First I found a tire carrier at a junk. Next I found that an internal support was placed inside the body at the factory on 4Runners that have the rear tire carrier. I ordered the support from toyota ($63). Once I got it, I looked inside the fender and noticed that I would need to do some cutting. So off I go to the local welder to have the inside fender cut out with a torch. Then I installed the carrier support and drilled the 8 holes through the body that hold it to the fender. Then I took it back to the welder to replace the parts he cut out to get the support in. I also added a 12V power outlet as long as I had the rear all torn apart. This was a larger project that I thought it took about 25 hours to complete. I was able to use the original tail gate from my truck.
Tire Carrier Relocated Up 1 3/4"
After dragging the spare tire a few times on the trail decided it needed to be moved up a bit. I cut off the rear plate that holds the spare tire and moved it up 1 3/4". Then I rewelded it into place. The bottom was clearance with some grinding to clean up the bottom enough to allow a tire to be mounted again. I also now run the trail with no pressure in the spare. Now if I drag the tire on the ground it won't bend the carrier. A set of bolts welded onto the carrier hold a spare Warn hub. The original back up lights were covered by the spare tire so I added a set of 50W lights. I used the license plate holder that came with tire carrier but relocated it about 3" higher by drilling new holes and cutting the bottom off.
Off-Road Videos - Check out over ten years of extreme 4x4 action, product testing and the Off Road Nation at play. Baja racing to rock crawling, ATVs in the sand to motorcycles in the dirt, it's all here. Rate them, share them and upload your own.
ATV Reviews - Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Polaris, Kawasaki, Can-Am. First rides to long-term tests, check out the latest in ATVs, UTVs and Side-by-Side vehicles of every make and model. Read expert opinions and follow custom project vehicles.
