OK, I have a 2001 Ford Ranger. I'll drive it until the wheels fall off. I've recently had the "joy" of a flat, and as a girly girl have decided I HATE the arrangement where the spare is wenched up under the bed of the truck. I want to see if I can get a swing-away arm and just mount the spare on the back of the truck. I can swing the tire out of the way to let down the tailgate -- that's my idea anyway. Is this possible without spending massive sums of money or ending up with some kind of mickey-mouse rig that looks like it was designed by the makers of duct tape?

Being a girly-girl, I'd be getting the guys in the auto shop at school (teacher) to install this, presuming such a rig is available. Ideas?

If they're any good at welding and creative enough I guess it sounds feasible and could be pretty cool if it comes out right, and welcome to the forum!

Naaah, they're not any good. That's why I need to try and find a "kit" or something that will work for the Ranger. The school doesn't do welding or fabrication, and if they did, I wouldn't trust it. Installation....that I can imagine. Open to ideas. Thanks for the welcome. :)

http://www.truckcandy.com/TC/TireGate/Images/300/Mount_Out.jpg

http://www.homeproductsnmore.com/spare-tire-mount/

http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/Browse/tf-Browse/s-10101/N-111+10201+600001517/c-10101

http://www.tiregate.com/prerunner.shtml

Froader and 410 have the idea! :thumbsup:

if your not using your bed, u could go with a in bed tire carrier, probably cheaper than a bumper tire carrier, just a thought...i agree. i dont like where the tire is, mine will remain in the back of the explorer

Here's a verticle one.

http://www.pickupspecialties.com/Tire_gate/tiregate_vertical_series.htm

Flat mount.

http://www.pickupspecialties.com/Tire_gate/tiregate_horizontal_series.htm

and the "prerunner" one.

http://www.pickupspecialties.com/Tire_gate/tiregate_prerunner_series.htm

7 bills though. A little expensive.

Easy flat mounts from fabtech too. http://www.fabtechmotorsports.com/applications/stuff/stuff.html

Kartek stuff too. http://www.kartek.com/products/truck/accessories/accessories.htm

I looked at the different options you folks were nice enough to post. I like the swing away mount that's used on the Jeeps the best, but haven't figured that something made for a Jeep would work on a Ranger. Am I limiting my thinking?

I looked at this page: http://www.kartek.com/products/truck/accessories/accessories.htm
and I'm just not able to visualize what in the world these options would look like and where they'd be mounted and in what orientation. I know that makes me a doofus, but the price is right here. Except for the one that is made for the Toyota, where do these things mount and what would their orientation and space-gobbling capacity be of the bed (which is where I presume they'd mount)?

Can the Jeep swing arm work on a Ford, or is that just going to leave me with the modification-by-duct-tape-look?

Clueless in Georgia

Take a look at Jefe's truck, he built a nice hinged swing away carrier for his Ex using the factory bumper with a bit or re-enforcement

so the answer is yes the swing away type for a Jeep could be made to work but its not a bolt on deal typically, even with a ranger and having a drop down tail gate may complicate things a bit

Only close to stock looking swing-away tire carrier I can think of would be off a bronco-2 and it would take someone with some fab skills to make it work [B]if[B] its the right size to fit on the body panel at the rear corner, even then I'm not sure it would look quite right with it back there

BII tire carrier on a Ranger looks silly, I have seen it before.
Also takes more work then you think, you have to really beef up behind the rangers bedside to support the hinges.

BII tire carrier on a Ranger looks silly, I have seen it before.
Also takes more work then you think, you have to really beef up behind the rangers bedside to support the hinges.

yep, thats why I said fab skills would be needed and I really dont think it would look right. Really IMO those prerunner style reversible swing out that replaces the tail gate is the only one that really looks at home on the back of a pickup, but maybe not if your running stock sized tires