Jump to content

Swing Away Spare Tire Mounting on Drivers Side


SRN
 Share

Recommended Posts

I'm looking to modify my swing away spare tire rack to fit a couple Scepter cans and I was thinking, are there hard points on the drivers side like there are on the passenger side? If there are, I could theoretically have two smaller racks on the back, thus reducing the amount of weight placed on the one. Kinda like what you see on some FJ-40 Cruisers.

 

If anyone knows, that'd be great!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Anything is possible if you have a welder and some tools. There is no OEM solution for this as there is a special one side reinforcement bracket for the passenger side. You can get a Nissan Terrano carrier which has the wheel slightly offset toward the passenger and that's about it.

 

nissan_terrano_08.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just went out and looked (rain let up) and no, there are no reinforced points already there, but they look like the could be installed from right to left. Just be a bit interesting doing the lower one. I'll head out to one of the junk yards this weekend and see what it takes to strip it out. It'll give me an idea of how hard it would be to put one in.

 

My other thought was similar to that Terrrano carrier, but move the wheel to the drivers side and put the Scepter cans closer to the hinge. I'd rather have the tire hanging out there on the end and the ~100lbs of weight between the three cans and mount on the inside. We'll see what I come up with.

Edited by SRN
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Remember, non carrier trucks do NOT have bracing, so don't even bother peekin In them unless ther is signs there was a carrier and someone removed it. Personal suggestion if you are going to pull them from a donor... Take tools to cut the outer sheetmetal and remove them the easy way and getting them INTO the quarter without cutting stuff up (while possible-experience) is a bit of a hair pulling endeavor. . (I will NOT be adding a stock carrier to a non truck again...).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The right WILL NOT swap to the left without serious modification. To include grinding off about 1/2 inch of material from the upper or lower half of the bracket and the back filling the opposite half all while matching a 3 dimensional contour of the body work. Yes, I have done this first hand.

 

Taillightguard.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just went out and looked (rain let up) and no, there are no reinforced points already there, but they look like the could be installed from right to left. Just be a bit interesting doing the lower one. I'll head out to one of the junk yards this weekend and see what it takes to strip it out. It'll give me an idea of how hard it would be to put one in.

 

My other thought was similar to that Terrrano carrier, but move the wheel to the drivers side and put the Scepter cans closer to the hinge. I'd rather have the tire hanging out there on the end and the ~100lbs of weight between the three cans and mount on the inside. We'll see what I come up with.

 

I've looked into moving the tire closer to the drivers side but with my 33" spare on there i cant even move it over about a inch or it hits the swing bar the unlocks the carrier so you wouldnt be able to open the the carrier.

 

If you have stock tires it might be different for you so might work.

 

I just ended up buying the jerry and water holders that utilize the spare lugnuts i have 2 gas and 1 water right now.

 

Here is the website for them.

 

 

http://www.expeditiononestore.com/Expedition-One-Geri-Water-Packs-Geri-Water-Pack.htm

Edited by wd21overland
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The right WILL NOT swap to the left without serious modification. To include grinding off about 1/2 inch of material from the upper or lower half of the bracket and the back filling the opposite half all while matching a 3 dimensional contour of the body work. Yes, I have done this first hand.

 

Taillightguard.jpg

 

I'm not too concerned with the outer bracketry as I've got access to a CNC machine and the genius who runs it could easily fab up some reverse brackets for me. Its the inner mount points that I'm concerned with. The upper one seems easy enough to get to with all the interior paneling off, but the lower one looks like a pain. How bad was it?

 

I've looked into moving the tire closer to the drivers side but with my 33" spare on there i cant even move it over about a inch or it hits the swing bar the unlocks the carrier so you wouldnt be able to open the the carrier.

 

If you have stock tires it might be different for you so might work.

 

I was planning on reconfiguring how the latch release works so that I could have the tire more outboard. I'll have to come up with something different regardless of what I end up doing because the latch will be in the way however.

 

I just ended up buying the jerry and water holders that utilize the spare lugnuts i have 2 gas and 1 water right now.

 

Here is the website for them.

 

 

http://www.expeditiononestore.com/Expedition-One-Geri-Water-Packs-Geri-Water-Pack.htm

 

The Expedition One stuff is interesting, but I don't like them nearly as much as the Scepter MFC's. Thanks for the recomendation, though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not too concerned with the outer bracketry as I've got access to a CNC machine and the genius who runs it could easily fab up some reverse brackets for me. Its the inner mount points that I'm concerned with. The upper one seems easy enough to get to with all the interior paneling off, but the lower one looks like a pain. How bad was it?

 

 

sweet, sounds like you got a plan then

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I made 4 individual brackets, I didn't want to bother with matching the inside contour so they don't touch the corner. each one is a 1/8 sheet of steel with 2 nuts welded to one side and a larger washers welded to the opposite side. I slapped them in there with some sealant to hold them in place when the hinge is not mounted.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think so, Mines not finished so I have not tested it for strength but, unmodified, the opposite side totaled a blazer with only the loss of a tail light and a 1/8 misalignment of the door jamb.

Not called hard body for nothing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Anything is possible if you have a welder and some tools. There is no OEM solution for this as there is a special one side reinforcement bracket for the passenger side. You can get a Nissan Terrano carrier which has the wheel slightly offset toward the passenger and that's about it.

 

nissan_terrano_08.jpg

 

passenger in pathfinder land, but driver in Terrano country ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I did some investigating out at the junkyard this weekend and determined that swapping the internal bracketry probably wasn't worth the hassle. So I think I'm going to go with moving the spare outboard a bit and putting the carrier inboard.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...