Before the spare wheel, it seems like an excellent solution to me.

Thanks for the information. However, the idea remains that seems even safer to me. by placing it towards the outside you could risk sliding on the ramps of garages or ferries

If it had been a choice between the two, the spare wheel carrier would have gone- I’m not a big fan of that design and I dread the day that I ever have to use it.

If it wasn’t for the dog, the spare would travel in the back of the car. I’m still considering travelling with it inside the van.

Having had to change a ruined tyre in a lay-by in France we were very grateful that it was in the van rather than underneath. Our first Eriba was a PuckL and they had an enlarged locker that carried the spare. We only discovered the underslung spare tyre when we changed vans and decided we didn’t like the idea. We carry our spare under the bed which is left made up in our Troll. If anyone has managed to easily remove the spare from that carriage when the van is tilted from a flat I take my hat of to them, IMHO it’s a design error.

Looking at fitting something similar under my current Triton (or my ideal Troll 540) - will investigate where it can go... in preparation I have bought some stainless steel fixing band - seems more sensible than galvanised.

I currently have a spare wheel under the van - customised for easier release and with the wheel in a waterproof drawstring bag - but am considering removing it entirely

Quote: Simboc2004 wrote in post #24

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Looking at fitting something similar under my current Triton (or my ideal Troll 540) - will investigate where it can go... in preparation I have bought some stainless steel fixing band - seems more sensible than galvanised.

I currently have a spare wheel under the van - customised for easier release and with the wheel in a waterproof drawstring bag - but am considering removing it entirely

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We got back from Burford today and while cleaning the van, I decided to have a look at the spare carrier.
The padlock opened ok and the carrier dropped down ok.
I noticed that the tyre was flat, after pumping it up, I noticed the valve
had split. My mate at the local garage fitted a new valve and I fitted the spare back in the carrier. I don't know how the valve got damaged.

Here's my spare wheel conversion in photo form. It looks a bit strange, but have been trialling it. Having realised the problems with easily (if at all) being able to remove the spare wheel from the cradle underneath in an emergency, I removed the welded in centre bolt so that the wheel could be slid out. This works well, however the wheel is then free to move around a bit within the cradle, so I have used some ultra lightweight dense packing foam at the back to keep the wheel forward in the cradle, and also added some thick pipe insulation to the retaining uprights on both sides to stop side to side movement. All has gone well in the couple of hundred miles I have towed since then. I have also replaced the padlock (prone to seize up) with a simple stainless steel allen bolt and nylock nut - easy to remove with basic tools, but still relatively theft resistant. The wheel itself is in a drawstring tightened, moisture resistant bag - the drawstring being on top/inside the wheel. That keeps off the road crud.

A more stylish version will appear when I can be bothered...

Good idea. Here we say: "little expense, great return". Thank you