Beefing up the OEM Spare Tire Rack.

[TAC]

Looking for some opinions?

I want to keep my 72 Bronco original spare tire carrier but I need it to hold a 33" Kelly TSR tire and Ultra Crusher wheel. I welded an extension to the tire center support so that it is long enough to hold the wheel but I am nervous about the weight & extra torque of the 33 (I've read the horror stories).

I am thinking of welding a small piece of tubing to the spare tire rack frame that would then rest on the stock bumper on either a rubber grommet or I could pin it to the stock bumper. Seems like if it is firmly resting on the bumper it would help carry some weight. I would just need to not drive with the tailgate down, rack open. Below is a pic of what I have in mind, the blue line would be the added tubing.

http://s1287.beta.photobucket.com/user/ski-guitar/media/Slide1.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

Thanks,
TC

 

[Broncitis]

That might help, but when the truck bounces, it will still flex.

about 18 years ago when I was stationed in FL, I had a Bronco that I ran 33 x 16.50 Dick Cepek Fun Country tires on 15 x 14 wheels. That spare really stuck out and was too much for the stock rack.

What I did was fabricate a support that bolted onto the face of the bumper. It had a slight ramp formed on the rear side to help the tire slide up onto it (you still had to lift up slightly when closing the tire carrier) so the bracket supported the weight of the tire. I then used a ratchet strap around the tire and secured it to the bracket which kept it from bouncing when I drove fast over washboard or rough sand where we used to go wheeling.

I still have that bracket around here somewhere and will see if I can find it to take a pic.

The key is to get most all of the weight off the body and to keep it from bouncing.

 

[Broncitis]

Here is a quick sketch I just made. It is close, but it was a long time ago I made that and a long time since I have seen the part which is hiding out in the garage somewhere.

 

[miikee73]

The PO added this to help with the 33's. So far so good

 

[TAC]

Thanks for the ideas guys. Drew, thanks for the drawing. I really like the tire support idea as this would help with the weight and the torque of the heavy tire further out from the tailgate causing twist. I might give that a shot.

 

[TAC]

Some pics of the spare tire support

Drew,
Thanks again for the idea. I modified the spare tire support slightly with a 90 degree bend so that it also rests on the top of the bumper and I used one of the existing bumper OEM bolt holes to hold the support. It took two 6x9 x 1/4 inch thick plates. One with a 2" 90 deg bend, and 2" cut off the bottom & welded to fill in the recess on the bumper face. Then the other plate cut at angles as your drawing showed, using those pieces for the gusset. Thanks for the idea. It seems to work well.
Todd

http://s1287.beta.photobucket.com/user/ski-guitar/media/IMG-20121203-00043.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1

http://s1287.beta.photobucket.com/user/ski-guitar/media/IMG-20121203-00047.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

 

[Broncitis]

Looks great, glad you liked the design.

That was probably the first custom fabrication I did on a Bronco, about 20 years ago....man time flies!

 

[jckkys]

The '78-'79 Bronco had a vertical flat bar to fight the twisting. It looked good but didn't go down to the bumper. I used an old narrow 16in. rim with a tire about as tall as those I drive on as a spare. It's just as strong but doesn't hang out as far as even the stock tire did, and it's a lot lighter.

 

[asinor]

I'd like the ability to use the ranch hand bracket so I can't use a bumper support it would get in to the tire. I was thinking of adding supports from the hinge backing plates to the roll cage then changing the pivot ends of the carrier to heims. Thoughts?