[chembrad]

Originally Posted by blazes9395

I installed an OEM spare tire carrier on my 89, which had the tire inside. I found a carrier and latch at the wreckers, cleaned it up, and painted it a flat black(like OEM). Got a friend to help position it on the truck to mark the holes and stuff. To get it to work, what I had to do was take the right tail light out, drill a 2" hole on the top and bottom of where the tail light goes into, on the inside, drill the carrier holes on the rear quarter, fabricate two hanger brackets mark and drill the holes where the carrier is going to bolt up on. The brakets were slipped through the drilled 2" holes on the inside. I also bought some automotive glue and applied the glue on the brackets before I installed them. I installed the carrier with the original bolts, bolted it up with the brackets and that was it for the carrier. The latch was simple as you can take off the plastic molding off the rear gate, position it, mark it and drill. Also, after the carrier was installed, I primed the cutouts and glued them back in place before I installed the rear light again. All this took me a few hours to do and an extra pair of hands. When it was done it looked original, just like it was always there from the start.

I've heard from some peeps that the spare tire carrier fatigues the metal on the support. Have you noticed anything like that in your experience?

Would you recommend this mod to peeps? Would you do it again?