Tire Carrier for an E30

[SharkD]

I'm looking to get some sort of tire carrier for my '87 325iS.

Does anyone have any experience with the TireTail (http://www.izoomgraphics.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=4) or similar products?

http://www.izoomgraphics.com/images/products_tiretail/tiretail_m1miata.gif

Or is a two-wheel trailer the better solution?

Any tips on where to find a hitch receiver for a reasonable (sub-$200) price?

Thanks!

[Real M3]

Here's a starting point.

http://www.bageco.com/hitchlistssp/hitchlistsp_bmw.htm


Chuck

[SharkD]

Thanks -- unfortunately, it looks like the Da'Lan hidden hitch relies on the sheetmetal wall of the tire well to offset the tongue weight, which means that you're betting on a relatively thin piece of 20 year old metal to stand up to somewhere around 200lbs of force.

As it is, I've realized that the trailer idea isn't so spectacular, since I live in an apartment complex and my garage space is already full, so the TireTail seems like the way to go, unless someone has a horror story.

[mlytle]

tire tail would be far worse than a trailer for abusing the sheet metal or bumper hitch attachment points. 200lbs of tires sitting a foot or two out on a lever arm is not a good idea for a borderline hitch. a little trailer would be a lot less tongue weight and stress on the hitch. go with a little trailer. they make them that fold and tilt for storage along a wall.

[SharkD]

The TireTail is far worse on the sheetmetal (about 200lbs of cantilevered downforce - each of the tires + wheels weigh 19lbs) than a trailer (about 35lb of downforce), but even a folding trailer won't work -- the ceiling is 9ft and the space behind the 6er is already taken up by my tool & parts bin, plus a stack of r-comps.

I'm going to have my fabricator build a sturdy hitch receiver when he puts the roll bar in next week.

[OwnedbyDuncan]

Without a rollbar or cage I could carry 2 tires in the trunk plus the spare and then 2 tires on the back seat. I could carried my tool box between the seat and put a rubbermaid container in the trunk with spares, duffel bag and misc. crap. Cooler went on front seat. Not sure why you need this tire carrier. Have a 90325i.

[AlfaEric]

Without a rollbar or cage I could carry 2 tires in the trunk plus the spare and then 2 tires on the back seat. I could carried my tool box between the seat and put a rubbermaid container in the trunk with spares, duffel bag and misc. crap. Cooler went on front seat. Not sure why you need this tire carrier. Have a 90325i.
I was thinking the same thing... Maybe a luggage/roof rack would work for a little more space.

---Eric

[mlytle]

the key there is "without a roll bar or cage". he is putting one in, which pretty much eliminates the back seat as a storage location for tires....