[22RE4ME]

I am considering buying a 2nd gen 4runner and I was curious what your opinion was of the stock exterior swing out spare tire carrier that mounts to the body? I had an old S 10 blazer with a similar carrier and that thing squeaked like hell and looked liked it put stress on the body where it was mounted. I wonder if anyone has similar complaints or if thats just a chevy thing. Also, as a wheeler, whats more desirable, the interior, or exterior storage?
Thanks for any direction

[KLF]

As I understand it, it's a decent carrier as long as you don't try to hang anything bigger than a 31" tire on it. If you're just gonna DD this truck, then I would think it would be a nuisance having to deal with it in the way every time you need to open the tailgate. But it does help your clearance in the back by not having the spare hanging underneath.

[toy4xfun]

i had a 1990 with one i didn't make any noise, and they have plates in behind the body panels where it mounts.

[austintaco]

I bought the tire carrier part to try and retrofit one on my 84 4runner, but its still sitting around the parts bin. Yes, the 2nd gens have plating behind the sheet metal. Your best bet is to find one at a yard and get everything. There are some threads around about doing this.

People have mounted up to a 35" tires on them, but with various opinions on how well that worked.

[hardontoyotas]

try mounting the tire on top

[2ndGenToyotaFan]

It's a very good carrier. If the Chevy one is anything like the J##P carriers it's probably made with surplus gate parts.... You won't be disappointed.

[Rix86]

it plays hell on the body when you back it into a tree.

If you reinforce the backing plates behind the body it'll carry a bit bigger tire.
They are usually pretty quiet.
Toyota build quality back then far surpasses GMs