Spare tire mounting

[mikeg135]

The 285's will not fit in the factory spot with the Jardine 4 inch exhaust. I was wondering what everyone else is doing with a larger spare.



I am thinking of the Fabtech tire mount system that bolts to the bed of the truck like the Baja guys have.



Any comments on this approach or are there other options?



Mike

 

[15w40]

I am running Rickson 19. 5s and they are too big to fit the under bed location, 33. 5“ diameter. I made a tire carrier that plugs into my rear receiver and folds down to allow lowering the tailgate. I move the tire carrier to a front receiver when towing. In the front it does block airflow but it has not been a problem.

 

[15w40]

Here is how I made mine

I have taken some pictures of my spare tire carrier that I use for my oversized 33. 5” tires. This carrier plugs into the rear receiver and swings down to allow access to the tailgate. The first picture shows the carrier with the wheel and tire removed. When the wheel is installed it just clears the license plate and taillight. Measuring from the center of the 2” receiver to the center of the upright is 15. 5”. The upright measured from the center of the wheel to the center of the horizontal bar is 25”. I used 2” square tubing with a ¼” wall and gussets at all the joints. The wheel is mounted to a ½” x 8” diameter steel disk. The 8 studs are threaded and secured with loctite.



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Picture 2 shows the carrier in the down position after pulling the pin. The pin is resting on top. There is a ¾” pin welded into lower part of the “C” shaped channel. That channel and the square tube welded to the end of the channel was made from 2 ½” tube with a 3/16” wall.



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Picture 3 shows the spare tire carrier on my front receiver. Here I have a second position for the locking pin because the upright-to-receiver distance, measured from center to center is only 9”. This allows the tire to clear the headlight and front license plate. I know that it looks like the bottom of this carrier is dragging on the ground but there is more than 10” between the ground and the carrier. My front receiver is 16” from the ground.



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After building this carrier there is one change that I would make if I started over again. I would swap the location of the tire right to left. When backing, the tire blocks some rear vision and when mounted on the front, it sticks about 13” over the hood. In designing this I thought that the passenger side of the intercooler should get unobstructed air because the air is the hottest just out of the turbo. Towing in hot weather shows no more exhaust heat than without the carrier.



This project took a couple of days to put together. It helps to have access to a plasma cutter and a good MIG welder.



This is the first time I have tried to post pictures. I hope it works.