Not to be deterred, a few weeks ago a tyre carrier popped up for an ok price but couldn't really justify spending the cash. A few weeks later the price had dropped a bit and I jumped on it
I won't go into too much detail as its not a simple mod and requires a few brain cells and patience to get done. However Ive got a few pics and a brief rundown of whats required.
What you need are:
- The top and bottom tailgates (you can mod yours to put the brackets on but mine were a bit bent anyway and needed a repaint)
- The pillar bracing plates (the bottom one is bolted in, and the top is spotwelded in. You need a piece of pillar cut out from a donor or make your own plate)
- The rear tyre carrier itself
- Some bolts
- Beer
First start by removing your old tailgates. Handy for spare parts, and bolt the new ones on. Fairly self explanatory. Take a lot of care when removing the back corner of headlining to get to the upper tailgate plugs.
Next I masking taped up the rear of my truck where the carrier sits. This was just to try and stop scratching the paint when moving stuff around.
Next up you need to remove the drivers side tail lights, plastic rear housing bit and inside rear quarter covers. With a bit of fettling you are now able to install the lower bracing plate into the pillar. There is one hole that needs to be drilled which is the rearmost one. If you look inside where the tail light sits, one of the overlapping bits of steel has the hole cutout for it, its just the outer hole which needs to be drilled. I guesstimated where it goes and got it pretty bang on
Next up you have to bolt the rear bolts in. You can stick your arm down the inside of the pillar to get this done, but its a massive PITA and involves a lot of swearing. Considering the bracing has to come in and out many times I made an incision in the bottom of the pillar and rewelded it when I was done
From here what I did was measure how far down on the bracing plate the first bolt hole was, and then marked it on the outside panel. I then latched the tyre carrier into the tailgate, lined up the bolt hole vertically to this mark, made sure it was all sitting pretty spot on and then stuck the drill in a bolt hole and marked the panel. From here I had to take a big look at my life and decide whether or not I wanted to drill into my pretty panels. A few beers later I took the carrier and bracing plate out and drilled the hole. Stick the bracing back in, click the tyre carrier back on, stick a bolt in the hole that hopefully is in the right place and you get a first look at how everything sits.
I then got a mate to hold everything nice and tight to the panel and marked the rest of the lower holes, took the bracing out and drilled them.
After sticking everything back in again, and bolting in the bottom, get a mate to hold the top mount in tight to the body and drill those holes. I do not yet have the top bracing bit so just stuck some big washers in until I get it. Shes pretty solid so wont be an issue for a few weeks (I.e with the spare tyre on I can jump on it and it doesnt move at all)
Add a spare tyre, bungy a shovel to the back and wrap a rope around the tyre and you're ready to go tiki touring
It took me an afternoon to get everything in and sorted (still have to finish rewiring the upper tailgate as its off a ltd and has a highstop light and a few extra wires that mine did not have) but was not too hard. Im happy with the look and now for the first time in 4 years, I can carry a spare tyre
Just have to make do with the landcruiser