How To Carry a Spare Tire and Bike Rack On a Roof Rack
Published 10/16/2019
Question:
Hi - I just got a Rola Rack from you for my Kia Soul and Im looking for the best option for a lightweight, narrow cargo carrier, to haul my spare tire on top of my car when Im camping, that is easily removable for storage. I have modified the interior of my car and I use the spare tire wheel well for carrying things I frequently need when stealth camping - not for a tire. My tire is 26inch in diameter. My car top is about 45inch wide. The T-Slots on the rack are about 36inch wide. Id like to have enough room on the rack to mount a track type carrier for my bike or a water tube. The narrow cargo carriers by Yakima and Kuat are too skinny for my 26inch spare tire. The Inno Shaper 80 Basket, at 32.5inch seems to be my best choice and it appears to be easily removable from the rack in one piece to store when not needed. The MT70115 may work as well. Id like to get confirmation from your experts to let me know if Im correct in this assessment. Thanks very much. You are very helpful with your videos and excellent descriptions of the products you carry.
asked by: Shannon G
Expert Reply:
I do have an option for you but in order to carry both a bike rack and spare tire you are going to need to go with an option that has both or else you would not have space. The Inno Shaper 80 Roof Cargo Basket is wide enough to fit your spare tire but would not then leave enough space (only 3-1/2") for a bike rack and the same goes for the MaxxTow Roof Mounted Cargo Basket. The majority of roof mount bike racks are going to be 4-1/2" wide at a minimum.
Instead, I recommend the Rhino-Rack XTray Pro Cargo Basket part # RRRMCB03 which is wide enough to hold your spare tire and it has two fork blocks built-in to carry bikes. The overall width of the basket is larger than your actual roof rack but the mounting clamps will allow it to mount as they are several inches in from the outer edge.
Please note, the Inno Shaper Roof Cargo Baskets are the only options that can be mounted inside a channel.
