Swing-away spare or roof top spare?

[Egan]

I need some opinions from the folks here. I currently have my spare tire on the swing-away mount. After picking up a trailer I plan to convert into an expedition camping trailer I discovered I can't swing the tire away and get to the bed because the mount hits the surge brake reservoir on the trailer. It's going to be a pain to have to drop the trailer any time I need to access the bed on long camping trips.

I pretty much have two options:

1) Remove the surge brakes (not really needed on a trailer of this weight and capacity) and relocate the pintle
2) Mount the spare on the Gobi Ranger rack. I can buy a separate mount kit even though I don't have the spare tire specific rack: https://www.trailduty.com/product_info.php?cPath=530_532_537&products_id=1592&osCsid=e8e9fa4133d5bf1c920a3a2309f46996

It's going to be a royal pain to get the tire up there and back down every time I rotate the tires or in a flat situation, but it isn't exactly easy to get it off the swingaway carrier either. I will lose some storage space on the rack, but that's the point of the trailer.

Recommendations?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Egan70/10540823_10203019497152542_233531978817950811_n.jp g (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Egan70/media/10540823_10203019497152542_233531978817950811_n.jp g.html)

Here's a really crappy blow up of the issue. I'd get something better, but the trailer is in the garage right now.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Egan70/M101A3/pintleblowup.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Egan70/media/M101A3/pintleblowup.jpg.html)

[Egan]

Oh, and if I go roof mount and take the swing away mount off, I lose the D-rings (they are integral to the mount). Are there aftermarket rings that will fit?

[Egan]

So I went ahead and ditched the swing away spare tire carrier. I have not noticed any degradation in handling or gas mileage, but I don't think either could get much worse than they were with 37" tires, roof rack, and the aerodynamics of a brick.

I bought the add-on tire carrier from Gobi for my Ranger rack. It was a simple install other than having to unbolt the rack from the roof so I could lift it high enough to get my arms underneath to tighten the bolts for the carrier bracket.

Here's some pics - the clearance is right at 8 feet now and fortunately the limit is 8'2" at my airport parking garage.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Egan70/H2/20150223_151834.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Egan70/media/H2/20150223_151834.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Egan70/H2/20150223_152024.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Egan70/media/H2/20150223_152024.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Egan70/H2/20150223_151913.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Egan70/media/H2/20150223_151913.jpg.html)

[Egan]

I moved the license plate over to one of the d-ring bolt holes and used a cheap plastic bracket along with a light (need to paint it black).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Egan70/H2/20150223_151947.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Egan70/media/H2/20150223_151947.jpg.html)

A few more pics to make everyone jealous of Kalifornia in February:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Egan70/H2/20150223_152047.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Egan70/media/H2/20150223_152047.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Egan70/H2/20150223_152116.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Egan70/media/H2/20150223_152116.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Egan70/H2/20150223_151844.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Egan70/media/H2/20150223_151844.jpg.html)

[lasvegash2]

Looks really good.

[HummerMann]

Nice job, looks great! That swing away tire is a pain on the SUT, but I've learned to live with it over the years.