Need creative spare tire relocation ideas / building an in bed mount for cheap

[SirRobyn0]

It’s that style but didn’t come off a Chevy, most Chevys have a cable. I don’t remember what I got it off of (I did this almost 20 years ago) but I liked the chain better.

Yea I have no problem putting in the gas loaded either.

Good luck

@Lugnut I got my truck last fall, it came with the dump already installed. I've hauled some heavy grain loads in 55 gallon drums so I know the truck is up to hauling ok, but I haven't used the dump to dump anything heavy yet, but I've got a big dirt moving project coming up, so how does your dump do with a yard or two of dirt or gravel?

 

[Lugnut]

@Lugnut I got my truck last fall, it came with the dump already installed. I've hauled some heavy grain loads in 55 gallon drums so I know the truck is up to hauling ok, but I haven't used the dump to dump anything heavy yet, but I've got a big dirt moving project coming up, so how does your dump do with a yard or two of dirt or gravel?

I haven’t done a lot of dirt work with it, mainly firewood. It does great with the firewood. I have put about a 1 1/2 of gravel with no problem, just make sure your not on the side of a hill when you try to dump. That wouldn’t work out to well. I do have a plastic bed liner in it to that helps get everything sliding.

 

[SirRobyn0]

I haven’t done a lot of dirt work with it, mainly firewood. It does great with the firewood. I have put about a 1 1/2 of gravel with no problem, just make sure your not on the side of a hill when you try to dump. That wouldn’t work out to well. I do have a plastic bed liner in it to that helps get everything sliding.

No dumping on the side of a hill for sure! I've used the dump for a few light items but nothing heavy yet. The trouble I see with mine is that the former owner bed linered it, something like rhino liner. I've never been a fan of that stuff to begin with, I'd like to get a plastic bed liner. I've got one in my dakota and one of things I love the thing, it really protects the bed from stuff like dents. The slide factor for the dump is a big plus.

 

[AuroraGirl]

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That is one nice spare, sir. Among other nice things in that photo. Does your exhaust terminating middle of bed cause any vibration on your truck? Or because it points down does it eliminate that problem?

 

[AuroraGirl]

Also, if you put the work in.. if you got 4x4 or just a sm465, you could run the plow hydraulics off the PTO.. but thats some extra work just to gain a saddle tank of space.

 

[ballencd]

Here's how I did mine. A bit more room for the spare on my pickup truck.

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[SirRobyn0]

Here's how I did mine. A bit more room for the spare on my pickup truck.

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Cant do that here because of saddle tanks.

 

[Dooley]

I feel front bumper would cause some weird issues with cooling and uh.. wind. Like make an odd aero problem. Do you have saddle tanks? I was gonna say maybe make a drop down mount and secure a smaller diamater tire to a 16 inch wheel and hide it up in there? Or perhaps illegally mount on the side of the bed(external) or just up against the back of the cab in the bed. Perhaps a roof rack of sort that goes over cab, connects to frame, and doesnt intefere with box? Inline 6 your truck and use the engine bay and some insulation!!??

Run lots of miles carrying a front mounted spare with zero side effects.
hauling camper and pulling a trailer/trailers.

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[85 CA SIERRA 1500]

Not sure how much room is left for what you have, but I had a rack made up to replace where the tire is now - looks like an open frame like what semi's use under their trailers. A single chain / lock hangs on the open end to hold it in place, and IMO will be much easier to remove and replace than the original setup. I have issues with that on a cement driveway - cant imagine fighting it along a roadside.

Yea buddy,,,,,dark rainy nite, Angeles Forest Hiway,,,,,,absolutely no cell service,,,,,,fun times,,,NOT.
To say that the OEM spare provision of 1985 was kind of a brain fart would be an understatement.
I had to remove the spare tire carrier when I installed my B&W receiver hitch and still have not put it back. I am also entertaining other ways to carry the spare. For now it resides in the bed except when I go to get a load of hay.
I will be following this thread for sure.

 

[SirRobyn0]

Run lots of miles carrying a front mounted spare with zero side effects.
hauling camper and pulling a trailer/trailers.

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As I said before I did a front mount on my Jeep Grand Cherokee to get the spare out of the interior and I didn't want a rear swing out unit. I have had no issues with it. I was going to that on my truck but thought I'd see if someone had a better idea. I'll be under it tomorrow to see if I can clear a spare behind the hitch, if not it'll get a front mount. Thanks for the pictures I really like the one hauling the camper and horse trailer!

 

[legopnuematic]

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[Dooley]

As I said before I did a front mount on my Jeep Grand Cherokee to get the spare out of the interior and I didn't want a rear swing out unit. I have had no issues with it. I was going to that on my truck but thought I'd see if someone had a better idea. I'll be under it tomorrow to see if I can clear a spare behind the hitch, if not it'll get a front mount. Thanks for the pictures I really like the one hauling the camper and horse trailer!

It's a Jackman Grille Guard
All welded and strong.
It's been on multiple square body trucks over the last 40+ years and I still have it .

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[SirRobyn0]

Lovin' seeing all those old photos. Between my exhaust and the hitch under near is a no-go. I will look and see if I can fit three 55 gallon barrels in front of the rear wheel wells and the spare, I'll make up something to go there. Though I'm not fond of the bed mount I'm on a serious cost cutting budget right now, and I don't have the metal laying around to make something for the front, but I need to be able to fit 9 - 55 gallon feed barrels in the bed, moving the spare once a month to do that would not be preferred.

 

[SirRobyn0]

It's been a while since I've given an update on what I'm doing with my spare, mainly because I really haven't done anything until now. Since I feel that this has directly to with original intent of this post I decided to resect it.

So I came very close to mounting it in the front of the grill. I even bought a mount that turned out to be to small, so I returned it. So where has my spare been since I started this thread a year and a half ago? Well I've been standing it up right in the bed BEHIIND the drivers rear tire and holding it in place with a ratchet strap and it has been out of the way there. I know the factory bed mount put it in front of the driver side rear tire by the cab, but I can't have it there. 2 reasons, I have tool box there, and when I haul grain in the 55 gallon drums I take the tool box out and I need to be able to fit 3 barrels up front. Having the spare there infringes on that. But 9 barrels leaves a little room in the back, so having it there is what works for me. So I finally decided that if I'm going to keep strapping it up there I may as well make a mount. I looked at buying a universal mount but they pretty much start at $50 for the cheesy ones. Now the one I'm building is anything all that fantastic, but it's cheap and surely stronger than the cheesy ones I've seen for sale.

So you guys know me for a project like this I try to use what I have on hand. I can't remember what this stuff is called, but because it is angled it's relatively strong. I've used it a fair bit around the farm for various light duty tasks and repairs, but if you want to build something similar you could always use some other metal.

Above: The building material. Ignore the fact that it looks rusty, it is not. The pole barn on the farm is lit with sodium vapor which has an orange hue and tends to through off color a bit.

Below: cut into pieces, the one on the left will fit to the top rail, the one on the right will be the vertical piece and the little guy in the middle will bolt to the floor of the bed.

Below: Measurement of the base

Below: Measurement of the vertical piece

Below measurement of the piece that will fit to the top rail. Top rail piece does not need to be this long. I went with 17 3/4" so it would be long enough for me to use existing holes in the bed rail rather than having to drill new ones.

More to come in the next post.

 

[SirRobyn0]

Below: Welding it all together. I have a good welder at the shop in the city, but I'm not doing this here. I'm doing it at the farm with one of the old first generation Chicago electric welders from Harbor Freight. It not the best welder at all, but I've managed to make and repair a lot of stuff with that thing though the years.

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Below: checking the fit in the bed. Yup that will work.

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Below: Painted. That's how I left it. Paint drying. Hopefully tomorrow it'll be installing on the truck and bolting the spare to it.

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