[keepishop]

Materials used: Carrier and latch assembly, chunk of galvanized metal from home depot, chunk of a bedframe, 4 grade 8 bolts, a few self tapping screws (holes should still be predrilled), s10 leaf shackles, luck and persistence.

This is a bronco 2 spare tire carrier, probably from a 1986. It belongs on a jeep.


After much googling, it seemed the easiest way to mount it without welding up custom brackets would be to use chevy s10 leaf spring shackles, shown here originally and with a slight bend to make them look better.


After painting them and drilling mount face holes, they are on the jeep. This is the point of no return, and also utterly disappointing. Over 8 inches of sag with a tire on it. Unasseptablu!


Enter the Simpson MST27. 2" wide, 27" long, 12 gauge galvanized goodness for only $5.99. (Not shown here, scrap chunk of a bedframe)


For even more beef, the stock backplate from the bronco 2 latch is used across the whole face of the d pillar with a slight wrap around on the back. Break off the welded nuts with a breaker bar, hacksaw off the top and bottom edges, and hammer one of the sides flat. Beef on the cheap!


Screw a ~6" chunk of the steel plate on the back of the d pillar for a backbrace, put the modified latch backplate on the face, and you have a nice mount point for an s10 shackle up top. The bottom of the shackle is lined up the the body line above the 4x4 logo.


Backside of the upper mount. You can see the bedframe acting as a vertical brace, a few washers to angle it right, and the grade 8 bolts holding it together. One of the backplate screws needed to be trimmed a tad.


Here's the outside of the lower mount. Guess what is lurking back there?

[keepishop]

The backplate for the lower mount is an L shaped footlong chunk of metal held in with 7 screws, 4 along the side of the jeep, and 3 behind the taillight. Also seen, some aligning washers and the bottom of the bed frame chunk.


Rear, showing how great I am at stripping screw heads.


The original bronco 2 latch ALMOST works without modification, but there was no way to get a good backplate up the the upper bolt hole. Drilling a new hole in the middle seems good enough.


Backplate for the latch is simply a U shaped chunk of metal. Hopefully the shape will distribute the load and prevent that small section by the bolts from ripping out.


Power for a new license plate light is conveniently available from an unused (in the US) euro plate light plug. Cut, twist, tape, done. I'm sure you can figure out mounting a light on your own if you are actually going through with this...


The main plate on the tire carrier I got was removable, so I rearranged it to bring the tire closer to the back of the hatch, and lower it for better visibility.


Safety first! This bicycle cable is looped through itself on the upper bar of the carrier, looped out and back in the spare, and then down to the trailer hitch. This should keep the carrier and the tire attached to the jeep no matter what fails. If you live in a sketchy area, a padlock can be used instead of the chain link.


The finished product, with a mitsubishi montero license plate light. It supports over 200 lbs open, and thus is MUCH stronger than a stock cherokee spare tire carrier.

[keepishop]

Oh yeah, got the idea from Apostle and Holder350. Their's look a bit more finished than mine. haha.

[Showtime3492]

I thought of doing this then realized that once my new bumper is on plus the added weight of a 33 and steel wheel is probably have zero lift in the rear lol but looks pretty good I may be tempted to rattle can it n touch it up

[keepishop]

Originally Posted by Showtime3492

I thought of doing this then realized that once my new bumper is on plus the added weight of a 33 and steel wheel is probably have zero lift in the rear lol but looks pretty good I may be tempted to rattle can it n touch it up

Well, only way around the weight issue would be a roof mounted spare way up at the front of the jeep. In the back or on the back isn't going to change much.

There's a few spots that I do need to repaint. I wasn't really being nice to it while figuring out how to install.

[Showtime3492]

Yeah i dont carry my spare at the moment but will be once i get the suspension at a set height which will be in about a month when the long arms get here and then im probably just gonna throw it in the back cuz i have a gutted interior now until i get the rear seats done. Im gonna throw some bucket seats in the rear.

[99Greenmachine]

Lookin pretty good

[fedx95]

AWESOME, just what i was looking for. I have some custom brackets, but i needed to see the inside panels

[keepishop]

Originally Posted by fedx95

AWESOME, just what i was looking for. I have some custom brackets, but i needed to see the inside panels

There is still a bit of room for improvement on my upper mount, if you can figure something better out. Otherwise, glad to help. Good luck with your DW.

[fedx95]

thanks, just fixed my dw. I will try only my lower mount to see what improvements i can make as well as to properly make another upper mount. Keep in mind, i got 3/8ths steel on 1/8 chromolloy. i am plasma cutting and welding my mounts. I need a friend over to hold the carrier while i mark the holes

[keepishop]

Originally Posted by fedx95

thanks, just fixed my dw. I will try only my lower mount to see what improvements i can make as well as to properly make another upper mount. Keep in mind, i got 3/8ths steel on 1/8 chromolloy. i am plasma cutting and welding my mounts. I need a friend over to hold the carrier while i mark the holes

I've been wondering if there could be a market for premade brackets. Could be interesting.

[fedx95]

im sure there is, streamlining the process can make it worthwhile. The first time however takes forever. I like your approach, because of its simplicity

[Holder350]

NICE!

I'm glad you were able to learn from my mistakes, lol.

[keepishop]

Originally Posted by Holder350

NICE!

I'm glad you were able to learn from my mistakes, lol.

Yep. Paid close attention to the taillight clearance.

[fedx95]

i screwed up on that part, ^
lol