Rear Bumper And Spare Tire Carrier

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Rear Bumper And Spare Tire Carrier

Gary Lewis
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This post was updated on .
This is to document my project to create a heavy-duty bumper for our trucks and one which will will carry a large spare tire.

To this point the specs are:

Originally the bumper was a 4" x 6" x 1/4" rectangular tube.  But I think I will change to a 5" tube for two reasons: First, the hinge I found is set up to drop through a 5" bumper, but won't work as well on a 6".  Second, a 5" bumper centers the tow eyes and receiver - and I think I like that better.  

1" thick steel tow eyes that bolt to the frame using the standard bumper holes and are welded front and rear to the bumper tube

Originally I had 2 x 3 x 1/4" angle bolted to the "standard receiver hitch holes" in the frame and were to be welded to both the rear of the bumper as well as to the receiver's crossmember.  However, I now believe that there are no "standard receiver hitch holes".  I have two trucks, and the holes in the bottom of those frames are in very different locations.

Receiver welded to bumper tube front and rear as well as to 2 1/2" x 1/4" square tube crossmember that is welded to the tow eyes and bottom angle

Initially I was going to use 2" x 2" x 1/4" square tubing for the swing arm and angled arms on the tire support.  But since I've now found a hinge w/a bearing and a 4" tall swivel tube, I've changed to 3 1/2" tall by 2 1/2" wide swing arm.  That makes the swing arm much more resistant to twisting, which is good as it will prevent that heavy tire moving forward in a rapid stop.

Hinge: Originally I was going to use a 1 3/4" x 1/4" round tube for the pivot of the swing arm, welded to the bumper top, bottom, and rear side, and a 2" x .120" round tube for the swivel on the swing arm.  However, subsequently I found this Tire Carrier Hinge Kit from AtoZ Fabrication, and it has tapered roller bearings.  I think it will be much better and will go with it.

Initially the stops were 1" wide x 1" front/rear and welded to the bumper on either end to prevent the swing arm from hitting the body.  However, there was room to upgrade them to 1 1/2" front/rear so I've done that.

1/4" steel plate used to mount the wheel, drilled and tapped for three lugs of both the 8-lug and 5-lug patterns. User to run bolts in from the front side and Loctite them in for whichever pattern s/he wants to use

All butt joints fishplated, meaning that the receiver/crossmember joint and the crossmember/tow eye joint have steel strap bridging the joints

Stop/Tag Light: By moving the tag, as I have to do, from the bumper to the center of the spare tire it creates a need for a tag light,  But why not make it a multi-function light with a 3rd brake light as well as a backup light - which our trcks badly need?  I've been doing some searching for such a light and, to this point I've found one - Rigid's Chase.  It is expensive at ~$200, but the backup light might well be worth it.







Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

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Re: Rear Bumper And Spare Tire Carrier

1986F150Six
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Quite impressive!