[timberface]

Hi guy's I'm new to the forum..

I've just bought a 95 Vitara..

It has four Mickey Thompson 31x10 50r 15lt tyres on it and I'm after buying a 5th one for my spare, what messing will I have to do to get it to fit on the standard spare wheel rack?

Also I like the look of the Shrockworks front bar but as far as I know they don't do these anymore, is the closet looking one to it the ARB (also though I'm not too sure am I keen on them!

[headwerkn]

I'd suggest both answers lie in getting a welder and doing a bit of fabrication....

I'm not sure how much extra height would be required in the wheel carrier for a 31" tyre to clear the rear bumper; there's about an inch of space between the 235/70/R15 on an 15x8 rim (don't ask) and the bumper itself, so I'd be figuring at least 2-3" higher. It wouldn't be hard to make an adapter from a bit of 6mm plate and welded on 3 bolts with the correct PCD positions. The adapter itself could bolt on the existing 3 wheel bolts, or you could just weld it on.

All that said... I'd be a little worried about the rear door's ability to handle the extra weight though. Personally I was counting on fitting up a swinging rear wheel carrier to take the spare when I move up to bigger tyres.

As for the front bar, so long as your Zook doesn't have airbags, anything can be fabricated up to suit.

Cheers, Ben.

[DarkHorse]

Spare carrier only needs to be moved up an inch or so to fit a 31" tyre. The simplest and neatest way that I've seen is to cut and reweld the face of the bracket that bolts to the door:




My rear door(s) have been fine with the weight (and sometimes the extra of a hi-lift) although re-enforcing it is on my to-do list.

As for bullbars - the SW looks pretty much like an ARB to me... why are you not keen on them? If you can find one I reckon they're the best steel winch bar out there. Otherwise I have an alloy ECB bar that I have adapted to sit over the winch, which is mounted directly to the chassis. Otherwise there's not much on the new market anymore.