Born Free Leap'n Lions RV Club Info & Discussion Forum

I recently bought from Virgil Dutton his new style tire carrier. I've installed it and thought I should post photos for BF owners to see. It fits the old style rear bumper assembly.

Dallas: I was just reading about the fishing contest at your island and was wondering who is putting up all the prize money .

Dallas, this mount must not interfere with the hot water heater vent?

Dallas, … thank you for posting these views of the spare tire carrier. I am just finishing building the first batch and to those others who ordered one; I expect to get them shipped by the middle of this week. I am already starting the next batch and if anyone else wants one, please contact me. The price will be $350. With the pivot feature, they are more complex and labor intensive than the fixed unit. I hope to get a flyer ready to post in the “Member Vendorsâ€

More photos of the mounting.

Looks really great. Enjoyed the pics.
Wish I had a place for a spare tire in back like that.

Any possibility of the NEW BFs coming with a spare tire?

I was told by my dealer (bought used) that there was NO spare tire. I find tht hard to believe that the manufacturer didn't include a spare. What do you all know about where they put the spare on a rear door unit?

We have Virgil Dutton's new spare carrier on our rear door BFT, and it works fine. Mounts the same as in in Dallas Ballio's pictures. No problem with the rear door, and the swivel allows ready access to the water heater. Great design!

An alternative way to carry spare is to get hitch with 4 inch longer tongue, then buy tire carrier with U section which fits over same. That is what I did with the 2001 and current unit. Won't work with BFs which have rear door.
Ralph

Pic of my 2011.
As you can see, plenty of room on top of fiberglass bumper.
Under the fiberglass is a very heavy steel, that a custom made tire carrier could be bolted to by drilling thru the top pf the fiberglass bumper and into steel.


I have a pic on the "bottomside" of my bumper if anyone is interested.

Thank you all for the positive comments about the new spare tire carrier. I feel good about the design and believe it will provide good service for a long time.
Regarding a spare tire carrier for the newer Born Free models, I guess that if I had one of those, I would probably design a carrier that would fit it. The old saying goes: “where there is a will, there is a wayâ€

[quote="Virgil and Anne Dutton"]Thank you all for the positive comments about the new spare tire carrier. I feel good about the design and believe it will provide good service for a long time.
Regarding a spare tire carrier for the newer Born Free models, I guess that if I had one of those, I would probably design a carrier that would fit it. The old saying goes: “where there is a will, there is a wayâ€

Janet G,

I don't believe anyone directly answered your question, but I am sure you have figured out that Born Free does not provide a spare with their motorhomes. Just a weird, unexplainable thing. Lots of rather weak explanations have been postulated on this website, but none that can standup to the cold light of day.

Interestingly I am in Fort Simpson, Northwest Territory, Canada. A very small remote community more than 300 miles away from the next largest town of 3,500. I have a damaged tire than cannot be repaired. I found the only business in Fort Simpson that could remove the damaged tire and install my spare. I inquired as to when they would be able to get a new
tire of the right size and was told next Wednesday. If I did not have a spare I would have been delayed until then. This is an interesting place to visit for one or two days, but 5 days would be a bit much

Dallas Baillio wrote:Janet G,

I don't believe anyone directly answered your question, but I am sure you have figured out that Born Free does not provide a spare with their motorhomes. Just a weird, unexplainable thing. Lots of rather weak explanations have been postulated on this website, but none that can standup to the cold light of day.

Interestingly I am in Fort Simpson, Northwest Territory, Canada. A very small remote community more than 300 miles away from the next largest town of 3,500. I have a damaged tire than cannot be repaired. I found the only business in Fort Simpson that could remove the damaged tire and install my spare. I inquired as to when they would be able to get a new
tire of the right size and was told next Wednesday. If I did not have a spare I would have been delayed until then. This is an interesting place to visit for one or two days, but 5 days would be a bit much

As to "why no spare provided". In 2001 BF had a rather blunt(in my estimation) sales manager and I was informed by him, presumably with John's approval, that it was not done because a spare was not needed. I told them that it was a deal killer if hitch mounted spare was not provided and they complied. Second snapshot on this subject was in 2007 when those participating on an AK caravan who had just bought new units were told to have spares tied down on the roof and those of us with older units who were not going for free were advised a spare was strongly recommended.
I will not speculate on motives behind these positions, nor do I know the current position. I just moved hitch assembly from the 2001 to the 2011 and sold the 2001 without a spare.
Ralph

Hi Ralph,
You mention "on an AK caravan who had just bought new units were told to have spares tied down on the roof.."

Has anybody actually seen a spare tire on the roof?
If so, how do they get up and down?
Or maybe it is just a loose tire on the roof, and not mounted to the rim?

Thanks..

I tried carrying a loose tire/ no rim, under my jacknife bed.
Just took up too much room.
Was hard to get in and out.
I can imagine the weight of a fully mounted spare.
So now I travel w/o a spare.
Guess I will call AAA