Ford Transit Rear Door Tire Carrier Installation

Ford Transit Rear Door Tire Carrier Installation

Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier (Heading)
Photo of author
Updated:

A tire carrier allows to store a larger tire than stock (which is problematic on the non-extended length Transit), provides easier access to the spare tire, and frees up space underneath the van (e.g. to add water tank instead). We opted for the Flatline Van Co Tire Carrier and documented the installation on our Ford Transit below. Hope this helps!

Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier (View Rear)
Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier (Iso View)
Also shown: Rear Door Platform (read our installation/review or see on Flatlinevanco.com)

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Portrait-FarOutRide-Van

Time


2 or 3 hours

Cost


$1,195 USD

Weight


30 lbs

(carrier only)

Material


ItemDescriptionQuantityBuy
Transit Rear Tire CarrierFlatline Van Co Rear Door Tire Carrier for Ford Transit (2015-present). All necessary hardware included.
(Also available: Sprinter Van Rear Door Carrier)
1Flatline Van Co
Rust InhibitorTo prevent corrosion on bare edges after drilling.1Amazon
Blue LoctiteFor wheel studs1Amazon

Tools


  • Ratchet with 13mm Socket
  • 9/16 Box Wrench or Socket
  • 7/32 Hex Allen Key
  • Power Drill with 3/16″ and 27/64″ drill bits
  • Deburring Tool (or countersink bit)
  • A helping hand!

Good to Know


Door Opening


Be aware that with the Tire Carrier, you loose the ability to open the rear driver door all the way up to the van body (253°). And the magnetic bumpers won’t help anymore, the tire now acts as the bumper:

Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier (Door Opening Restriction)
Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier (Door Opening Bumper)

Hitch Extender


The spare tire extends about 14-16 inches away from the rear door. This means you may need an hitch extender to carry your moto, bikes, etc. We were about to get one, but the moto trial fits neatly without extender after all (using a cheap 500Lb Moto Hitch Rack):

Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier ()-4
Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier (Tire Dimensions)

Driver Side Platform


Since we published this article, Flatline Van Co released a Driver-Side Rear Door Platform. That’s also an option to consider instead of installing a tire carrier:


Installation


1. Bottom Hinge Bracket (Driver Side)


1.1. Make alignment marks using a fine sharpie (we will use these lines to reinstall the hinge):

Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier Installation (Make Alignement Marks Bottom Hinge)

1.2. Remove the 3 factory bolts from the bottom hinge with a 13mm socket:

Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier Installation-5 (remove bolts 13mm rachet)

1.3. Ask your helping hand to support the door during the next steps. No need to support the full weight of the door, it’s only to help aligning the brackets and to prevent the door from moving if it’s windy…

Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier Installation-3 (Hold the driver door)

1.4. Partially close the hinge, slide the D2 hinge bracket over the hinge and locate it so it doesn’t interfere with the surrounding structure:

Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier Installation-2 (Slide Bottom Hinge)

1.5. Check the alignment marks and tighten the 3 factory bolts:

Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier Installation-4 (Tighten bolts bottom hinge)

1.6. Slowly close the door and check the clearance between the D2 bracket and the surrounding structure. If something’s off, fine-tune the bracket position as needed.


2. Top Hinge Bracket (DRIVer Side)


Repeat the same procedure as Step 1, but for the D1 top hinge bracket:

Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier Installation-6 (Top Hinge)

3. Remove the interior door panel (DRIVER Side)


3.1. The door panel is held by push-pins around the edges. Pull on the edges to disengage them:

Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier Installation-7 (Remove plastic panel)

4. Drill the exterior hole


4.1. Align the drill template with the edge of the door and edge of sheet metal under the window (or window space) and mark the drill hole:

Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier Installation-8 (Use template mark outside hole)

4.2. Drill a pilot hole (3/16″), then enlarge to final size (27/64″). Make sure to drill through the 2 layers of metal:

Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier Installation-9 (Drill hole)

4.3. Deburr the hole and smooth the edge with sanding paper:

Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier Installation-10 (Deburr hole)

4.4. Apply rust inhibitor to the bare edges the hole. Isabelle sprayed some Rust-Oleum in a plastic jar and applied it with a brush (it’s less messy this way!):

Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier Installation-11 (Apply rust inhibitor)

5. Assemble the wheel bracket to the tire carrier


Attach the wheel bracket to the tire carrier using hardware as shown below:

Flatline Van Co Tire Carrier Hardware
(credit: Flatline Van Co)
Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier Installation-14

6. Bolt the Tire Carrier to the Driver Door


6.1. Ask your helper to hold and align the holes of the tire carrier with the brackets:

Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier Installation-19

6.2. Loosely bolt the tire carrier (3/8″ x 1″ flanged hex screws with 3/8″ flanged locknuts) to the top and bottom hinge brackets:

Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier Installation-21
Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier Installation-20

6.3. Insert the hardware (3/8″ x 1.5″ flanged hex screw with 3/8″ sealing washer) into the exterior hole:

Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier Installation-22

7. Install the Internal Door Brace


Align the internal door brace with the exterior bolt (from step 6). Loosely insert the 3/8″ exterior bolt and the 1/4″ flanged button head screw on the side of the door. Make sure the brace is seated flat on both surfaces then tighten:

Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier Installation (Internal Door Brace)
Internal door brace
Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier Installation-23 (Screw door frame)
1/4″ flanged button head screw

8. Tighten All Bolts


8.1. Tighten the bolts on the upper bracket:

Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier Installation-26 (Tighten Bolts Upper Bracket)

8.2. Tighten the bolts on the lower bracket:

Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier Installation-25 (Tighten Bolts Lower Bracket)

8.3. Install the lower frame brace, make sure it sits against the door, then tighten:

Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier Installation-27 (Tighten Bolts Lower Frace Brace)

9. Install the Wheel Studs


9.1. Apply Blue Loctite on the short end of the wheel studs:

Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier Installation-30

9.2. Install the 3 wheel studs into the notched holes (don’t apply too much torque to prevent stripping them):

Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier Installation-31 (wheel studs)

10. Install the wheel


Grab your spare wheel and slide it over the 3 wheel studs. Use the provided lug nuts and tighten using the provided lug nut key:

Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier Installation-32

For extra bonus style points, we designed and 3D printed lug nut covers:

Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier (Lug Nut Covers 3D Printed)
Ford Transit Rear Tire Carrier (Lug Nut Covers 3D Printed)-2

That’s it!


Not too hard wasn’t it? 🙂


On Second Thought…


First Impressions

Nothing to mention here, so far so good!

Long Term Review

Wait for it!


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Hello! We’re Isabelle and Antoine 🙂 In 2017, we sold our house (and everything in it), quit our engineering careers, and moved into our self-built campervan. Every day is an opportunity for a new adventure... We’re chasing our dreams, and hopefully it inspires others to do the same!

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