Luke's 2017 Outback 3.6r (Desert Wagon)

She is a beauty!

Very nice, Luke!  Love it.  Do you keep the tire carrier on all the time?

@blacklabelgarageyt thank you!  Needs more dirt though 😜 

@pete-racz thanks, Pete.  I do keep it on all the type because it's too much of a hassle to pull on and off for me.  That said, I do fully embrace the newly added squeaks that chime in hear and there.  It's a built in reminder to turn up the radio, pretty cool, I know? 😆

Looks like I can edit my post now (thanks Admin!) so I'll add specs sooner than later.

The carrier is this one if interested but I'm hesitant on recommending it until I put more miles on it, but there are some good videos of it being put through the paces on the Rig'd site:

https://www.rigdsupply.com/products/rigd-ultraswing-hitch-carrier-multi-fit

Funny!  I bought the Ultraswing.  Had it in my garage and then returned it.  Just wasn't sure about having that much weight hanging off the back full-time.  Thus the reason for my question to you.  Also, my wife wasn't thrilled about having to open in every time she wanted to access the hatchback.  So, for now, the spare is in the back and I can put in in the roof basket when needed.  Kind of a pain though...

Might reconsider in the future.

Thanks, Luke!

Pete 

@pete-racz I had my Hitchgate Solo mounted with a full-size wheel and tire with the Rotopax mount (as you have probably seen) but the truth is, I took it off for this reason. First, all those items together are very heavly and hanging off the back has definitely added squeaks and squawks to the vehicle ride... even without the carrier on.

But, for me, there is nowhere to put the spare when out adventuring as I have the RTT on top and the rear mostly full. As many of you have seen, while I had the rear spare on the back I emptied the spare tire carrier compartment and was able to use that for other purposes. Very helpful and also reduced the rear vehicle weight by not having two spares unnecessarily. However, as of late, I have put the factory spare back in and removed the rear carrier. And, if you saw recently, I am passing my rig on to my son (but doing so without the rear tire carrier).

I had planned to build a wooden wheeled cart to be able to simply pull the entire setup off the class 3 hitch and just wheel it to a storage area and then wheel it back when I wanted to mount it on for a trip. This is a good option if you have the garage space. This way you don't have to take the wheel and tire off the carrier first, then remove the swing arm (all of which can be a 1/2 hour to 45-minute process) and a lot of lifting.

With a handmade cart with "rests" in the right positions, you could effectively push the cart in place, unlatch the entire swing arm with the mounted wheel/tire, strap it to the special cart and pull it away from the hitch. Consider this idea when it comes to usage for adventure vs. removal for a daily driver.

I agree with your wife: I got tired of opening and closing the swing arm to put things in the rear of the vehicle and let's not forget to mention the annoying rear alarm that goes off when in reverse because the backup camera is looking at the tire (unless you add an aftermarket camera (which isn't very easy to mount or run a line along the solid swing arm.

@4x_adminYep!  All good points, Scott.  I toyed with the cart idea as well.  In the long run, my wife won the tire carrier battle.  I also forgot to mention that if you accidentally open the hatch with the key fob or the button inside, it bangs into the tire carrier.

I mentioned above that I can also put the spare up in the roof basket.   Although I can do it now, you never know when that ship will sail.  I'm no spring chicken that's for sure! Got to be careful about the back and hoisting that much weight into the basket.  Also, keeping it up there limits what I can put in the basket because of the weight.

For now, I am going to put a wood enclosure around the tire while I have it in the back of the vehicle so I can still have storage on top (and in the wheel itself).  I'm going to put some anti-slide stuff on the wood and tie-downs for load netting.  That should make up for some of the storage loss in the back.  When car camping, I just put the spare under the car.  Not elegant but should work pretty good.

Oversized spare tire in the spare tire well, Subaru??  Not likely!

Cheers all!

Pete

Pete, this is a great idea...the wood. I will tell my son Collin to do something like that with the full-sized spare I am giving him with the 4X Outback (since I am not giving him the swing arm). @collin-leuthold be sure to consider this when you take full ownership.

@pete-racz that's a great idea to build a wood enclosure for it.  I will say that having that spare tire hatch space open and free in the Outback is awesome.  So much room for activities.

I like the angle of that rear carrier. Isn't that spare space huge?!

With a shift in goals comes a shift in needs.  I am thinking of selling the Desert Wagon but would love for it to go to a member of 4X or someone a member knows.  I would also discount the sale price if it went to a Member.  I'll post this on the proper forum once ready but wanted to get the thought out there.

So, @luke-moussa what are you thinking of switching to or are you going to make your Toyota your main vehicle?

@debaru you got it.  My plan is to get the 4runner running again and make that my main squeeze.

Posted by: @luke-moussa

@debaru you got it.  My plan is to get the 4runner running again and make that my main squeeze.

Awesome! Looking forward to seeing the progress. 👍