Fitting a Second Tyre Carrier to Our 76 Series Uneek 4×4 Rear Bar Reconfirms Why We Dislike It
In this post we go through the long list of problems we faced when fitting a second tyre carrier to our Uneek 4×4 rear bar on our 76 Series Toyota Land Cruiser, why this process reconfirmed our utter dislike for our Uneek 4×4 rear bar, and why we will still never recommend this rear bar to anyone.
For those that have read many of our 76 Series Toyota Land Cruiser build stories will know that we have not been happy with the Uneek 4×4 rear bar. We have written a detailed review going through all the issues we have experienced with the Uneek 4×4 rear bar, you can read it here if you are interested. We do not like to be negative about products and companies but in this instance, it is hard not to be critical.
If money was not an option, we would have changed the Uneek 4×4 rear bar on our 76 Series Land Cruiser a while ago. However, life is expensive, and we have stuck with the pain we already know. As a result, we needed to purchase a second tyre carrier from Uneek 4×4 to carry an additional spare wheel on our 76 Series Cruiser. What I thought would be a straightforward installation turned out to be problematic with the result being far from perfect requiring modifications to end up with something that looks reasonably ok. I should not have expected something simple based on our previous experience, but it is good to dream. We will take you through all the problems we experienced and what is involved in fitting a second tyre carrier to the Uneek 4×4 rear bar, although we do recommend you do not fit one at all.
NB: 2024 UPDATE: I have not had the time to write an updated post but, please be aware we had a failure with this bar on our last Simpson Desert crossing with the second tyre carrier. The bar design could not handle the weight of two 33-inch tyres. I have since had to remove the second spare and I am looking at having some additional supports welded into the bar to support the weight of two spares. We are also looking at replacing this bar completely. I have also seen two cracks appear in the steel plate that mounts to the rear driver side barn door that we now need to remove and have welded. If we go down the replacement route, we are considering the Thorburns bar if it is the same design as their bar on the Troopy. Their design has additional supports to deal with the weight of two spares. This is a serious design flaw of the Uneek 4×4 rear bar. Please send us a message if you have any questions.
The Long List of Problems with Fitting a Simple Tyre Carrier
Fitting Instructions Are Ridiculously Vague
To start with, the fitting instructions provided by Uneek 4×4 for the 76 Series Toyota Land Cruiser rear bar are vague. The fitting instructions for the second tyre carrier are the same ones provided with the rear bar. Not only are the instructions no way near detailed enough, but in most instances the images provided are useless.
You need to constantly reference the blown-out drawing of the parts to try and work out where everything goes as the instructions will have a short sentence like “then mount the slam latch as shown”. The slam latch consists of about 10 different parts and components that need to be put together before it can be mounted. There is a CAD drawing type image of the underside of this latch, but nothing of the top that requires a latch spring mechanism to be put together. If you fitted these regularly then it would be easy, but for a one-off fitment, you would need to do a bit of a trial and error before you can put it all together properly.
Mounting Hardware Missing & Not Right for the Job
We also had a few issues with the mounting hardware provided and some not even provided. There were no M10 bolts provided however, they did supply the M10 lock nuts. Luckily, we had some spare bolts lying around that we could use.
Another problem we had with some of the mounting hardware provided is that it was not right for the job. A simple example is many of the supplied bolts being far too long than required. Therefore, you have a good 20mm plus of a bolt sticking out the other side of a nut which just looks untidy and, in some instances, get in the way of other nuts and bolts. Why could the perfect size bolt not be provided, it is not that difficult and would be cheaper. Some of the M6 washers provided were too big. Where we needed to fit three M6 bolts side by side, I had to replace the middle one with a smaller washer or else they would not fit. In another section, the M6 washer was too big that it stuck out on the other side of the steel, so I needed to replace these ones with something smaller. Little things like this are extremely frustrating when installing a product this expensive, as you spend so much time removing things and then looking for something that will work, when it would not be that difficult to provide the right parts from the start. Especially when you consider that the Uneek 4×4 rear bar with a second tyre carrier is one of the most expensive for the 76 Series Toyota Land Cruiser.
Bearing Cups Already Inside the Tyre Carrier
To add to our problems, Uneek 4×4 provide you with two trailer bearing for the second tyre swing arm. As I would normally do with bearings, these were removed from their packaging and packed with grease. Then I seated the greased bearings (or cones) into their cups and followed the instructions by placing the bearing seal and larger bearing on the base of the axle stub already on the rear bar, lifted the tyre carrier onto the axle stub, inserted the smaller bearing, and then screwed on the castle nut. To my astonishment the tyre carrier was not sitting in place properly and wobbling all over the place.
I removed it all and took a good amount of time trying to work out why nothing would fit properly. I then found that inside the hub attached to the swing arm, both the bearing cups were already inside the swing arm. I was quite confused as I was provided two bearings with cones and cups. Why were there already two bearing cups inside the swing arm hub? Maybe Uneek was going to install this swing arm on another vehicle and did not end up doing the job and someone left these inside the hub assembly. I am not sure. But it was a good waste of time trying to work out what was causing the issue.
Once I determined the problem, I removed the bearing cups already inside the hub to make sure these were in fact the correct ones. One had the same part number as one of the bearing cups provided but the other did not. So, I replaced both with the bearing cups provided. Once these had been removed and fitted properly, the tyre carrier sat in place properly.
Powder Coat Damaged in Places
I also found that the powder coat on the swing arm was damaged in a couple of places. There was a chip on one section. With the other damage caused by what looked like washers. This led me to believe that this swing arm was fitted or partially fitted to another vehicle before being removed and restocked. This would explain why I had issues with the bearing cups already fitted inside the hub of the swing arm.
Locking Pin Does Not Line Up & Poor Design
The second tyre carrier has a locking pin on a spring that allows you to secure the swing arm and spare tyre in place when it is open. This is required when you are not parked on level ground and need to keep the swing arm in place so you can open the rear barn door. What we found was that the existing hole on the rear bar that this locking pin is supposed to go into, was out about 5mm. As a result, we had to file this hole 5mm bigger so that the locking pin would line up with this hole and secure the swing arm in place when open. This was another annoyance that took some time to file bigger and then paint.
The other issue with this locking pin is the design of it and where it sits. The locking pin has a lever that you can grab to pull up and turn. If you forget to turn this lever flat up against the swing arm, when you open the door, it is sitting in the perfect spot to put a nice little dent smack bang in the middle of your door. Yes, you could make sure you put this lever back in the same place every time, but what happens if a mechanic or someone else that does not know how your rear bar works opens your door incorrectly? It is a poor design, not well thought out, and should be changed.
Two Spare Tyres Do Not Line Up
The biggest and most annoying part of this whole process was that once the second tyre carrier was fitted and I secured our second spare, the two spare tyres were not even close to lining up. The second spare tyre sat out at least 25mm further than our original spare tyre. There was no more play in how far back the tyre mounts could be fitted as both had been fitted as far back as possible due to our negative offset on our rims.
When looking at it closely, you can see that both spares would never sit out at the same distance as the second swing arm sits out far further that the original swing arm. We had three options to resolve this issue. Option one, remove the rear bar and take it to a steel recycler which we would love to do but can’t afford. The second option was to adjust the tyre mount on the original spare and sit it further away from the vehicle to line up with the second spare. However, I chose not to do this as this would have the tyre sitting further away from the swing arm which would then put even more pressure on the rear door. If you have read our detailed review on the Uneek 4×4 rear bar you would have read about the issues we have had with this rear door. So, this was not an option. Instead, we chose option three, which was to create an additional bracket to extend the soft stop that the tyre carrier sits on. This was simple, I just cut a piece of stainless to size and bolted on extending the soft stop out another 25mm, then adjusted the tie rod so the swing arm sat further way from the vehicle lining up with the second spare tyre.
Do Not Buy the Uneek Rear Bar for the 76 Series
The two spares not lining up was a shock as it was something we just expected to occur. This issue combined with all the other issues we have had, not only with this second tyre carrier but also the rear bar, highlights why you should never buy a Uneek 4×4 rear bar for the 76 Series Toyota Land Cruiser. When this rear bar with two tyre carriers’ costs close to $4,000 it is expensive. For that sort of money, you should be getting a product that has been well thought out, properly tested, works, and all fits together properly. In my opinion, the Uneek 4×4 rear bar for the 76 Series Land Cruiser is not even worth half of that.
We may be a little biased due to the constant frustrations we have had with the Uneek 4×4 rear bar on our 76 Series Land Cruiser but, when we are spending this sort of money for an Australian made product, our expectations are high. Unfortunately, Uneek 4×4 have missed the mark by some way and what could have been a good-looking rear bar for the 76 Series Land Cruiser it is plagued with problems. Our advice if you want to spend this sort of money is go with a Kaymar, Thorburns or Cruiser Company rear bars. The best value for money appears to be the Thorburns rear bar.
To read our detailed review on our Uneek 4×4 rear bar you can find it here.
Thanks for taking the time to read our story on the problems we had fitting a second tyre carrier to our Uneek 4×4 rear bar on our 76 Series Land Cruiser. For any comments or other feedback, please post them at the bottom of this story. If you would like to read our other 76 Series Land Cruiser build stories you can find them all here.
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The thoughts of Peter.
12/01/2024 @ 12:27 AM
Hi Peter,
I love your reviews,thats how it’s done.Thank you for taking your time to do it right.I fitted the Gobi to my Toyota Fortuner,it’s perfect.
Cheers
Johann
South Africa
12/01/2024 @ 8:50 AM
G’day Johann,
Thank you so much for the support mate, really appreciate that feedback. It is great to know that the effort is appreciated. I have been fairly hopeless over the last 12-months with posting reviews, but I plan on getting a few more up here in 2024. Thanks again for the support and it is great to hear that the Gobi is working well for you. I look forward to one day replacing this Uneek 4×4 rear bar with someone that is more suitable and engineered correctly.
Happy and safe travels! Hopefully we will be in Africa next year, we really need to see some of our good mates it has been too long.
Cheers,
Peter
07/07/2022 @ 10:06 PM
Hi All, I actually bought a Uneek rear bar due to its unique latching design, but on receipt returned it after looking at the design in detail. As I intended to travel on a lot of dirt roads and outback tracks I was concerned with the possible issues of “pumping” the rear door that you previously described. The design concept is very good but has some possible issues as the arm design is possibly too flexible at the hub – arm connection point. I am an engineer involved in engineering design so I actually reviewed their design and sent them some recommendations to improve the rigidity and stiffness of the arm and latching system. Looking at your photos they appear to have not taken much on board in the second arm design. I went for the Thornburns (having an existing tow bar I believe it is possibly a better design than the Kaymar unless you specifically want an integrated tow bar). Just did a 5000km loop Sydney Mt Dare and northern Simpson and it was perfect. Thank you for your reviews. Happy and safe travels Peter
08/07/2022 @ 9:52 AM
G’day Peter,
Thanks for reading and your feedback mate, much appreciated.
I wish I had your engineering brain so that I would have made a better decision from the start. Your point on the flexibility of the swing arm is definitely what causes many of the issues with the Uneek bar. The Thornburns design is far superior and I have heard many positive stories from people that use this rear bar on the 76 and Troopy. It is surprising that your feedback was not taking on board, you would think that companies like Uneek would want to improve their end product. Hopefully the couple of posts we have written will help others not make the bad decision we made.
Happy and safe travels to you as well.
Cheers,
Peter
07/07/2022 @ 6:31 PM
mmm i see what you mean, when you get enough money together for a new one take a look at the South African brand GobiX rear wheel carrier we have one on our 76 we keep with friends in Windhoek for when we travel there 1 every 2 years. There the best ive found by a long way
08/07/2022 @ 9:42 AM
G’day Michael,
Thanks for the message mate. Just took a look at that bar and I can see that it is a far better design than the Uneek one we have. Especially with the additional supports on the swing arms. It looks far stronger and can see why you have been happy with it. Can also see that the swing arms line up perfectly, just what you would expect. Hopefully someone decides to import these over here at some stage. Would be good to get more options for an extremely popular car over here.
https://www.gobi-x.co.za/product/lc76-rear-bumper/
Cheers,
Peter