Building a swing out tire carrier, Pictures linked thru photobucket.

[Jerry Gerner 2]

Since I have dual exhuast and 33's I can't put my spare under the bed so it takes up most of the inside of my bed.



I've been doing tons of R&D for the past year or so and after having a baby boy 2 months ago I need my bed back to haul the stroller, etc.. When I've been hauling everything under the sun with my Trac I've had to take my spare out and leave it at home.



I did have the spare up on the roof mounted to a Yakima MegaWarrior but have since sold that to another member because I couldn't fit my Trac under most low clearances (fast food places, parking garages, etc.) plus it killed my fuel mileage.



[Broken External Image]:



So I removed the bumper cover, bumper, etc. and took alot of measurements, pictures, markings, etc...



I was going to fab up something similair to Jefe's build but as the rest of you ST owners know, we have plastic bumper covers and reinforcements so I didn't/ couldn't go that route. Instead I've devised a design I believe alot of the of you will be recreating soon after I post my build thread.



I'll be using 2", slightly thicker than 1/8" thick square tubing for the swing out tire carrier, 6x6, 1/4" thick angle iron and some 1/4" steel plate to make gussets for reinforcement.



I search alot of diffierent forums and found the spindle kit that I feel will work best for me and the price was the best for what I needed. I'll be adding a pull pin to lock the carrier in place while it's open because there's too many hills around here not to secure it.



Link to EMS Offorad... (sorry, I don't know how to double link)



http://www.emsoffroad.com/store/inde...index&cPath=78



I'll be adding to this as I go, hopefully I'll have it done this Saturday. I'll try and take as many pictures as I can.



Oh ya on a side note, Dickies work shirts "DO" catch on fire from grind ambers fairly easily, never had this happen. I was grinding the other day, looked down and noticed my shirt was on fire, not a little, big flames. I put it out with my hand but my Down2EarthCustoms shirt (my custom truck club) is alittle crispy on the front. I'll post pictures of the shirt on the photobucket page too.



I'm adding more pictures tonight after I get Matthew down for bed. Everything is done, all I have to do is weld eveyrthing together, grind down the frame once I take the bumper completely off so I can weld the mounting brackets to the frame/ bumper brackets and cut the two small holes in the bumper step pads for the spindle and latch brackets and isolator pad. Hopefully my buddy isn't busy on Thursday (busy tomorrow) so he can help me weld this and install it.



Check out the pictures and let me know what y'all think. nline::banana:

 

[Jerry Gerner 2]

Ok so here's the link for EMS's site where I got the spindle kit...



And for those that don't know, this is how my Trac curently looks...



[Broken External Image]:

 

[Steve McKellop]

I can't get your photobucket link to work Jerry



Let's do the tinyurl

 

[Steve McKellop]

You've been a busy boy Jerry! looks like you're making quite a bit of progress.:haveabeer:

 

[rod denton]

:banana:i have been thinking how to do this too

yer trac looks good

what lift is that

 

[Jerry Gerner 2]

Rod, the lift consist of a 1.75" Torsion Twist (front), Warrior Products lift shackles (rear), 3" Performance Accessories body lift with 33x12.50x15 GY DuraTrac's on 15x8 Cragar Soft 8's with 4" backspacing.



The first picture I had 285/75/16 with 1.5" wheel spacers on the stock wheels.



Steve, thanks for fixing the link. The main hurdle with this build is the back bumper is plastic so I couldn't just weld a crossbar along the bottom side like Jefe did in his build for his Explorer... linked

 

[Jerry Gerner 2]

So tomorrow I'm going over to my buddy's house (he has the welder) and we're gonna knock this thing out. Pictures will be added to the photobucket album when I'm done and I'll go and do a write up for this when I get a chance.



:banana:

 

[Jerry Gerner 2]

Got stuck working on another friends car today and then took the rest of the day to fabricate some more brackets for a high mount third brake light from either a Rodeo or a Trooper? Plucked it from a junkyard truck the other day.



I'm uploading more pictures right now. Hope to get this thing welded and installed tomorrow as long as no one's vehicles breakdown.

 

[Jerry Gerner 2]

Ok so I finally got a chance to work on the tire carrier today. My buddy Paul and I welded up the tire carrier and ground down the welds to make it look like it's all one piece. Still have to weld the mounting brackets I fabbed up for the frame/ bodylift bumper brackets tomorrow and finish up on smoothing out the metal and then paint everything.



Here's the link for the build photo's...

 

[Shaun Tucker]

looks good so far.



cant wait to see the finished product.

 

[Jerry Gerner 2]

Not quite finished yet but all welded together and brackets, etc. welded to the frame. I just need to do some small bondo filler work to smooth out the rough spots and paint everything.

:banana::banana:



I uploaded more pictures of it mounted with the tire mounted. Should have it completed be the end of the week as long as I get atleast one sunny day. Check out the PhotoBucket link for more pictures.