall rated doucher? I think if there are no objections, I'm gonna roll this way, and take it out whenever I wanna go get dirty...which these hasn't happened as much as I would like. I just want to be as safe as possible. OH! No I can't strap it to the roof....I am too tall to fit in the garage with it up there.

[fishsticks]

Okay so I have been rolling with my full size 265/75/16 spare in the cargo area since I put the lift and wheels and tires on. But I was curious today I just mounted underneath where the old spare used to be. It is close on some stuff under there, but it fits. Is there something I'm missing, other than nobody does this because of clearance/looks factor?

I have just been super cautious about safety lately and have a spare tire in the back even strapped down can be a lethal projectile in a crash...let alone the other stuff I have back there strapped down.

So is there any reason NOT to have the spare underneath...other than looking like a mall rated doucher? I think if there are no objections, I'm gonna roll this way, and take it out whenever I wanna go get dirty...which these hasn't happened as much as I would like. I just want to be as safe as possible. OH! No I can't strap it to the roof....I am too tall to fit in the garage with it up there.

If it fits, run with it.

Going to suck if you need that tire after you've driven through God knows what though.

[KE7WOX]

Say whaaaatttt!

It fits? It seemed that there was no way of fitting anything but the stock sized spare underneath.

[johnburgelin]

totally fftopic: but nice avatar fishsticks

[aaronrules]

Totally fits. They are only all terrain tires. Pulloffs of an H3...so that might have something to do with it.

[MrSmithsTB]

Mine is underneath as well. I put it in the cargo area when I hit trails, because you never really know where you are going to be stuck with a flat. It's a 265/75/16.

[rgraboske]

My Dad has lost a couple of spare tires from underneath his trucks while going in to his fishing camp in Canada. Broke the cable and everything. The first was in his '83 S10, the 2nd in his '91 GMC Sierra. Maybe when going through rough stuff, throw it up on the roof

[glfredrick]

I'd recommend not adding a lot of extra weight to the roof, not because it can't carry it, but rather because as one lifts the vehicle, extra weight that high up starts to dramatically effect body roll on off-camber trails.

I know that a lot of you guys love the look of the "expedition" vehicle and all, but as you start actually testing the limits on a wider range of trails you could be in for some unpleasant surprises.

The old school trend in off-roading was to jack everything up as high as possible. That trend is now reversed except for the guys running mud, where getting as much sheetmetal and hardware out of the slop as possible is the sole object. Low, with a lot of tire lift and a lot of suspension travel is the current state of the art. The reason for the change is that guys simply got tired of being turtled all the time. It costs money to replace winshields (if the body structure even allows that after a roll-over) and it is far easier in the long run to build for off-camber trails right out of the box.

(Side note: Has anyone rolled over a Trailblazer in an off-road scenario yet? Who is going to be first? It WILL happen eventually... Nature of the game, and from personal experience, it can happen at almost any time on the most unasuming obstacles.)

So, in that regard, wedging a tire back under the floor of the rear compartment where the factory mounted it is a good way to go for weight distribution.

[Trail X]

Luckily the TrailBlazer has a very low CG compared to other SUVs to begin with... partially due to the annoying front differential setup.

So far, we've been lucky to have no TB roll-overs (knock on wood). The only roll over was Teebes' adventure trailer.

[aaronrules]

The spare is going to stay underneath until I can con...I mean talk James into selling me his spare carrier when he gets his bumper done. If that doesn't happen then a) I will cry, and b) I will have to either buy a new one for myself or try fab one up myself.