Spare tire carrier

Hi gang,

I have a 1989 S10 Blazer, 4.3L, 4x4, automatic, bone stock.

I was curious if the S10 Blazer had an optional swing-away tire carrier for the back of the vehicle. I really like them (had a CJ7 before I got married w/kid) and my *new* '89 Blazer doesn't have one.

Any suggestions?

i thought that the s10 Blazer's had the swing out spare, while the regular (4 door) had it under the vehicle

They were available, although my ownrs manual doesn't mention them as an option.
The Blazers with them on have a sheet metal plate inside, to help re-enforce the mounts. The way that they were installed they must have been done in the factory.

I have a carrier that I haven't installed yet (I'll just weld on external re-enforcement, and blend it in) and I see them from time to time at the wreckers.

I appreciate the help, guys.

I found an OEM tire carrier, complete, on Ebay but someone beat me to it.

The spare in the back is remarkably inconvenient. I was thinking along the lines of a tube-bumper mounted one like Smittybilt or GoRhino usually make for the Jeep people. Mayhap I can find something out there...

If you come across anything, please keep me in mind. If I can get OEM, I'll take it (and if you can score the steel plate from inside the fender, I'll be happy to take that too).

Thanks again.

I also found a spare carrier that mates up with the trailer hitch and folds straight down, but I can just see myself trying to unload gear in the middle of nowhere and stepping around that damn tire in the way. Looks like a pain in the ass.

Only alternatives:
1. Make one.
2. Modify one.
3. Score an OEM one.
4. Put the spare on the roof.
5. Live with the lack of cargo space (nope!).

And I forgot to add: mine's a 2-door, Black. Got 147k on the clock and has been garaged her whole life. There's not a scratch on her and I only gave 3k. :)

By the way, where are all the aftermarket stuff for the older S10 Blazers? I mean, where are the tube bumpers, brush guards, winch bumpers, cargo carriers, engine mods, suspention mods? Jeep people get all the attention. I have found a couple of things (suspention, Smitty has bumpers, a aftermarket chip that increases horsepower, etc), but nobody who devotes their attention to the S10 Blazer. Anyone have any contacts?

sorry no aftermarket tire mounts, except that hitch mounted model. That's why I had to find a used one.

If I knew that I could find one before I paint my 85 I'd offer to sell it to you. I can offer to e-mail you photo's of it though.

You'll never get the steel plate inside there. I only got one out because the blazer at the auto-wreck was pretty well rusted out.

If your stuck look into steel fabricators in Kelowna BC Canada and if they can duplicate mine within a month I'll drop it off for them to copy

Maybe this will help. Came across it looking on Ebay. I bought a used, rusty hitch for my blazer from Ebay. I remove the rust and sprayed it with truck bed coating and it looks like new.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=33651&item=7958195156&rd=1

I'd advise buy that one.

It should be easy to copy the latch side of it... if they don't have it

Just my 2 cents about outside mounted spare tires. If any one rear ends your truck the swing arm will trash the tailgate, rear passenger side quarter panel,tail lights and possibly the rear window as well. I've seen it happen to a friends truck. A new truck, low speed impact in a parking lot, $8,000 damage. The spare tire takes the impact instead of the bumper.
When I bought my 91 S-10 Blazer one of the first things I did was remove the swing arm for the spare. Sure enough a year and a half later a girl on her cell phone ran into the back of me coming off the highway without hitting the brakes untill she was about 5 feet from my truck. Because I had removed the spare from the back of the truck all I needed was a new bumper. For $150 I got a nice aftermarket step bumper and bolted it right on. If I hadn't removed that tire my truck would have been totaled. Just my 2 cents.

Thanks for all the feedback, guys. By the time I checked out that carrier on Ebay, it was sold. I'll keep looking. By the way, what years can I use? I mean, I know an 88 will fit my 89, but what about a 90 or 91? When did the body style change to the point that I cannot use another year?

I know that the rear tire will take the impact instead of the bumper, but where else am I to stick the spare tire? I could put it on the hood like I just drove off the boat from Africa in my range rover, but that would look stupid. Putting it on the roof will kill my gas mileage. You guys know that Blazers need just about all the cargo space they can get, being as there isn't very much space to begin with. That dinky donut spare is out of the question...

Phooey... I guess I'll just have to live with it until I can get a used one somewhere. Hmmm... perhaps one of the Jeep style ones, with the hinge on the rear bumper, could be modified or copied to fit the Blazer? Smittybilt makes a stack-tube rear bumper... ah, the hell with it. I have to have the suspention worked on before I can worry about where my spare is going to go and have stuff fabricated.

Trust me on this one, don't get one from a Ford BroncoII, I tried and it won't work out

Scheutze Heres some research for you to do.

I just got a list of aftermarket tire carrier manufactures.

One of them might make one for your Blazer

Canyon City 4x4 , Currie , Pro Comp , Serious Metal , Steelhorse , Tomken , Valley Industries , Wolverine Products

On the note of rear tire carriers, who has seen one on a s-10 pickup? i saw a picture of one once. it looked really good. http://S10Extremist.org/jimsprang.htm. I really like that truck. How did he get the bed to blend so well with the cab, it looks like one solid piece. I would like copy that truck to mine with the same rear tire carrier and solid body look.

On the note of rear tire carriers, who has seen one on a s-10 pickup? i saw a picture of one once. it looked really good. http://S10Extremist.org/jimsprang.htm. I really like that truck. How did he get the bed to blend so well with the cab, it looks like one solid piece. I would like copy that truck to mine with the same rear tire carrier and solid body look.

Do some research into that truck, and I think that you'll find that it's an S-10 Blazer that has been converted into a pickup. I saw one in a 4x4 mag several years ago, and I think that it's the same one

On the note of rear tire carriers, who has seen one on a s-10 pickup? i saw a picture of one once. it looked really good. http://S10Extremist.org/jimsprang.htm. I really like that truck. How did he get the bed to blend so well with the cab, it looks like one solid piece. I would like copy that truck to mine with the same rear tire carrier and solid body look.
At the top of that page it has a description of the truck. It is actually a Jimmy that has had the back chopped off.

Hi gang,

I did a search on Netscape (Chevy S10 Blazer parts, junkyard) and hooked up with a damn good website that has gobs of dealers all over the southwest (home of the rust-free parts you need). I submitted a query and within about 90 minutes, I had an answer:

65 bucks for the swing-away tire carrier, all the hardware, plus the reinforcing plate from under the rear corner. Shipping will likely be about 10-20 bucks UPS Ground, but so what? For 65 bones, it's a deal!

I'll post the website when I have access to my computer at home, in case anyone is interested.... they have everything.. I mean everything you could possibly want for a Chevy S10 Blazer (all years).

Finally, something went my way.

I don't know. I paid 35 canadian for mine, and if I knew that I could get another I'd sell it for 50 bux U.S.

However I agree that your better off to just buy one at 65 than to go without and not be happy

If you figure out hoe to put the re-enforcement plate behind easily please let me know how

Those cool people with thier chopped up suvs. I wish there was some way to make the cab and bed flush on an s-10. Maybe its possible. Weld a metal brace with like a top sheet on it to connect them. After that just paint over it. That could work now i need to get a welder learn how to weld, then some money to do all that. Has anyone ever seen an s-10 with a rear tire carrier. Im sure it is possible with custom fabrication.

Those cool people with thier chopped up suvs. I wish there was some way to make the cab and bed flush on an s-10. Maybe its possible. Weld a metal brace with like a top sheet on it to connect them. After that just paint over it. That could work now i need to get a welder learn how to weld, then some money to do all that. Has anyone ever seen an s-10 with a rear tire carrier. Im sure it is possible with custom fabrication.

Look into 61, and 62 Ford 1/2 ton's they were unibody... with full frames under

They were good trucks for hotrods, but not a good design for 4x4's due to the stress on a large area.

Plus VW made a unibody Rabbit pickup. Most were diesel