Project: Custom Wall Mounted Tire Storage Rack

Overview

I recently bought winter wheels and tires for the project miata. That way, I could easily swap between summer and winter wheelsets, without having to visit a tire shop and have tires removed and installed.

Unfortunately, this means having 7 wheel/tire combos sitting in the garage at a time. While 1 or 2 spares wouldn't be too bad, having 7 tires sit around is a big space commitment. Eventually, I grew tired of having a stack of tires take up space on the garage floor, and I decided to build a wall mounted tire rack.

The rack would need to accomodate:

- 1 full set of 4 winter or summer tires - 205mm or 195mm wide for a total max width of 820mm

- 2 Spare 195mm wheel/tire combos (stock Miata wheels/tires) for a total width of 390mm

- 1 Spare aftermarket wheel with 205mm tires for a total width of 205mm.

- 1 Miata OEM spare wheel/tire (115mm)

Design

Adding all these measurements, we get a 1530mm or 60.2" total width. Thus, the tire rack would need to accomodate at least 60.2 inches of tires.

With that in mind, I browsed the internet for a design I liked. I found a rack from Home Depot that I particularly liked, so I used it as inspiration. However, I had a few problems with it:

1. The horizontal tire support bar sits too close to the wall, which would make it easier for a tire to fall off by accident.

2. The rack's overall width is only 48" meaning it wouldn't fit all my tires.

3. It only has mounting points at either end, meaning the entire weight of all tires is only spread across 2 studs.





Considering these changes, I made a sketch of my ideal rack. It would be 72" long, providing plenty of space for the side supports, a middle support, and a little extra room, should I have more wheels/tires to store. To save money, I opted for angle bar on the upper and lower horizontal supports, instead of sqare tubing. These will offer similar lateral strength at a lower price. Additionally, I opted for flat bar on the upright supports, against the wall. This, again, will be plenty strong, while remaining affordable. I'll use round 5/8" tubing to support the tires. The upper and lower horizontal supports would have 3/16" holes every 16" for screws. This means I can mount the rack onto each stud, for the entire 72" length, providing plenty of strength and support.

With a final design ready, I bought metal from Home Depot. I first cut and welded the vertical wall-adjacent uprights to the horizontal angle, and then the perpendicular lower supports. With those welded, I cut and welded the diagonal upper supports, and finally the 5/8" horizontal tubing.

With everything welded, I mounted the rack to my garage wall using deck screws. I decided not to build a middle support unless I'd need it, so I loaded up the rack for a stress test. With all tires on the rack, the tubing ended up bending outwards. This was not ideal, as it looked bad, and raised safety concerns. So, I welded in a 3/16" piece of flat bar, 34" inches to the far left of the rack. That way, I could fit a whole set of tires to the left of the support bar, and the remaining tires to the right. This went smoothly, and the tubing no longer deflected under load.

Overall, I'm thrilled with how this project turned out, and I really like how it looks. Also, the free-d up floor space is a huge plus!

What I Learned

• How to efficiently store spare wheels and tires
• How to modify existing designs to tailor to custom needs
• Optimizing support design after production to increase load