The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Under bed spare tire carrier

Hi Guys,

My 54 Chevy 1/2 ton truck does not have an under-bed spare tire carrier. My truck is not original but does have the majority of the original frame.
While I presently have the wooden planks off the bed, I thought now would be the time to put an under-bed tire mount on.
I do have the back horizontal 3" wide cross-beam with the two thinner metal beams(where the original tire carrier would mount). The 3" cross beam is about 1" lower than the bed-sill beams.
I'm not going strictly original so would this u-bolt work?... ...1/2 thick and should fit over the 3" beam....Or should I drill two holes in the beam and drop in two carriage bolts spaced apart to go through two of the rim stud holes? Possibly then cut a flat metal 6" round piece which could snug up to the bottom exposed rim side.

Any comments, thoughts, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!

Well, after considering different options about how I might mount my spare tire under the truck bed(and not getting much feedback), I decide that the original design with the hinge was probably the best design.

If I only used bolts hanging from the beds horizontal I-beam to support the weight of a spare tire, it would come crashing down on top of me if I did need the spare.

It seems that the original design of the hinge on the spare tire carrier was important since it would allow the spare tire to slide off the bracket which held it in place.

After searching around and contacting several classic truck part stores , I was told that they weren't aware of anyone reproducing the spare tire carrier for my truck year(54).

I therefore have decided to fabricate a reproduction of the original. I'm half done and will post pictures when it is completed.

I can't believe no one has responded to this. Several people have adapted a modern crank down cable carrier to their trucks. Since you are half done with an original style it may not interest you but if you hit a snag, it's something to think about.

Hank
I think the trailer mount u bolt would be more trouble than I'd want too.

Since it appears you're ok with some slight modifications at least, maybe looking for a newer style spare carrier along the lines of those Chevrolet and GMC used in the late 60's and 70's would work? From experience, I can say they too were a hassle, but worked. Maybe, one of the newer truck part vendors has one for sale? My guess is one could probably be found in a junk yard too.

When I was at the junk yard pulling a limited slip 6 bolt Nissan Xterra rear axle, I noticed that it had a crank up-and-down spare tire carrier that used a chain instead of a cable. I liked the way it looked, but my truck has a bed side spare mount so I didn't snag it up.
Carl

Just about to add that some trucks (mostly foreign) have a chain or more common cable crank up tire hanger (as previous post). You need a path from the rear of bed to stick the crank tool in to raise and lower. But these are so much easier then lifting a hinged tire up and engaging a nut or bolt.

They are easy to pull off a junkyard truck. And easy to install, just make sure you get the crank rod for it.

I have installed a couple of these and am sure to do it again.