mwestc5

My C5 Z06 is primarily my track day car.
I no longer tow it to the track.
I drive it there and hopefully back home.
And since no longer towing, that means no tow vehicle.
That means no extra space for more stuff like extra tires/wheels.
This past season I've had 2 tire failures.
Thanks to the generosity of fellow track rats that I did not even know who loaned me tires/wheels so I was able to finish out the event.
Although in both cases the lenders offered to let me drive home on their tires and figure out away to get them back later I did not take them up on their offer as I do carry a donut spare.
That donut spare got me home both times.
Usually about this time some one will ask--what did you do with the flat tire?
Luckily I had friends there that do tow and they took my tire with them and I got it from them later.

But, this got me to thinking, If I had a simple roof rack or carrier of some sort that could carry at least 1 full size spare I'd be good to go.
Years ago I made a simple roof rack out of a few pieces of 2 by 4's and some suction cups to carry a couple of kayaks. It was simple and cheap and it worked. But that was on my Mazda Protege and I didn't care too much if the roof got scratched up. It did not get scratched up but I would not use that contraption on my Vette.

For my spare tire carrier I want something very simple, light weight and could be mounted/dismounted in a minute or 2 and secured with cam-lock straps probably going through the car.
I came across a few soft canvas like bag options that hold a lot of stuff (up to 19 cu.ft.)way more capacity then I need, and can be secured to the cars roof whether the car has roof rails or not.
These things claim to be water proof and padded on the bottom so as not to scratch the cars roof.
I'm wondering have any of you come up with your own home made solutions or simple store bought solutions to carry stuff on the roof of your Vette
Or have any of used either of these 2?
RoofPax
JustinCase
Or other similar carriers.
Thanks

Jistari

LOL......you re gonna get a lkot of "why.....wtf......how could you do that?!!!"
Never tracked my car when I had it, but if I did and couldnt carry what I needed, I might have put a hitch on it and taken a small trailer.....
Just a thought.

Vetteman Jack

I have seen pics here on the forum of C5 owners who have towed a small trailer behind their car and used it for track related items, including extra tires. The C5 is not designed for towing duty (per the owner's manual), but it seemed to work for those members. Do so at your own risk.

mwestc5

Guys, thanks but you're missing my point.
I used to tow and still have my tow vehicle as well as my trailer.
I still tow my Spec Miata (only because it's not street legal) which I use only a few times a year.
I also have a Porsche Cayman that I sometimes track and carry a donut spare in the rear trunk.
But, ideally I'd like to have at least 1 full size spare when I track it.
And Yes quite a few guys have small harbor freight like trailers that they tow 4 tires and sometimes a tool box.
I've seen Vette guys with this set up as well as Miata and Porsche guys.
One of my buddies has a fairly rare and valuable 1979 930 Turbo (which is a 911) and he tows 4 tires and a tool box to the track.
But, I don't want to tow anything, anywhere anymore whether it's my car on a trailer or tires behind me.
I don't want to deal with the hassle and more stuff to store somewhere.
So far past 4 years that's between 120-130 track days I've managed to drive my Vette home each time.
A few times on the donut spare I carry but I did make it home.
I've seen guys with roof racks they've had installed onto their Vettes as well as other cars including 911's that carry their spares on those.
I don't want that either.
I want something very simple that I can install and remove in a few minutes with no tools.
These travel bags I saw look like they'd work.
I was hoping someone here has maybe used 1 of those or something similar and could give me their 1st hand experience carrying a tire(s).
If I can't get any info here I'll try and track down the manufacturer and see if they can be of any help.
Thanks

jjc508520

At one track day I saw a Miata owner who had a tire carrier that attached to the body through the trunk seams. Seems like someone ought to fab up something like this for the FRC....

mwestc5

[QUOTE=jjc508520;1598857512]At one track day I saw a Miata owner who had a tire carrier that attached to the body through the trunk seams. Seems like someone ought to fab up something like this for the FRC.
[/Q

jjc
Thanks for the pic.
Miata guys are the most creative when it comes to carrying their stuff to the track. This guy's carrying some big tires, these are no 205x50x15's.
Reminds me of the Rube Goldberg rack I made to carry my kayaks on my Mazda Protege. Unfortunately that rack is not up to Vette standards.
I think these canvas bags I found will work best but was hoping to find someone whose actually used them to carry tires and get their feed back.
Thanks again for the pics.

work_truck

I've been looking into roof racks for a while. I think there is the possibility to find a gutter mount setup, but right now the best option we have is the sea sucker/equivalent

Velocity_Vette

I know what you're talking about & what you want to do but I don't think you're going to find many C5 owners that have done what you're talking about. The biggest issue is that your idea works - safely, relatively speaking - just on Z06 and FRC models, and even then I'd be a little weary on attaching things to the roof since even on those models it's not a very structural piece under the SMC shell. Most owners that track their C5s likely either go the trailer method mentioned (a class I or II trailer can be had pretty cheap) or literally trailer their cars to the track.

If I were needing something like this I'd probably;

1) Look at a class I basket that I could put my track wheels and tires on. Might need to check that they don't obscure your tail lights and modify the basket as necessary. Light weight, removable, and you don't have to worry about tires on a trailer.

2) Run a setup similar to the Miata's photo above. That would actually work very well on a Z06 / FRC because they have the lower profile and longer "trunk" than the targa does. It'd give plenty of attachment points and wouldn't run into the issues that running a hitch would.

wscott62893

I think this might work for just one tire. It's designed for a vert, but the FRC also has a longer trunk so it may work with minor modification (if any).

http://www.vetterack.com/index.php?r...&product_id=49

mwestc5

And I'd just about given up
This thing does look interesting
One issue I see or not see is visibility out of rear view--my roll bar kills quite a bit of my rear view as it is-hopefully carrying a wheel on this will not worsen it-I rely quite a bit on my side view mirrors
Thanks will need to check this out

FX VETTE

mwestc5

I checked out Vette Rack website but they refer only to convertibles.
The racks dimensions seem a bit too large for the Z06.
I contacted them re: Z06 application.
No response yet.
For now I'll stick with my donut spare.
Has not failed me yet.
It's gotten me home from the track twice.