Rear Bumper/Spare Tire Mount Thoughts

I haven't read through the entire thread Gary, but I made something like this for my Blazer with a Curt spare mount and a folding hitch adapter.  I cut the end of the curt assembly off and mounted it into the adapter, all told it was less than $150 but it folds down so it can be pretty heavy to lift back up.  In the bull I have the spare in the bed taking up the front third unfortunately.

So you used something in the trailer hitch?

And yes, I have a 33" tire taking up a whole lot of what is left of the bed - after the toolbox and cover canister.  So I really would like to get this bumper built.  But, to follow the work there you should go to Big Blue's Transformation.  Start there and scroll up a few posts.