By Aric Waldron

I was tired of having a spare tire in the bed of my 1977 F-150 so I decided to fix it. Having no attachment parts at all I began looking at LMC and NPD. No carrier (the sheet metal bracket that the tire mounts to) was available and the cost was $25 for the hangers (bolts for under tank style mount). Having changed the tire on a 1991 F150 I got curious about interchangeability. After a few measurements I decided it was do-able.

 

I located the parts at a junkyard. $20 for an early 90s F 150 setup. You'll need a 9/16" drill. I will refer to the hangers as front (near the axle) and rear (near the rear bumper).

 

With my favorite third hand I help the bar up to the frame and decided where I wanted to drill the holes for the hanger bolts. As you can see the carrier goes diagonally. Left to right or right to left are both options. The carrier is not heavy, but you need to measure, mark and double-check both ends. I invariably moved the carrier trying to look at the other end.

 

These are the hole positions. Yours may differ based on specific carrier and frame dimensions.

 

The threaded part of the clip goes above the frame and the tab goes below. I always have at least one thread exposed above the clip to ensure full strength.

 

The finished mount. The tire is easily removable in normal situations by unscrewing the rear hanger partially and lifting the carrier off. This setup with no changes is OK.

 

However as you can see the tire is not evenly clamped or centered. The rear bolt is a little short, and the front is a little long. You can change this by buying a longer front bolt and sawing off the excess length of the rear bolt. This is probably the best option.

 

Or you can mount it backwards. This gave me enough room to change the tire with my short exhaust setup, and the stock bolt lengths are fine.