Spare Tire Mount

Soon my stock spare tire will be useless due to a suspension lift

and larger tires. The new tires measure about 41" tall and 11"

wide. A tire this size takes up valuable space in the bed of the

truck. The only option, to use as little space as possible, is to

stand the tire up and secure it somehow. The spare tire mounts

you can find in the after market are pre-runner type styles which

lay the tire down to about 45° and secure it through the bottom

of the bed. This uses almost all the space in the bed.



I decided to design my own spare tire mount, which would place the

tire in the front left corner of the bed and stand upright. The first

step was to use foam board and construct a life size model of the

actual mount. By using two mounting locations, with as large of

footprint as possible, I felt the strength would be more than

adequate. The total weight of the spare mounted on the rim is

about 130 - 140 lbs.



I tried to use a simply design to ensure accuracy during the

fabrication, since someone else would be doing the actual

welding. To get the most accurate results, I first modeled the

mount in a 3-D animation program. All of the dimensions and any

obstacles can be worked out here, before wasting too much

time. Once the foam model was completed, I brought it to my

welder. Having an accurate model is a huge help to the welder.

It also keeps the labor time, the welder charges, to a minimum.

The materials used were 1¼" square tubing and 3/16" flat steel.

The mount is secured through the bed using eight ½" stainless

steel bolts.



The mount incorporates some adjustability for different size

tires using the vertical slots. I decided to use a wheel spacer

as an easy solution to join the wheel to the actual mounting

surface. Adhesive-backed rubber was used to keep the surfaces

in contact with each other from marring their finish.



Once the mount was fabricated, it was test fit, sandblasted,

and then powder coated to match the factory paint color. The

final result is a very sturdy mount. In addition, visibility was

kept to a maximum by placing the tire in the front left corner, as

opposed to the front right.