My tow rig's spare tire winch was missing so I built a carrier instead.....

admin

A new winch is not expensive but from what I've heard, it seems there has been a few failures of the cable dropping the spare on the road.My bed is extended so the crank access would be very deep in there.  Also, I don't know if I even have the correct cross bar to mount it.I came up with the idea of building my own spare tire carrier based on the ones I've seen on big rig trailers.This will be my first time using my bender, the notcher and only my third time breaking out the welder.  A good fabrication project.My idea is to have two hanging loops with supports between them and also two supports locked into the frame to keep from any wobble.I picked up some 1" thick wall tubing and some smaller tubing that will fit inside for a light interference fit.Here's how I treated the ends to reduce the inner diameter enough to put threads in without having to use a huge tap and huge bolts.First I drilled all the way through twice to allow placement of 4 plug welds in each end:A few inches of inner tubing fit in easily with tapping after a light cleaning with a rotary scotchbrite pad:I put in the plug welds:The inner diameter at 1/2 would still require a pretty large bolt after tapping so I went with some heli-coil thread inserts.  1/2" is just the right size to tap for the inserts I had.  (also happened to have just the right fasteners to leave exposed on the top of the bed).  The frame bolts will be regular bolts.  Here's the tubing tapped and ready for the insert to be threaded in with the tool:Stainless steel thread insert most of the way installed:Starting to bend the tubing:The hanging bars in place to measure, cut and tack in the supports.  The frame side supports are not equally spaced as I made use of pre-existing frame holes, but it's not an issue functionally:Here's what it looks like so far from the front:Here's the four large button head bolts I had that bolt through the bed into my hanging bar inserts:Here's the whole assembly removed to do the finish welding:
Reply:A couple of welds that turned out ok.  I'm using up the flux core wire that came with the machine.  This is after cleaning the flux splatter with a wire brush:After welding, here's what it looks like with the tire in place.  The hump of the dually rim has about 1/2" clearance to the underside of the bed.  Close fit, no wasted space by it hanging down too far:The spare butts right up against the frame and is also recessed a little less than half an inch from the edge of the bed.  Worked out perfectly!I don't know what the final solution to locking the tire in place is, but until then I'm going to restrain it an keep it from being stolen by using a cable and lock.I hung it in the garage and primered it before wrapping up for the night.Final paint tomorrow and I'll call it done.
Reply:By the way, the bluing is from the heat of the opposite side plug welds.  Think I got some good penetration:Looking inside, there is a heat affected zone under the plug weld too:Pretty confident these aren't going to pull out.
Reply:Nice job and nice welds for fluxcore.You get what you put in and people get what they deserve...
Reply:Good job!  Looks like a fun project, drilling, tapping, bending, welding.
Reply:Nice work.I sure wish I had a bender.
Reply:I was pretty happy with the flux core welds.  Those were my best.  some of the others were a little more poopy.  Solid though I think.Yea, it was a fun project, used a lot of the tools.  I learned what not to do near the end of my notching.  I knocked all but one tooth off of the hole saw and it took a lot longer to do the last two notchers.  It's a 100 yr old single car garage, so pretty small.....  I really need a bigger space.  It gets cluttered really fast and I can't move anywhere.I actually have two benders.  Haven't used the second one yet, but I may sell it.I went in this morning and shot a coat of gloss black. One more tonight, 24 hrs to cure and back on the truck it goes:Last edited by thordehr; 12-24-2010 at 11:47 AM.
Reply:Nice little project and definitely something to put on my to do list.  My F250 has a very heavy duty home built hitch which encroaches on the stock spare tire mounting location.  I have been packing the spare in the box for the past while which is becoming a PITA. With the plan to make it a flatbed this spring - this will be incorporated.One question though - it looks like the outer hoop is a smaller diameter than the inner hoop - does the tallest part of the tire fit through the outer hoop, or do you unbolt it to remove the tire?
Reply:Nice clean job. Solid round stock could have been used for the plugged welded part. Could drill & tap any size then.Millermatic 200Hobart Handler 120Victor O/A & Ramco BandsawLincoln 225 ACSnapOn AD HoodMiller XMT304/22AHypertherm Powermax 1650 G3Lincoln Idealarc DC600 w/Extreme 12 VSMiller Digital Elite "Joker"
Reply:Originally Posted by brslkNice job and nice welds for fluxcore.
Reply:Great idea and nice job.  Very professional. MM200 w/Spoolmatic 1Syncrowave 180SDBobcat 225G Plus - LP/NGMUTT Suitcase WirefeederWC-1S/Spoolmatic 1HF-251D-1PakMaster 100XL '68 Red Face Code #6633 projectStar Jet 21-110Save Second Base!
Reply:Originally Posted by FuzzydogNice little project and definitely something to put on my to do list.  My F250 has a very heavy duty home built hitch which encroaches on the stock spare tire mounting location.  I have been packing the spare in the box for the past while which is becoming a PITA. With the plan to make it a flatbed this spring - this will be incorporated.One question though - it looks like the outer hoop is a smaller diameter than the inner hoop - does the tallest part of the tire fit through the outer hoop, or do you unbolt it to remove the tire?
Reply:Originally Posted by RaptorDunerNice clean job. Solid round stock could have been used for the plugged welded part. Could drill & tap any size then.
Reply:Originally Posted by goinssrDITTO.  Very nice job and I was thinking the same thing on the welds.  My flux core stuff usually does not flow like that.  Is that a JRM manual tube bender?
Reply:Originally Posted by thordehrI was thinking of getting some round stock, but trying to bore drill solid stock to a depth of about 1 1/2" by hand on six pieces didn't sound easily achievable.............
Reply:Found out something about  spray paint this afternoon.  The first coat of black was rustoleum gloss.  I ran out finishing that coat.  The second coat I put on this afternoon was a different brand of gloss black (plasti-kote) and found out that even with the first coat dry, they react poorly to each other.  The chunks of lower pipe that I hit with the new paint started crinkling up and I ended up with a wrinkle finish.Now I'm going to have to sand those areas, get some more rust-oleum after Christmas and finish it then.  Was hoping to have it finished and mounted today:These are the two paints don't play well together:Oddly, the first paint, rust-oleum has Toluene, Acetone and Xylene, but the second coat (plasti-kote) has only Acetone and Xylene.  I would have expected the second coat to have something additional that was messing with the chemistry of the first.  Weirdly, the two ingredients in the second coat are components of the first.  Whatever it is, it didn't work.
Reply:Originally Posted by SandyCoupling nuts work pretty well for what you just did. Of course their not cheap either but I try and pick one or two up of the various sizes as times goes on just so that I'll have a small stock for things just like this. Doesn't dip into your wallet quite so bad if you just buy one or two every now and then.  Take a look next time your at the hardware store to see if they might be worth your while.Nice job.
Reply:Originally Posted by thordehrForgot about those, but that would have been adding another joint that could add unwanted flex and another thing to work loose.  Good thing to keep in mind though when wanting to adapt thread sizes.I found out that the two hoops even without the supports were surprisingly rigid just tightened to the bed.  This MIGHT be overbuilt, but that works for me!
Reply:Originally Posted by SandyIt looks fine the way it is. I'm sure it'll do what you need it to do. Better than crawling underneath in the mud and dumping road grit in your face. Where it will be now you can even check it for air once in awhile.
Reply:WOW! Nice work! Super clean.  Great jog.