I've done a little work, but not much. Just a little here and there.
I got the old tail light holes blocked off. Looks better than I expected, but not perfect. So of the metal back there was in bad shape and was hard to work with so some of the seam areas need some help. I'll smear a very thin coat of bondo over them, sand, paint, and call it good.
Did a little on the tire carrier also. I'm using bolts of the same size and pitch as the stock lugs so I basically will have 4 spare lug nuts. I'm hoping to mount the jack horizontally across the bar but don't know how that idea will work with tail gate clearance. I might end up having to do a vertical mount. License plate mount will be last.
I've had it on there will all of the weight an there isn't much sag in the bar when open. Once closed, weight is supported on both ends. This is a relatively small project that is going slow, but easy.
Tail light holes capped.
Tire carrier coming along...
Offset tire, hoping to find a good place for the jack.
Tire is going to be high, but this helps with departure and leaves room for more rubber.