Stock Rear Bumper Conversion

[big351bronc]

Ok here is my new idea. Not sure if anyone has tried this, but do yall think our stock rear bumper would be strong enough to put a hinge on for a rear tire carrier. Or would it even be possible to do this?
Any thought, ideas or opinions welcomed.

 

[bmxking5]

I think Jefe and a couple of others have done this somehow, not positive though.

 

[Stic-o]

Like this?

See Jefe's thread here...

Tire Carrier

 

[big351bronc]

Yeah! Now thats what Im talkin about. Ill look thru his thread, any ideas of pros/cons? From what I see, it looks great.

 

[Savage Wolf]

Yeah! Now thats what Im talkin about. Ill look thru his thread, any ideas of pros/cons? From what I see, it looks great.

Pros: Keeps the stock look, give you a tire carrier....
Cons: keeps the stock look

Pretty much all in the taste of what you want hanging on the back of your rig, if you want to keep the stock body lines or change them, least IMO

 

[big351bronc]

I guess I just need some really good fabbing skills. Is it completly necessary to put a support bar behind the bumper like Jefe did? I'll be holding a 33" Tire max (hopefully soon).

 

[nissanboy]

yes... support bar is the main element that is holding his hinge. The factory bumper alone is way to weak to even consideras a secure mounting point for a hinge.

When you have a 65-75lb tire hanging off the end of a 3 foot bar it puts tons of stress on the hings and the hinges mounting point. the Stock sheet metal bumper will not hold it.

 

[Jefe]

I guess I just need some really good fabbing skills. Is it completly necessary to put a support bar behind the bumper like Jefe did? I'll be holding a 33" Tire max (hopefully soon).

Yes. While the steel bumper is pretty beefy for a stock bumper, there is not enough support towards the ends to support a hinge holding a tire.

 

[big351bronc]

ok, thanks all. And great job Jefe, that tire carrier is awesome.

 

[glfredrick]

You would definitely have to fab up a support brace inside the rear bumper to hold a swing out tire carrier...

The good news is that there is plenty of room to do that, and it isn't particularly difficult. You just need to do some precise hole cutting when you attach the tire carrier to the support brace inside.

 

[big351bronc]

The good news is that there is plenty of room to do that, and it isn't particularly difficult. You just need to do some precise hole cutting when you attach the tire carrier to the support brace inside.

Do you mean like putting a hole in the support bracket, and the bumper and linint them up?

 

[glfredrick]

Do you mean like putting a hole in the support bracket, and the bumper and linint them up?

There are several places that would need holes... First, I would ditch the actual support brackets from Ford. They are simply not strong enough (they are designed to bend easily in an accident) to support the extra weight of the tire mount. Second, after a suitable new framework is constructed under the skin of the bumper, one would have to accurately drill a hole for the tire support up through the top of the bumper. That is actually what I was referring to.

 

[big351bronc]

Ok thanks. So how about this: make the support bracket, mount that to the frame. Mount the bumper to the support bracket then the tire carrier to the support bracket? Sound about right?

 

[nissanboy]

if you take those stock brackets that hold the rear bumper on and weld them to a 2x4 box steel you have a perfect starting point for a stout bumper. I would recomend running a second set of mounts back on the frame some to prevent those two brackets from breaking under fatigue.

 

[Jefe]

if you take those stock brackets that hold the rear bumper on and weld them to a 2x4 box steel you have a perfect starting point for a stout bumper. I would recomend running a second set of mounts back on the frame some to prevent those two brackets from breaking under fatigue.

Which is exactly what I did

 

[nissanboy]

psshh im to lazy to go look through the old thread to see how you did it. LOL