Chevy & GMC Vans

Since this was originally posted at AS and didn't get posted here and T.Low was asking...

I had removed the plastic bumper cover and modified the bumper to accept a stainless tubing carrier I bent up at work. The hinge is just a slightly larger piece of tubing welded solid. I also welded in corner bracing to keep the bumper from flexing too much. The latch just sits into a hole drilled in the bumper.

Why did you keep this information secret until now, jerk... [he says with major rear tire carrier envy]

I looks good. Were you happy with it? Did it perform as needed? Durability? Why was it not on the later phases of the SPB? WHat size tubing was it?

It was still around when I sold it. But I never used it. I'm not even sure if it was setup for the 8 lug wheels. The pics above were when it had 5 lug wheels.

tribri1 wrote:Why did you keep this information secret until now, jerk... [he says with major rear tire carrier envy]

Did he call me a jerk?

Anyways, I was very happy with the carrier except it rattled some. Never had any issues except for having to grease the hinge and latch every so often in the winter. I did use it on the SPB to carry a 235/85R16 spare. I just used a piece of aluminum to as a capture piece to hold the bottom of the 8 lug wheel. That was a lot of weight and it held it fine. Once we got away from wheeling, I just kept the spare and carrier in the garage. I think it was 1" tubing although I don't remember for sure.

I'm on it.

I just began a welding class and am deciding where to start; rails, recovery points or spare tire carrier. I think which ever design I can come up with first is the one I'll start. I don't really know jack about metals or fabrication so...we'll see how it goes. Even with your pics, copying your design will be tuff enough for me to figure out. One thing:

I would like the spare to sit as close to the van as possible, closer than the pics in the other thread shows yours being, in order to help with clearence for the motorcycle when it's carried on the back of the van. Just above the bottom mounts, I'm envisioning an "S" bend (one 90 degree bend wrapping around the edge of the bumper heading back toward the van followed by a 2nd 90 degree bend heading back upwards) to move the tire a little closer to the van. Would that compromise it's ability to carry the weight of a 30" spare, resulting in sag sooner or later?

If I can actually get started on this, should I start a new thread or should we keep all the future carriers based on this design on the same thread?

Thanks for any and all comments and input, guys.

I wouldn't try a couple 90's that tight. What I would do is weld the hinge point into the bumper more rather than on the edge. You would want to remove the bumper to put it on a bench. You then make up reinforcement and bracing pieces to strengthen it. Are you allowed to bring the bumper to the class? That way the instructor could help with the bracing design. You could add your progress pics to this thread since it will be the basic same idea. Then there is a comparison.

Yeah, I can bring the bumper to class, or I may do that part with my brother in law's super vision (pun intended) and input, either way.

(I'm outside right now with the laptop and a spare sitting on the bumper drawing it up and putting measurements to it to see how much tubing i need.)

Awesome! Gotta love technology!

Your 32"s damn near blocked the tail lights, didn't they!

Yeah it was close. From about 10' back you could see it fine.

I originally wanted to build a HD bumper with a swing out tire carrier/hi-lift mount using something like this. I just never got around to it since this one worked well.

This is just the hinge.