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n2jeepn.com's official
project Jeep 
gets a tire carrier
A swing out
tire carrier is one of those items that every Jeep needs.
Storage space is very limited in a short wheelbase Jeep, and
if you plan to carry a full-size spare tire, it is not very
practical to carry it inside the Jeep.
I’ve
literally spent years looking
at different designs and making notes of what I liked or
disliked about the particular design. Some of the things I
wanted in a swing out tire carrier were:
-
The ability
to carry gas cans (5 gallon “jerry” cans)
-
A mount for
a Hi-Lift jack
-
The ability
to adjust how far the tire sticks out from the carrier
-
Space for
extras such as lights, antenna, etc.
-
And
finally, a pleasing to look at, yet strong design
Very few
designs out there offer all of these things. Some have space
for gas cans, but do not let you move the tire in closer to
the Jeep if you are not carrying cans. I think it looks goofy
to have your tire hanging out that far with nothing behind it.
I finally found
a design that met my needs at Jeepfabrication.com.
This
particular design by John
Strenk is what I used to construct mine. I made a few changes,
but the overall structure remained the same. Also, I already
had an existing bumper that I
previously built, so I did not use that part of his design.
If this is a
project that you would like to finish in a weekend, I’d
suggest locating a suitable hinge and latch ahead of time as
these can be difficult parts to obtain. I decided to go with a
hinge from
 Rockstomper.com.
The cost is $40, but it’s a well built, heavy-duty hinge and
will save you the trouble of hunting down all the necessary
pieces. For the latch, I located the part I wanted from Grainger.com.
Grainger will not sell to you unless you have a business
license, so you may have to find a friend or
distributor to get the latch for you. I went with the
heavy-duty 2000lb holding capacity latch. I’d rather err on
the side of safety with stuff like this. Grainger sells it for
about $20, but if you have to go through a middle-man, the
price may be marked up slightly. If you plan on attaching gas
cans right away, you may also want to go to your local Army
surplus store and see if you can get a couple of straps
designed to hold jerry cans. I purchased mine for $2.95 each.
The first thing
I did was lay out the basic frame of the carrier, using
2”x2” square tubing with 1/8” wall. I shortened the
length of the bottom piece to 45” rather than 52” as in
the original plans.
 This
was for slight weight savings, but mostly to keep the weight
of the hinge area closer to the frame mount of the bumper.
Keep in mind when welding, that excessive heat in one
area can warp the metal and make fitment of the rest of the
pieces difficult. I
measured and cut my pieces as needed rather than cut them all
ahead of time, incase I decided to change the layout slightly
while building it.
I made a few
slight changes that differ from the original plans. First I
added small angle iron pieces to the c-channel piece (used to
hold the Hi-Lift jack) that the jerry can handles “hang”
on. This was just a little added security to keep the cans in
place should a hold-down strap break or loosen. I also cut a
slot for each strap to go through in the angle iron. I did
this to hold the strap in the desired position on the gas can,
and again, for a little security should the strap pop open.
You may need to
make some changes to the “receiver tube” that holds the
spare tire depending on the size of tire you use. For my
32x11.50 tires, I increased the length of the piece that goes
into the tube from 9” to 10” to allow for the width of the
tire. I also added a gusset to the tube for additional
strength. At the time I built my carrier, I did not think to
get a piece of real “receiver tube” to use for this part.
Receiver hitch tube is seamless on the inside to allow for the
hitch to easily fit and slide in and out of the tube. As a
result of using regular square tubing with an internal seam,
the tire mount is a very tight fit into the tube and required
some grinding and smoothing to get a good fit. Because it is
such a tight fit, I could not paint the tire mount tube, and I
may have to coat it with grease to discourage rust from
forming. The grease will attract dirt which will be another
problem all together. I’m not exactly sure how I will deal
with that yet.
Another glitch
in the construction was in the way I welded the hinge tube to
the tire carrier frame. I mounted the hinge flush with the
bottom of the square tubing. This did not allow for enough
 clearance
between the bumper and the carrier and resulted in some paint
swapping between the two parts. I remedied this by cutting a
washer to fit inside the hinge tube to act as a spacer and
position the bottom hinge bearing down a bit farther. This
seemed to work ok, but I’d suggest welding the hinge tube
about ¼ inch below the tire carrier frame to solve the
problem.
Finally, I
painted the tire carrier with many coats of Hammerite
Rustcap hammered finish spray paint and mounted it on the
Jeep.
Next
I used a 1-1/4” bi-metal hole saw to cut a hole for the
trailer spindle part of the hinge in the bumper. I
would suggest removing your bumper before welding this piece
on. It
 simplifies
the process by giving you more room to work, and more
importantly, it eliminates the danger of welding right next
to your gas filler cap. When welding this piece to your
bumper, make SURE that it is perfectly straight. If it is
not, you will have some problems with
the fitment of your carrier on your bumper. I then welded 2
pieces of angle iron to the opposite end of the bumper. One
is for the catch on the u-bolt latch clamp, and the other is
a “stopper” to hold the carrier in position when it is
closed.
Here
are some pictures of the completed bumper/tire carrier combo:
[Click
pictures for larger view]
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