Spare tires show up on all sides of CJ-3Bs. The factory usually put the spare on the right hand side, and there are also pictures on CJ3B.info showing the spare on the left side (usually with right-hand-drive) or the rear (the military likes to have side clearance.) And in some cases no spare at all or, in a photo from Octopussy, a 3B with two spares.
Since most Jeepers want to be able to take the top down when the weather is warm, a spare on the roof isn't usually too practical, but it works fine on this hardtop. Simon Bromley took this photo in 2009 in Tenerife (one of the Spanish Canary Islands, off Morocco.) He said the LWB Jeep appeared to be a Spanish Jeep Avia with Hurricane engine. He also shot a rear view photo (70K JPEG). Thanks to John Carroll for sending the photos.
This Willys fire Jeep is in Portugal, in a town near Lisbon called Entroncamento. Evidently it has served the town well, because they have decided to put it on permanent display in a downtown park near the firehall.
It's nicely displayed in an action pose. It still has the Entroncamento badge on the side, but no longer carries any equipment.
An interesting feature is the fire department's method of mounting the spare tire, in a spot where it wouldn't interfere with getting through narrow streets or loading equipment. The larger copy of the photo gives a good look at the steel channel mounted between the rear fenderwells, just behind the seats. The tailgate was apparently not used, since the hinges are gone. You can also see the chain fastening the Jeep to the nearby fence, presumably to keep the local kids from trying to push it down the street.
A sign attached to the rollbar reads "Auto Comando" so the Jeep probably served as the Chief's Car. See also a closer view of the dashboard and floor (120K JPEG). Thanks to Luis M. Silva Pinho for the photos.
John Carroll used a similar spare tire solution on his Mahindra CJ340: "Mine uses the original Jeep side-mount bracket on two bits of steel welded across the legs of the roll bar."
"Sidemount is still an option when I need the room inside."
This shot gives a good look at the bracket mounted inside. See more from John on CJ3B.info, about Mad Hilda and the Story of
"The Mahindra Jeep".
Putting the spare on the hood, like a Land Rover, doesn't work too well on the 3B if you want to be able to see where you're going. But this Hotchkiss JH-102 in Lavandou, France shows features typical of Maheu-Labrosse "Light Tank Trucks" including tools mounted on the front bumper, and spare tire mounted on a reinforced hood, to make maximum room for firefighting equipment in the rear.
Another option: the owner of the Jeep in this photo demonstrates one advantage of narrow-track tires.
(See Kaiser Jeep in Windsor, Canada for more details on this '64 CJ-3B and other Jeeps assembled in Canada from 1959-69.)
In 2004 Greg Sladics sent the photo above, of his father with the 1964 CJ-3B, after seeing this photo I took of the same Jeep beside the highway in Cloyne, Ontario in the early 1990's, where Dad apparently also liked to play it safe by parking near the air pump.
The only other place I could think of where front-mounted spares were commonly used was in Sweden, but according to Paolo Armando from Chiari, Italy: "In Italy the spare tire on the rear right side of the tub is not permitted because it is outside the vehicle's measurements, and also is very dangerous for pedestrians, cyclists, and when driving in the narrow streets of cities. So in Italy placing the spare in front was a very common practice for many reasons:
If you like the look, check out the combination tow bar and spare tire holder installed on the front of Rankine Roth's Blue Raider 1960 CJ-3B.
Better safe than sorry! This 3B for sale in Victoria, Australia in early 2019 may have originally had the spare on the left, as was the case with many of the Jeeps converted to right-hand-drive when they were assembled at Willys Australia in Brisbane. But at some point it gained a second spare, which is a great idea if you're not worried about overall width.
The important thing about the spare tire is that you have it when you need it. Laura Thornhill, who was travelling in India as a student, took this picture which she captioned, "Laura was one of 18 people in this jeep when the tire blew."
Thanks to Laura for the photo, and Doug Hoffman for finding it.
Also make sure there is some air in the spare. Looks like that was the problem with this early Mahindra-Willys, one of the Jeeps of Ladakh I photographed in 1990.
Of course another function for the spare is when you have somebody very short who wants to look in your window...
This photo was taken by Pierre Gieling in Rwindi Park, Zaire (see High Hoods Everywhere.)
Thanks to all the contributors. -- Derek Redmond
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