s10 tire carrier on dakota
- Thread starter Mr02kota
- Start date
leadsled01
New member
Never considered it.. I have a 2000 quad cab and like the idea... I have seen tubular tailgates that replace the factory gate and hold your spare tire. Its called "tiregate" www.tiregate.com might give you some ideas.
mustangwarrior
Adventurer
you could also try one from a bronco II or full size bronco, i was just considering getting one for my f150 today
4x4x4doors
Explorer
The Blazer spare tire mount is reinforced from inside the sheetmetal skin. Make sure if you do this that you provide that internal bracing.
HenryJ
Expedition Leader
I used a ZR2 Blazer spare tire rack on my old truck:
The upper bracket needed extensive modification, and the latch bar bracket for the tailgate had to be notched to clear the tailgate release handle. Of course major reinforcements were needed as well. It took some nerve to drill six holes in the rear fender and five in the tailgate. It is not "perfect" , but it does work and almost looks stock.
Over the years I did acquire a ding in the fender at the front of the lower mount. The carrier was not latched and swung open on a hard turn to the highway. Lots of force there and it crinkled the fender a little. My fault for not checking the latch. A secondary latch safety might have been a good idea.
I mostly liked it. I did have issues trying to haul stuff in the back with the tailgate open. Usually I'd strap the rack to the back an pull it against the tailgate. Kind of a hassle if you're trying to haul a motorcycle. A rare occurrence at that time.
Would I do it again? Probably not. It was unique and did serve my purpose very well, but it was lots of work and kind of in the way with the tailgate open. JMO.
The upper bracket needed extensive modification, and the latch bar bracket for the tailgate had to be notched to clear the tailgate release handle. Of course major reinforcements were needed as well. It took some nerve to drill six holes in the rear fender and five in the tailgate. It is not "perfect" , but it does work and almost looks stock.
Over the years I did acquire a ding in the fender at the front of the lower mount. The carrier was not latched and swung open on a hard turn to the highway. Lots of force there and it crinkled the fender a little. My fault for not checking the latch. A secondary latch safety might have been a good idea.
I mostly liked it. I did have issues trying to haul stuff in the back with the tailgate open. Usually I'd strap the rack to the back an pull it against the tailgate. Kind of a hassle if you're trying to haul a motorcycle. A rare occurrence at that time.
Would I do it again? Probably not. It was unique and did serve my purpose very well, but it was lots of work and kind of in the way with the tailgate open. JMO.
I would like more info on how you did this please and some more pics I've been trying to do this for 3 years nowI used a ZR2 Blazer spare tire rack on my old truck:
The upper bracket needed extensive modification, and the latch bar bracket for the tailgate had to be notched to clear the tailgate release handle. Of course major reinforcements were needed as well. It took some nerve to drill six holes in the rear fender and five in the tailgate. It is not "perfect" , but it does work and almost looks stock.
Over the years I did acquire a ding in the fender at the front of the lower mount. The carrier was not latched and swung open on a hard turn to the highway. Lots of force there and it crinkled the fender a little. My fault for not checking the latch. A secondary latch safety might have been a good idea.
I mostly liked it. I did have issues trying to haul stuff in the back with the tailgate open. Usually I'd strap the rack to the back an pull it against the tailgate. Kind of a hassle if you're trying to haul a motorcycle. A rare occurrence at that time.
Would I do it again? Probably not. It was unique and did serve my purpose very well, but it was lots of work and kind of in the way with the tailgate open. JMO.
1stDeuce
Explorer
I have a swing away tire carrier on my TJ, along with having converted the swing gate to a tailgate. Though it looks pretty good, I'm generally annoyed by having to swing the tire out of the way to drop the gate, and as Henry points out above, running with the tailgate down becomes an issue. I've had plenty of trucks with the tire under the bed, and never been hung up on the tire. If it would fit there on my TJ, I'd rather it was underneath, but it there's a fuel tank there. I keep thinking about mounting it to the outside, like early CJ's, or to the side of the bed, like some Scramblers, but it's still on the rear carrier because I have too many other projects... Lots of trucks around here have the tire standing inside the bed right behind the driver. Only works well on longbed trucks though...