Well like many of you out there the factory tire carrier can no longer handle the job properly. Mine gave up the ghost years ago when the 33-12.5x15 Winston Fun and Muds caused the body to crack at the upper mount. I then upgraded to an aftermarket version that would also carry one gas can on either side of the center mounted tire. It had larger mounting plates and lasted for a number of years before it too began to fail by cracking its' mounting plates.
So I began to search for a better replacement. It wasn't long until I learned of the expensive nature of any that would fit my needs but also fell short of what I wanted. In the end I decided to build my own rather than having to do without or compromise what I wanted.
First it was coming up with a plan and dimensioned drawings. An inexpensive piece of CAD software on the computer was great for my purposes. I wanted to measure two or three times before cutting so I didn't have to do this all over again if it fell short of my goals. My goals were for a dual swing setup with the tire on the drivers side and a gas can/cooler carrier on the passenger side. I wanted to maintain the factory look as much as possible. I also didn't want to break the bank in the process.
With regard to not breaking the bank, I used 1" fine thread Grade 8 bolts for the pivots instead of the more common trailer axle or purpose built pivots with bearings. This also allowed for a more compact piece. I was also shopping the remnants stock of one of the local metal yards as the material I needed would cost less. Because of this I ended up with two equal length pieces of 2"x4" -3/16" wall rectangular tubing for the base instead of a single piece of the desired length. In a lot of ways it made building things a little easier because I didn't have to support a single piece the whole length of the rear, only half. It also made installing all the mounting bolt shims/internal spacers much easier, especially where the center receiver hitch mounting bolts passed through. However, it did complicate keeping things straight as far as which piece was for which side and which side was supposed to face the back.
I did make an adjustment to my plans part way through the build when I switched to 1/4" wall 2"x2" square tubing for the swings instead of the 3/16" tubing I originally purchased. I felt the added thickness would enhance the rigidity better. Speaking of the swing-out arms, most builds I had seen simply butted up the ends with some form of clamp to hold them in place. I decided to use a six inch length of outside receiver hitch tubing to lock both arms together in the middle. In an effort to gain a little more support on each arm I cut the ends at a 45 degree angle where they met to net me 4" of coverage on each arm instead of only 3". To secure the outer sleeve I used an adjustable T-Track clamp from Rockler Woodworking. One of the unique features of this clamp is that once you adjust the clamp tension it keeps the same tension no matter the thickness of the object that is being held or clamped.
On the gas can/cooler side I had noticed that most manufactures offered one size for X number of gas cans or one size for X brand cooler. This seemed to mean that you had to decide which you wanted most and then compromise on the other because of your first choice. In my effort to avoid this I came up with a size that would carry four 5 gallon G.I./Blitz cans. That means that I could carry over 20 gallons of fuel or any combination of fuel and water in that 4 can space. It is a hell of a lot cheaper than the price of the 21 gallon rear tank. The other benefit is that I can carry a Yeti 45, which seemed to be the preferred cooler, as it has a slightly smaller footprint. The height of the basket was also perfect and allowed the use of the factory license plate bracket and light after fabricating a top support that mimicked piece on the factory tail gate.
I used thick wall DOM tubing 1/2" longer than the square and rectangular tubing it was passing through for the pivots, 1/4" overhang on each side. I also cut spacers from DOM tubing for all the mounting bolts to prevent crushing in the tubing walls by the bolts. The tricky part was keeping them in place until it was time for the final assembly. I tried swagging them in place but it wouldn't hold all of them. The simplest was keeping a bolt in the hole and spacer. I also build support pucks for the swing arms to support the extended end of the arms. They also acted as stops for the outer locking sleeve to limit its' travel when either opened or closed. The clamp was used to keep it from accidentally slipping off when in the open position.
It took longer than most builds I suspect because I kept fighting with myself on the direction I wanted to go but I think the results are worth it. I still have a little work left as I want to fabricate a better security solution for the gas cans or cooler than a simple ratchet strap. But the important thing right now is that I have a usable tire/gas can/cooler carrier.
Lighting was handled by a pair of HF 4" LED submersible brake/running/turn signal lights mounted in a rubber 4" pipe cap from Home Depot mounted on the factory bracket. Instead of using the factory reflectors I simply used a set of 3" stick-on reflectors also from HF.
I almost forgot. The L-bracket trailer ball mount that has served me well for all these many years was also upgraded. I built a 2" receiver hitch similar to one on eBay. Mine however has a second 3/8" plate on the back side of the tube for added support. It sandwiches the 2"x4" tubing and ties the two main beam pieces together and uses the original mounting holes in the rear frame cross-member.
One of the best parts about all this is there is not going to be any more body damage caused by the tire carrier.
So I began to search for a better replacement. It wasn't long until I learned of the expensive nature of any that would fit my needs but also fell short of what I wanted. In the end I decided to build my own rather than having to do without or compromise what I wanted.
First it was coming up with a plan and dimensioned drawings. An inexpensive piece of CAD software on the computer was great for my purposes. I wanted to measure two or three times before cutting so I didn't have to do this all over again if it fell short of my goals. My goals were for a dual swing setup with the tire on the drivers side and a gas can/cooler carrier on the passenger side. I wanted to maintain the factory look as much as possible. I also didn't want to break the bank in the process.
With regard to not breaking the bank, I used 1" fine thread Grade 8 bolts for the pivots instead of the more common trailer axle or purpose built pivots with bearings. This also allowed for a more compact piece. I was also shopping the remnants stock of one of the local metal yards as the material I needed would cost less. Because of this I ended up with two equal length pieces of 2"x4" -3/16" wall rectangular tubing for the base instead of a single piece of the desired length. In a lot of ways it made building things a little easier because I didn't have to support a single piece the whole length of the rear, only half. It also made installing all the mounting bolt shims/internal spacers much easier, especially where the center receiver hitch mounting bolts passed through. However, it did complicate keeping things straight as far as which piece was for which side and which side was supposed to face the back.
I did make an adjustment to my plans part way through the build when I switched to 1/4" wall 2"x2" square tubing for the swings instead of the 3/16" tubing I originally purchased. I felt the added thickness would enhance the rigidity better. Speaking of the swing-out arms, most builds I had seen simply butted up the ends with some form of clamp to hold them in place. I decided to use a six inch length of outside receiver hitch tubing to lock both arms together in the middle. In an effort to gain a little more support on each arm I cut the ends at a 45 degree angle where they met to net me 4" of coverage on each arm instead of only 3". To secure the outer sleeve I used an adjustable T-Track clamp from Rockler Woodworking. One of the unique features of this clamp is that once you adjust the clamp tension it keeps the same tension no matter the thickness of the object that is being held or clamped.
On the gas can/cooler side I had noticed that most manufactures offered one size for X number of gas cans or one size for X brand cooler. This seemed to mean that you had to decide which you wanted most and then compromise on the other because of your first choice. In my effort to avoid this I came up with a size that would carry four 5 gallon G.I./Blitz cans. That means that I could carry over 20 gallons of fuel or any combination of fuel and water in that 4 can space. It is a hell of a lot cheaper than the price of the 21 gallon rear tank. The other benefit is that I can carry a Yeti 45, which seemed to be the preferred cooler, as it has a slightly smaller footprint. The height of the basket was also perfect and allowed the use of the factory license plate bracket and light after fabricating a top support that mimicked piece on the factory tail gate.
I used thick wall DOM tubing 1/2" longer than the square and rectangular tubing it was passing through for the pivots, 1/4" overhang on each side. I also cut spacers from DOM tubing for all the mounting bolts to prevent crushing in the tubing walls by the bolts. The tricky part was keeping them in place until it was time for the final assembly. I tried swagging them in place but it wouldn't hold all of them. The simplest was keeping a bolt in the hole and spacer. I also build support pucks for the swing arms to support the extended end of the arms. They also acted as stops for the outer locking sleeve to limit its' travel when either opened or closed. The clamp was used to keep it from accidentally slipping off when in the open position.
It took longer than most builds I suspect because I kept fighting with myself on the direction I wanted to go but I think the results are worth it. I still have a little work left as I want to fabricate a better security solution for the gas cans or cooler than a simple ratchet strap. But the important thing right now is that I have a usable tire/gas can/cooler carrier.
Lighting was handled by a pair of HF 4" LED submersible brake/running/turn signal lights mounted in a rubber 4" pipe cap from Home Depot mounted on the factory bracket. Instead of using the factory reflectors I simply used a set of 3" stick-on reflectors also from HF.
I almost forgot. The L-bracket trailer ball mount that has served me well for all these many years was also upgraded. I built a 2" receiver hitch similar to one on eBay. Mine however has a second 3/8" plate on the back side of the tube for added support. It sandwiches the 2"x4" tubing and ties the two main beam pieces together and uses the original mounting holes in the rear frame cross-member.
One of the best parts about all this is there is not going to be any more body damage caused by the tire carrier.
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Your rig will definitely clear more obstacles but I may not be able to get it loaded. 
