Hinge survival

[Red_Fir]

So I have a five window Bluebird G30 (1987), it has no place to carry a spare ... and I don't want to lose interior space.
If a reinforcement plate was installed, would the rear door survive carrying it mounted between the windows?

[Danjo]

Probably not. Even if you reinforce the door by backing it with thicker steel, the door is hollow so it will likely deform.

Do you have room underneath? If you do, you might harvest a spare bracket and the cranking mechanism from a 3/4 ton truck

[Danjo]

You might be able to reinforce the door with heavier sheet metal inside and out, about the same diameter as the spare and not collapse door. It’s a lot of weight but I don’t think you have to worry about the hinges.

You may consider filling the cavity of the door with plywood.

Just some rambling thoughts from a drunk man…

[rossvtaylor]

Hi Red Fir...if you haven't considered it before, I'd respectfully suggest that you could get by without a spare (assuming you have dual wheels in the back). If you have a flat tire, and some basic tools to change them around, you can rearrange tires to let you get to a shop.

If you have a flat on the rear, you can remove that flat tire and travel (at a reduced speed) with one tire on that side. If you have a flat on the front, you can move one of the dual wheels to the front. It's possible that this might mean you exceed the weight rating of the single rear tire, for the time you're getting to a shop, so it would be best to keep your speed down and make sure the tire pressure is at the upper indicated limit...but you won't be stuck.

Now, there's nothing wrong with carrying a spare...and I totally skipped answering your actual question...but this might give you an option to ponder.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqdyYVBw3i8

[nikitis]

Originally Posted by rossvtaylor

Hi Red Fir...if you haven't considered it before, I'd respectfully suggest that you could get by without a spare (assuming you have dual wheels in the back). If you have a flat tire, and some basic tools to change them around, you can rearrange tires to let you get to a shop.

If you have a flat on the rear, you can remove that flat tire and travel (at a reduced speed) with one tire on that side. If you have a flat on the front, you can move one of the dual wheels to the front. It's possible that this might mean you exceed the weight rating of the single rear tire, for the time you're getting to a shop, so it would be best to keep your speed down and make sure the tire pressure is at the upper indicated limit...but you won't be stuck.

Now, there's nothing wrong with carrying a spare...and I totally skipped answering your actual question...but this might give you an option to ponder.

I can tell you right now, having taken my wheels off to do a king pin job, those bolts took a propane flame on them to loosen up on my bus. Some of our buses haven't had those bolts taken off in nearly 2 decades, and if you are in an old bus like mine you aren't getting them off without heat. I broke a 1 Inch breaker bar using my weight. (I'm a beefy guy (285lbs, mostly muscle) and I couldn't get a single bolt to move without heat.)

I will say though, if you apply the Youtube Video and make a propane torch attachment and carry propane in your bus for your oven, install a T piece in the propane line and cap it off near the middle between both sets of wheels so you can easily attach a torch, and flame those bolts off. They come off easy with a torch. Just hold for like 20 seconds, and whallah! A 1/2 breaker bar can get them off even if your bus is old like mine.


I made my torch using the materials from this video, the quality of the torch is decent and safe if you take your time in making it, and remember to keep pressure at 30lbs through out the line when you use it:
https://youtu.be/-ikGIl-uES0

[Red_Fir]

So I looked underneath and the fuel tank takes the logical spot for a spare,
I bought a Bauer 20v 1/2" impact gun from Harbor Freight! ($49.00 on sale) and it rattled the lugs off without difficulty. The biggest problem I found was inadequate clearance on the hub with the stock Chevy rim I had to take a four foot iron bar and literally beat the tire loose turning it half turn every few blows, as they were 16.5" I replaced them with 16" rims from a Ford that has a few millimeters more clearance.
Rather than reinforcing the door proper I was thinking of making a "T" (or possibly a triangle, or better yet a hollow triangle!) of 3/8" plate steel (say 4" wide?) and installing in with longer bolts directly through the hinge (making a tire support, hinge, door, sandwich!).

[Danjo]

Post pics of what you do.

[Samarath]

Torque multiplier makes life easier.

[rossvtaylor]

Related to what Nikitis shared: I would suggest that any bus owner remove and then properly torque all their lug nuts at least once. Having to struggle to get the lug nuts off roadside, because someone put them on with an unregulated 1-inch impact gun...or because they were corroded...isn't ideal. I've seen way too many buses with lug nuts that were way overtorqued. It would be worth doing a proper torque of all the lug nuts anytime you acquire a new-to-you bus, so you're not risking broken studs or a roadside fight.

[AlphaHare]

Weldtec has some bumper mounted hinged carriers. If you can't afford them ($$) then maybe it will give you some design ideas.

Jeff

[LargeMargeInBaja]

For an alternative...
We carry two spare 22.5 tires on wheels.
These mount on the poop-deck of the toy-hauler:
https://vanlivingforum.com/threads/e...8/#post-576110
.
Spares for the toy-hauler mount inside on brackets.

[nikitis]

Originally Posted by LargeMargeInBaja

For an alternative...
We carry two spare 22.5 tires on wheels.
These mount on the poop-deck of the toy-hauler:
https://vanlivingforum.com/threads/e...8/#post-576110
.
Spares for the toy-hauler mount inside on brackets.

If your bus's steer rim has a similar bolt pattern to the rear rims, on many buses you can in a pinch steel one of your outer dualie wheels and mount it up front temporarily as a steer tire to get you to a tire shop. This way you don't have to carry spares with you like that and can use that storage area for something else.

If you have one of those Locking Ring type of steer wheels though, likely not.

[mmoore6856]

Originally Posted by rossvtaylor

Hi Red Fir...if you haven't considered it before, I'd respectfully suggest that you could get by without a spare (assuming you have dual wheels in the back). If you have a flat tire, and some basic tools to change them around, you can rearrange tires to let you get to a shop.
.

Now, there's nothing wrong with carrying a spare...and I totally skipped answering your actual question...but this might give you an option to ponder.

so before you go out and buy that lugnut impact kit look hard at the price. i bought a 1 and 1/4 impact socket a 3/4 breaker bar and a pipe as i wont buy tools ill never need. a bit of antisieze and a 3lb hammer. i love my spoke wheels