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Trailer Hitch Spare Tire Carrier

J

jimmyjack

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I did a search but I must not have described what I was looking for well enough……

I'm looking for a fold down spare tire carrier that is built into a receiver type trailer hitch. (I've got a stock bumper). I've seen a guy driving around with one but I can never catch him.

From what I can tell it's a threaded rod that runs thru the tube that's paralell with the bumper. It has a hoop that's connected to the rod in that tube. Maybe he welded nuts into caps on the ends of the tubes, I dunno. He uses turn buckles to keep it from bouncing around.

It looks really good and the receiver is still able to accept the hitch and ball.

I've got a spare hitch I'm going to try to mock up. I was just curious if anyone has done or seen this set up.
 
Easy enough to do, but you're limited on tire size. Much larger than stock, and it *will* wiggle and eventually break something. Receiver hitches just aren't a precision fit.

If you're prepared to weld, the sky's the limit, do a Google Image search for "receiver hitch spare tire carrier" for all kinds of ideas.

If you can't / don't wanna weld but can do some cutting and drilling, check out http://www.broncoiicorral.com/library/building_a_folding_receiver_mount_tire_carrier.shtml as a starting point.

-- A
 
I've spent hours looking for that exact thing, haven't seen squat for what I'm looking for. I've looked at 100's of images…… I'm only running 31's. My wheeling daze are long behind me. To many back and neck injuries. I just want more room in the back. That link is nowhere anything like what I saw on this Blazer. The receiver tube isn't used at all. The hinges mount to the sides of the hitch. Someday when I learn to draw I'll throw a sketch up here.
Thanks for the reply though, always appreciated!
 
This dewhickey will let you still tow,and use the receiver to hold a spare tire mount too--it will stick the hitch out a bit further however..

double hitch.jpg
 
For about a year I looked for a prefabricated "tire-gate" or spare tire carrier that could easily attach to the bumper or hitch. But, I was never happy with anything I found. Most all of them either wiggled or rattled (or both). I even tried building my own with square tubing, but I was not happy with it either. I finally just built the custom bumper that I'd always wanted, and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. Here's my build thread... https://ck5.com/forums/threads/project-p-dub-1986-k5-blazer-modifications-and-upgrades.317811/

image23-jpeg.165025


image26-jpeg.165026
 
There used to be a company making a swing-out that mounted behind the stock bumper. Like the tire-gate posted above, by the time it's rigid and has the features you want, it's almost a whole bumper. At which point a full bumper makes sense instead.

I suppose you're looking for something like this:

2.jpg


Using a bolt instead of a pin keeps the thing tighter. I have a bike carrier that's similar. Tightening the bolt draws it tight to one side of the tube, then a cotter pin goes in the far side of the bolt to keep it from backing out. Anything like this WILL move around some. It's a weight on a long lever.

Turnbuckles? What to they tighten against?
 
I would build a tube bumper swing away w all the great accessories, but I want to keep it stock…….. So I'm definitely limited. I have a fold down bike rack and it's noisy as hell.

Here's the cool part. I saw the Blazer I was trying to find! In a nutshell he welded 1" receiver tubes to his hitch on either side and built a hinged frame to hold the tire. He can pull pins and remove the whole thing. Pretty simple. Only problem I saw was the tubes were welded to the bottom of the hitch frame and were a foot long. Takes up a lot of ground clearance. He had a massive lift and 35's, but still. I have a 2" lift (soon) and puny 31's.

I want to cut holes in the receiver and mount the tubes through the hitch frame, weld them in place and do what he did, 'cept better. He used square tubing, I want round. I don't tow anything over a few hundred lbs so I'm not worried about the hitch.

I'm going to mock it up on a spare hitch and take pictures…...
 
What are the tubes for?

I think that's a good solution - just weld a custom mount on your receiver hitch and go as wide as will fit to make it more stable. Run it forward as far as possible without hitting the gas skid plate.
 
it's kind of a dual receiver hitch for the carrier "platform". He can unpin it when needed. Someday when I lurn to draw I'll put a sketch up. I'm almost 50 and I have yet to master crayons…..
 
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