Its been a few days, so here is a bit of an update. It's been taking a while to get stuff done with work and the million other projects that are needing to get done around the house.
Lets get back to the build.
My dad was kind enough to extract all of the broken bolts.
I started on the tire carrier and plate. I wanted to be able to fit up to a 40" tire, so the main post is about 20.5" tall. I used 6" x 1.5" u channel for the plate. Its what was lying around and it seems to do the job quite well.
I also ended up tying the carrier into the frame in two more places, next to the lights. With the gussets, it really stiffened up and doesn't flex any more, even with a 120 pound tire hanging from it. The hinges are also doing really well. They have no flex in them, which is perfect. I can flex the suspension with the carrier and the hinges don't care at all. There are supposed to be 2 more bolts in each side of the carrier, but I'm lazy and haven't felt like drilling the holes yet.
My dad is thinking of doing a cable step through the gussets on each side. What do you guys think?
With all of this in place, I took everything for a shakedown test plowing today. Its really nice to not hear the tire carrier knocking against the frame or squeaking.
Here is the carrier with a 37" tire on it. It sticks about an inch off the side, so its not too bad. That 37" tire is a SOB to hoss up onto the carrier by yourself. They are ungodly awkward and heavy (or maybe I'm just weak), and I'd rather not throw out my back trying to put one up.
I also added on some 2" lights for reverse lights. I'm not sure how exactly to mount them. Any ideas? I need to be able to mount the basket in there eventually, so there needs to be space for that.
Anyhow, I'll hopefully get that basket mounted tomorrow. I need to make it about an inch wide to fit a cooler, so that will be interesting. Also, does anyone have any ideas on how to run the wires for the lights? I don't want to have to drill any holes, and those connectors are massive. I might be able to sneak them by the frame and body, but I'm not sure how to get the connectors through. Any thoughts would be appreciated.