While blasting out this winter's salt and dealing with the rust on the spare rim and frame, I wondered. Has anyone made a spare cover for the wheel hanging under the bed? It's a really bad spot for collecting road salt. Thanks GH

 

I'm sure you could get one. They are all over the place. Just like spare tires mounted on back of jeeps and other SUV's. Google spare tire cover.

 

but how would you seal it tight so it didn't collect and hold it against the tire? I like the idea, but I worry about stuff like that (I don't have to worry much anymore, but used to wash under my truck bed when I lived in Michigan)

 

Guess you would have to improvise.

 

I have a corvette and it has a tire cover which actually holds the spare in place. Believe me, it does nothing to keep dirt from building up on the spare. IMO what you have is best and just wash it off occasionally. I don't believe there is any reasonable way to protect the spare tire under the bed and keep it clean. But that is just my opinion.

 

I would flush out the area with a hose every few weeks during winter months. Luckily here in ATL, I don't have to worry about salt much. That is, until this winter when they started spraying brine from new trucks. Those were acquired to prevent a repeat of last year's Snowmaggedon, where 1.5 to 2 inches shut the whole city down. It had people sleeping in grocery aisles, hotel lobbies or some sitting in their cars for over 24hrs.

 

That used to be a good idea. My pap had a 94 explorer they tried the same thing. After about 10 years the rim was pretty much totally gone.. IF you are that worried about it throw it in your bed for the winter.. I power wash my ram every week cause I like a rust free truck and the spare is one of the places I wash down. I also take it down every year and make sure its all good and still holding air. Mine has never been used so its going on 13 years old and still looks fairly new.

 

I moved mine to the bedside using a mount off amazon.