The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Very strange!

I have only had my 1958 Apache 3100 about two weeks now,I drive it every day, and three people have made comment on the spare tire carriers one on the passenger side and one on the drivers side.Each one said that they have never seen A spare tire cut out on the passenger side fender. I started thinking that someone had modified the passenger fender, but when I got under the truck and looked I could not find were the fender had been cut and patched and there is no sign that anyone has reworked the fender.Can anyone out in bolt land shed some light on this?I'm new to this old truck thing and could really use some info.

lol its not all that odd my first truck was a bone stock 59 while it didn't have them on both sides it did have it on the drivers side and i am sure they also had the wheel well cutout for the passenger side too

I've never seen one on the passenger side. I'd love to see pics of it!

-Brad

From all of the trucks I have seen,and books i have read on the spare tire carriers.The spare was always on the left or drivers side. Chances are that someone modified your truck,and did a very good job of it.There were several older trucks with a spare tire cutout that never came from the factory or dealership that way.If I were you,I would leave it as is,cause it makes a very good conversation point.

Hey Buck. Welcome to 'bolt land.

I'm with Brad- let us see it. Sounds cool.

You obviously have excellent in taste in old iron.

It isn't worth much, but I posted some dimensions of the spare tire mount details on my '58. Granted, it is for the driver's side, but it isn't anything complicated. Passenger side cutout isn't a stretch of the imagination, but I'm impressed that it is so good that it is factory appearing.

I'm running through the logic- can someone think of a reason why a person would choose to do this to the passenger side? Driver's side is easy, but with passenger I'm not quite there. Could it have been a damaged fender that someone might have modified to see how it would turn out? Could there have been something mounted on the driver's side to push the mount to the passenger side?

Hmmmmmm....

Bill

My thought would be 'visual symmetry'...visual balance!


Stuart

I'm a little confused. Does it have two carriers? One on each side? If so it might have been some kind of utility vehicle at some point and the company thought they needed two spares. If it's just the one on the passenger side maybe they moved it because of the mirror obstruction that spare does on the drive side, that's why i have a peep mirrior on the top of my door.

I think Stuart got it. I bet some old guy liked the look of the big Packards and such with dual sidemounts so he did it to his truck.

There is a 54 3600 driving around this area that has one just on the passenger side. It is a very good after market job using a base plate and short piece of pipe to mount the wheel mount. Much sturdier that the factory mount. From the outside you can't see any welds to the fender, but I'm sure it was modified from a straight AD fender.

Thank you guy's for your input, I will be looking into "weird fender" this weekend. Will post what I find out.

FWIW, I found an old article with the template for making the tire cut-out for an AD truck. It was a paper template. You cut the original fender, and flip the cutout and re-weld in place. One could then assume that a similar technique could be used on the 55-59's

'54, 3600 did not need the fender modified, the spare fits without dimpling the fender. Your probably looking at a 3100.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Scott, very clever!!

I seem to remember seeing these dual side mounts before, on something. I think they look great, but not sure if you would need them. Maybe to have a place for your snow tires.

Now that's, a clever thought Mike, a place for the snow tires, that really makes a lot of sense. You would have a place to store them and your spare if needed.
I don't know how you would cut out the section, reverse it and make up for what you loose in the curf. Having made a living as a welder most of my life I would think that would warp the fender.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Yes the curf presents a problem, I would cut it with a saw of some kind to minimize what had to be filled in. I don't weld so, I don't know what is possible on this. Still it sounds like it could work.

use a scrap fender - cut the piece slightly larger than the hole you make - use body glue to attach the inward cup piece on behind ... no kerf

Bill

I recall......... A lot of the forestry service trucks had spares mounted both sides back then....... Factory fleet option?

Forestry truck makes more sense than anything so far.... My vote goes to forestry truck


Darin

I have always wondered why my 58 doesn't have a side-mount spare and only has the rear undercarriage spare bracket. Then again it's a 3200.

Blue - the side mount was an option, and the long step could have it, but wouldn't need the indented fender with the extra step length

Bill

Maybe it used to be a " baja" truck.

My 58 3200 is supposed to be an old forestry truck from Cali and it has the spare tire on the passenger side only---looks like a factory option. Was told by previous owner that the trucks originally had a rack on back with canoe holder on driver side.