This spare tire carrier will only work in a Longbed truck. This was done with a steel floor, but can be done with a wood bed as well. The carrier fits a stock size235x75x15 tire, or any other tire under 29" tall. The carrier can not be ssen from the side of the truck and the tire sits under neather the bedrail, and can not be seen from the side. This is a great idea for a spare tire is you have done a rear tank conversion.
Since I relocated my gas tank to under the rear part of the frame. I now needed a new area to put my spare tire, as I did not like it hanging over the top of the bed. I thought about taking a spare tire well from a suburban, but it was short and narrow, and difficult to find cheap and rust-free. We decided that we could take a fleetside wheel well off a truck and make it work. We found a decent one at the local boneyard for $25. The center of the whell well was marked on the side and the overall length was taken from flange to flange, which was 39 3/4" long. The bolting flanges on the front and back were cut off the well about 1/4" after they turned into the well, and it was cut where they rounded around to the side of the well fully, leaving 29" of the straight angle down the side intact. The side bolting flange was then cut out, but 1" up the side of the well, making a 1"x1" angle piece. Then the tub was cut about 1/2 way down the sloped parts of the well. The cut was done at an angle which you can see and near almost to the end of the round. Then the opposite side was cut too. These pieces were bent and overlapped and clamped in place. The measurements were taken to make the tub 29" long without the flanges, and 31 1/4" with the flanges. Then the measurement was taken to center to make sure each side was bent in the same amount. Then lines were scribed on the overlapped sections as a guide line to cut. The clamps were taken off and the overlapped section bent back a bit. Then these extra pieces were cut off and saved, the well was then bent back into place and welded together, after being lined up using a few hammers. Then the pieces that were cut off were now lined up in the missing triangle shape you see below and cut to fit and welded in place. Now the well needs it's mounting flanges put back on. The mounting flanges on the sides were welded back on, and the rounded corners were cut off even with the side of well. Then on the side of the well that bolted up against the bedside(the one without a side!), an 1/8" piece of steel was cut to the contour of the well, and holes were drilled to match the existing bolt holes. The piece of metal was then bolted on, and cut to line up with the top on the rest of the well. The angled flange piece was then welded to the 1/8" sheet metal. The rounded flange corners were used to bridge the gap between the side flanges and the long angled flanges, to make it look like and line up with the existing wheel tub in the bed. Then in the bed, The strength from the front crossmember wanted to be retained, so a hole was cut from the 1/2" hat channel right in front of the wheel well, and to the front side of the front crossmember. The bed was cut width-wise to fit the well. Fot the front crossmember,only the back side and bottom of the crossmember was cut thrwas cut through, and then welded to the fron side, retaining the front crossmember. All the others were cut completely through. The floor was then unbolted from the beside and taken out. The bedside floor bolting flange was cut to line up with the hole for the well, and bent straight down. A piece of 1/8"x1" steel then had to be welded into the area missing from where the angled bolting flange was cut out. Then the well side reached the holes on the bedside. The reason the flanges swapped sides is because the the rounded side of the well has to face the bedside, otherwise it will not clear the rounded area of the bedside. Then the spare tire carrier was bolted in place. |
