OEM Tire Carrier on US Spec FZJ80, Installed w/ pictures

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Rdang - any chance you could post pics showing details of the tailgate that are different than a NA spec one?

I'd brought up the idea of retrofitting a OE carrier back before Woody gave us this site, back when we all were on Spectre's forum - conversation then made it seem like the possibility of getting the inner upper piece into place was a situation best left to the factory - general consensus was that it wasn't really possible, so glad you got it handled & it looks great!

Busmup808 - LMK when you get one of these, I'd love to drive down & see it, maybe give you hand installing if you want an extra set of hands around.
 
LINUS said:
Rdang - any chance you could post pics showing details of the tailgate that are different than a NA spec one?

I'd brought up the idea of retrofitting a OE carrier back before Woody gave us this site, back when we all were on Spectre's forum - conversation then made it seem like the possibility of getting the inner upper piece into place was a situation best left to the factory - general consensus was that it wasn't really possible, so glad you got it handled & it looks great!
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I'll see if I can take the carpet off and snap a few photos tonight... I think the tail gate is key to making this work. It holds the tire on pretty good while the vehicle is moving, this supports the mounts the swing out is connected to. Swapping the tailgate moves the license plate over as well and has all the mounting hardware you need... just made the job a lot easier. I'm not sure how you could re-enforce a NA tailgate, I had a look inside the JDM version and there was absolutely no way to take the brace out.
 
I tried finding an exploded parts diagram for the tailgate of a JDM 80 but had no luck... that would show you exactly what was back there. Maybe someone on mud has that info?
 
Sounds good. I did the lic plate already. He sent the small things in a smaller box. The hatch mount, tailgate mount, and lic plate holder came in a smaller box. As with other JDM goddies. I did some parts swapping with a guy in Canada. Shipping is mento, but worth every penny.



Busmup808 - LMK when you get one of these, I'd love to drive down & see it, maybe give you hand installing if you want an extra set of hands around
 
Hey... haven't seen this thread for a while.

Just to update everyone, it's been 2 years since I've put the carrier on and I've been on quite a few wheeling trips, lots of gravel roads, opening and closing the swing out and backing up into trees... the carrier is as solid as it ever was with no signs of shake or movement otherwise. This is with 315/75R16 mud tire on it full time.

With the carrier open, I can pull up and down on it and move the entire truck without any sort of loose movement from the 2 connection points attached to the body.

This is by far the best mod I've done to my truck for $300.
 
Here's a photo of how it sits as of yesterday... wheeling out at Waiparous, Near Calgary Alberta.

_MG_0602.webp
 
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Sounds good. I've installed mines and I love it too. Thanks for a great writeup.
 
This is an ideal set up for my use and trying to find a JDM donor vehicle for this will be tough I think.
However, there are a lot of really good fabricators on this forum - wonder if any of them tried to tackle this one yet? If so, please direct me to them - I need one of these bad boys on my 80.:)
 
I'd defiantly buy a set of the interior support brackets if someone took the time to recreate them. I'd love to be able to ditch the spare tire stuff under the back and have one of these JDM setups.

Does anyone know if the spare tire carrier from a 4runner or any other vehicle with an exterior tire carrier will mount up with minimal fab work?
 
To be clear, I don't think this is worth doing unless you can source the bottom tail gate and the braces. I lucked out and was able to swap my old tail gate for the JDM one, which kept down my costs considerably.

The bottom brace is easy, it fits and the original bolt holes are in the NA models. Here is a couple of photos I dug up of that bottom brace:

IMG_0087.JPG


IMG_0088.JPG


After putting the bottom brace in, bolt up the carrier to find the position for the holes for the top brace. We also welded the bottom brace to the inner pillar as well, which is not done this way by factory... factory only has it bolted in.

The top brace got pushed up from the tail light opening into position. As much as I tried, THERE IS NO WAY TO DO THIS WITHOUT BODY DAMAGE. I used a 5-ton press to push it into place. Then you need to remove the window to get in and weld the brace, and even that's a bit tough. Again, factory only spots weld this top brace in... we did more than that. The photo is without brace, I wish I would have taken more photos of the upper brace in place.

IMG_0101.webp


After both braces were in, we drilled extra holes through the sheet metal into the brace, and welded the external sheet metal to the brace for additional reinforcement. The brace is not attached to the external sheet metal from factory.

I still need to take the cover of my tail gate to show how much reinforcement is actually behind that thing. It's important to have.

If I would have had to buy the lower gate, it would have been a wash as to whether or not it would have been worth it to just get a rear bumper with the swing out.

That being said, I love it but eventually thinking it will get replaced with a proper bumper and swing out only because I'm not sure if putting a 37" plus tire on there will fit without modifications to the carrier... so not sure if that will be worth it. I think it will hold it though.

For now, it will stay on though till I get my new tires :)
 
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Gorilla said:
Thankf for that mate! Helps alot!!

I import parts, so came across a couple last year, for pretty cheap, $150, but not sure what it would cost to send to the USA if someone wanted one.

OK, now off to find a JDM Tailgate!
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You dont necessarily need the JDM tailgate to make this work. Just the brackets. I have had my JDM swing out on my NA spec cruiser with no problems whatsoever on the NA tailgate. I just drilled the holes and added the brackets.
 
Yes, what Girraffe said. I couldn't figure out how to get the bracket out of the JDM tailgate without cutting though... unless you fabbed your own?
 
I also don't have the JDM brace in my US spec tailgate and I have a 35" tire on mimes. I followed Girraffe's write up and rdang's. My upper bracket went in due to alittle snipping on the left top corner. I too used nuts, bolts, and spot welded the top and bottom braces for strength. The top hatch allready has the brace, you just have to drill the hole.It's the bottom hatch that doesn't have the internal braces. Mines still going strong.
 
Do you have pics of how you got the bottom brace in? I'm looking at mine and not seeing how it can be maneuvered in. I've tried all different angles and ways to get it in with no luck, another guy at our shop is saying the body has to be cut for that bracket to fit, or a custom one needs to be fabricated to get in there without cutting.
 
I removed the tail light and it just slipped right in. Bolt holes already there, took 5 minutes to do the bottom. Top was a different story. Some other guys here mentioned they cut the corner off the top brace and it slid in without body damage, wish I would have done that but oh well.


indephenit said:
Do you have pics of how you got the bottom brace in? I'm looking at mine and not seeing how it can be maneuvered in. I've tried all different angles and ways to get it in with no luck, another guy at our shop is saying the body has to be cut for that bracket to fit, or a custom one needs to be fabricated to get in there without cutting.
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