Update on my custom first in the world swingout tire carrier on a Sport Trac...

[Jerry Gerner 2]

Ok so I've been wanting a swing out tire carrier for a long time now. The only one they sell that will directly go on the ST is one that gets mounted to the hitch receiver but that sticks out too far and hangs down way to low, atleast to me.

:angry:

So I've been researching for over a year now on how I could go about fabricating one to the plastic bumper/ bumper cover with no luck or help so I devised my own design.

nline:

Fabricating and designing the main part of the tire carrier wasn't too hard, mounting it to the truck on the other hand took alot of measuring and cutting in certain areas not to cut out too much support out of the flimsy plastic bumper.

:banana:

Here's the link to the build thread and inside is the link to PhotoBucket where you can find the build pictures.

:haveabeer:

 

[Jerry Gerner 2]

Linked...

 

[Jerry Gerner 2]

Sneek peek at almost finished project...



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:banana:

 

[Robert Caffyn]

Jerry, thats really awesome!!! Couple of questions though. Does the latching mechanism interfere with the opening/closing of the tailgate? Can the carrier be made more in a triangular shape with the latch operating from down next to the license plate? Just to simplify/clean it up a bit. Once you're done, submit a patent and get it powdercoated. Looks great, good luck, can't wait to see it finished. Bob :banana::banana::banana:

 

[rod denton]

LOOKS GOOD A GREASE FITTING MABE NEEDED AT SWIVEL POINT IF YOUR d>o>t USES THAT INFAMOUS SALT ON THE ROAD THERE IN PA.



JUS A THOUGHT FOR THE BUMPER COVER CLEAN UP REAL WELL AND USE SKATE BOARD TRACTION TAPE

 

[Jerry Gerner 2]

Thanks Bob. There's is zero interference on either side when lowering the tailgate. You could put a different style latch in the license plate area to hide it better but you'd have to figure out a way to secure it. I used 6x6" L channel 1/4" steel on the outside of each frame rail/ bodylift bumper bracket to weld the latch and spindle to. You can see exactly what I did by checking out the PhotoBucket link for the build pictures. I wanted to keep the tire mostly centered so I wouldn't block or obstruct other drivers view of my taillights. You could design the carrier to only go halfway across the bed and have it either on the left/ right side. The main problem with our Trac's and doing this is the "plastic" rear bumper and bumper cover. Being that there's really no surface to weld to you have to notch the bumper to place steel in there to have a weldable surface. The way I designed this is so it looks like it came from the factory with it already on the truck. You won't see any thing except the spindle and latch sticking up out of the step pads. I'm going to make step pads out of stainless steel diamond plate but not sure if I'll just keep the stock pads on or not. Also not sure if I'll paint the carrier gloss black or argent silver, kinda like the look of the brighter metal over just black.

 

[Jerry Gerner 2]

Rod, the spindle barrel has a grease zerk fitting already tapped in it, I already screwed it in and put a cap over it. I really hate the wintertime here in the northeast because of all the salt and rust that follows, miss living in Oregon where there's no rust. I like the idea of the non skid tape. I'm planning on using that on my rock sliders/ steps when I build those.

 

[Carey Frennier]

Yah know what would be better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?









If you made that a Machine Gun Mount instead!!!



:fire::fire::fire::fire:

 

[Troy Micklon]

Do you have some type of latching mechinism for the situation when you need to have the tailgate down when hauling items longer then the truck bed?



Perhaps latches to the side of the tailgate (that is usually hidden when it is closed)?

 

[Gary DiPietroSr]

Great job Jerry, looks great!

 

[Richard Kolb]

so now you can't use the bed extender at all, but your basic design could be modified to only be half the width of the bumper and latch in the middle, then with one other minor mod you could use the bed extender with the carrier in the open position and re-latched to the extender.



Good work, I'm impressed with how well your welds are looking, most people don't put any attention to that detail

 

[Shaun Tucker]

that looks so badass dude.

 

[Jerry Gerner 2]

Psycareyo, I've been told by a couple different people tell me it looks like it could hold a mini Gatling gun on it.

:fire::rofl:



TMAN, I have come up with a "lock open" pin and safety cable setup so I can still haul with the tailgate down.

:banana:



Gary, thanks man. :haveabeer:



R1ch999999, I sold the bed extender a couple weeks ago so no worries about that. If someone wanted to a half length carrier like you're describing I already came up witha design for that but it won't be as sturdy, IMO.

:supercool:

 

[Jerry Gerner 2]

Here's a link to the build pictures, there's over 500 so far. More to come. :banana::driving::supercool:

 

[EddieS'04]

Excellent, Jerry....:supercool:

 

[Richard L]

Jerry,

That is very good workmanship...But 500 photos?? I'll bet someone could show us how to build a Sport Trac in less than 500 photos...:bwahaha:



I guess that just shows your attention to detail, and that shows in your excellent workmanship



:supercool:



...Rich

 

[Jerry Gerner 2]

I'm going to eventually do a write-up project thread on this and narrow down the amount of pictures. I just posted all the pictures taken for reference and to see mutilpe angles.



I got the primary layer of filler down and sanded, need to do some small touch up spot filler, sand it all down smooth and paint. Hope the weather is nice enough to finish this up tomorrow.

 

[Jerry Gerner 2]

Oh yeah, there's some more pictures added to the album. :banana:nline:

 

[Richard L]

Be sure to get lots of pictures from different angles of the paint drying...:bwahaha:



...Rich

 

[Richard L]