The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 1940 spare tire carrier

It seems there is a lot of discussion on spare tire carriers lately. This has renewed my interest in finding out what my 1940 GMC needs. Does anyone have knowledge/photos of the correct 1940 style carrier assembly?

My truck has 17" wheels, is the carrier different based on wheel size?

Thanks,
Steve

I forgot, here is a link to my webshots page. On page 2 of the 1940 GMC album is a photo of my carrier.

http://community.webshots.com/user/ndnchf

Barry is the expert, but he said they were many differences on the Chevy carriers for 1940.

Don't know if the same goes for GMC.

Looks like your carrier bracket is bent up. My 40 is strait on the end.

Good luck, these are really hard to find.

I was wondering if it was suppose to be bent on the end or not. Does yours pivot down at the rear? Mine is welded to the crossmember. Do you have a photo of yours?

Thanks,
Steve

Steve- I'm not familiar with what the carrier for the 17" spare should look like, but it does look like your track is bent at the end and should be straight.

It's taken me 30 years to collect (4) original '37-'40 spare tire carriers, and as Greg said, all 4 of mine are different. 15" artillery wheels are wider than the 16" and use different carriers. Pickups, platform beds, and panels all have different style ends on the locking end of them. I have carriers I have taken from: a '40 1/2-ton PU with 16" tires, a '40 3/4-ton panel with 15" tires, a '39 3/4-ton PU with 15" tires and a '39 3/4-ton platform (stakebed) with 15" tires and all are different. I would imagine the slide out carrier for a '40 with 17" tires is different yet from what I have here.

Barry,

Thanks for chiming in, I hoped you would. From what you are saying, it sounds like the carrier I need is made of unobtainium :-( I will continue to watch for one or information/photos of one. Who knows, eventually I might get lucky. In the mean time, I may just try to make something that will do.

Thanks,
Steve

Yep Steve, any '37-'40 pickup carrier is hard to find, and yours for the 17" tire may be even more so. I think usually the slide out carrier got pitched behind the barn the first time the owner had to lay in the mud and wrestle the spare out. Then the spare lived in the pickup box or was mounted to the side of the box using some fence posts and a torch. If the rear fender had to be clearanced with a sledge hammer for the spare to fit, so be it.

I'm sure you can make something that will work just fine and watch for an original in the meantime. Do you have a Chevrolet Master Parts Catalog that has drawings of what the slide out carriers look like?

Barry,

I have the "1940 GMC Book Of parts". It lists the carrier assembly, but no photos.

Steve