Description

Hummer said, “Like Nothing Else.” Then the GM engineers called it a day after just mounting the spare tire back there. That is a short list once the truck is actually off the pavement. This carrier is the other side of the argument. Spare, jack, axe, gas can, and air tank. All mounted out back on the tailgate. The inside of the truck stays for people, and for the gear that hates being buried under a shovel. Built Unlike Anything Else. That is the idea.

The CAD pictures from Fusion 360 are this design, not the old one. Aluminum moved, and the first build priced itself out. I did everything I could to get the cost down. There is a limit when you will not sacrifice the quality. The redraw was supposed to be the cheaper one. It came back stronger. The load sits on two welded tube frames instead of a pile of plates and bolts. Fewer parts, fewer bolts, less time on the tailgate with a wrench. I cut the cost. I did not cut the overkill.

The spare moves in one-inch steps, lowering a 31-inch tire down to making room for a 39-inch tire. Set it once for the tires you actually run. A 35-inch sits lower than factory. A 37 sits up where it clears the bumper. You are not stuck with the one height somebody picked in a conference room in 2005.

The Hi-Lift Jack has its own mounting plate. That farm jack buried in the back, under the cooler, is a jack you will not use. Out back on the gate makes it the first thing in your hand when a tire is flat or a rock has the Hummer hung up. I suggest grabbing the premium Hi-Lift XT-485.

The axe or the shovel rides on QuickFist clamps. A QuickFist is a block of heavy rubber with a strap and a row of notches, made in the USA. Set the strap for the handle, about 1 to 2 inches, and the tool stays put over washboard roads. No rattle. No metal jaw chewing the wood. Getting it back is a pull, not a wrench. Shovel comes off when you are stuck. Axe comes off when the fire wants split wood. No wing nuts in the dark, which is the whole trick.

The jerry can holder takes a standard military 5-gallon gas can. The one to buy for water is the Scepter military-style water container, sand, 5 gallons. Same footprint as a steel jerry can, 13-1/2 by 6-1/2 by 18-3/4 inches, food-grade plastic, so the water does not taste like a sun-baked throw-away bottle. Use that water around camp, for the dog, for the coffee in the morning. A fuel can of the same military size will sit in the holder if range is the job. That Scepter is a water can. Gasoline does not go in it. If the can is gasoline, lock it to the holder. A Master Lock 99DSPT through the handle keeps the would-be thieves at bay.

Last is the air. An aluminum ARB 171507 air tank hides inside the spare, out of sight, and feeds the compressor mounted in the tailgate. One gallon, aluminum, rated to 150 psi, about half the weight of a steel tank the same size. Air down for the rocks. Air back up before the pavement. Make that onboard air compressor run smooth. Make setting the beads on tires easier.

There’s also a CB antenna, or a flag, mount back there too. Either one marks the truck in the dust.

Why this metal

The plates are 5052 aluminum. It bends clean, and it does not rust the way steel does once the powder coat takes a chip. Thickness follows the job, not a catalog. The carrier bracket and the tire bracket are 1/4 inch, because that is the structure the spare hangs from. The Hi-Lift plate, the CB mount, and the jerry can holder are 3/8 inch thick. A jack, a full can, and an antenna are point loads. The ARB cradle is 1/8 inch formed plate. A nest for a tank, not the spine of the carrier.

The tubes are 6063-T52 aluminum with a 1/8-inch wall, welded into two frames so the tall face takes the load. One frame uses the two long tubes as the top and bottom rails, tied together at the closed end by a short tube. The other frame does the same thing with the two medium tubes. The cross tubes run diagonally, so a load on the open end is shared by both rails instead of bending one of them alone. 6063 is the extrusion alloy, so it welds cleanly, holds a rectangle, and does not rust out under the truck the way steel does. I use the carrier as a ladder when I climb on top of the vehicle, and that is a harder test than a spare tire hanging there. The last bolt on the long tube is 19.7 inches from the end, so the overhang is only 4.4 inches. A permanent bend does not start until about 2,000 lb with both rails sharing it. A spare, a jack, and a full can are not that. The cross, long, and medium tubes are 1.5 by 1 inch with a 1/8-inch wall, and the short tubes are 2 by 1 inch with the same 1/8-inch wall.

The finish is powder coat RAL 9005, full gloss black, IFS Coatings full gloss smooth. Bare aluminum looks like a prototype by the second rain. Black gloss sits with the H3 instead of arguing with it. It is also a shell, so a branch does not go straight to raw metal.

The bolts

Carriage bolts, because the install should be one wrench. The square neck locks in a square hole. You do not need a second hand on the head, behind a tailgate, in a parking lot, swearing at a bolt that spins. The structural bolts are Grade 8. That is the high-strength grade, the one you use when the part is actually holding a spare and a jack, not the soft hardware that comes in a bag and looks tired after one winter. Nylon-insert locknuts, Grade G flange nuts on the larger sizes, bite the thread and stay put when the trail turns into a washboard. The flange spreads the load. You are not stacking a separate washer in the dirt. Four Buna-N grommets sit between the bracket and the tailgate so aluminum is not sanding the paint off the gate.

Aluminum is the other half of that choice. Strong enough for the spare and the gear. Light enough that the back of the truck is not hauling a steel sculpture down a rough two-track. Less weight on the tail is less wear and tear on the springs, the shackles, and the person who has to lift the gate at the end of the day. You go a little farther before the truck feels done.

Parts

• 1 — Carrier bracket, 5052 aluminum, 1/4 inch, formed, powder coat RAL 9005
• 1 — Tire bracket, 5052 aluminum, 1/4 inch, formed, powder coat RAL 9005
• 1 — Jerry can holder, 5052 aluminum, 3/8 inch, formed, powder coat RAL 9005
• 1 — CB antenna or flag plate, 5052 aluminum, 3/8 inch, formed, powder coat RAL 9005
• 1 — Hi-Lift plate, 5052 aluminum, 3/8 inch, flat, powder coat RAL 9005
• 1 — ARB air-tank bracket, 5052 aluminum, 1/8 inch, formed, powder coat RAL 9005
• 2 — Welded 6063-T52 frames, 1/8-inch wall, powder coat RAL 9005. Built from 2 cross tubes, 1.5 x 1 x 10.692 inches; 2 long tubes, 1.5 x 1 x 24.125 inches; 2 medium tubes, 1.5 x 1 x 19.875 inches; 2 short tubes, 2 x 1 x 9.5 inches
• 1 — Magnetic bottle opener
• 4 — Buna-N grommets, McMaster 9307K63, 1/2 inch ID, for a 13/16 inch hole and 1/4 inch material

Bolts

• 8 — McMaster 96660A214, alloy steel flanged button head screws, M6 x 10 mm
• 6 — McMaster 97000A531, Grade 8 square-neck carriage bolts, 1/2″-13 x 3-1/2 inch
• 6 — McMaster 92018A540, Grade G nylon-insert flange locknuts, zinc yellow chromate, 1/2″-13
• 8 — McMaster 97000A525, Grade 8 square-neck carriage bolts, 3/8″-16 x 2-1/2 inch
• 8 — McMaster 92018A430, nylon-insert flange locknuts, 3/8″-16
• 2 — McMaster 97000A511, Grade 8 square-neck carriage bolts, 1/4″-20 x 1 inch
• 2 — McMaster 92018A210, Grade G nylon-insert flange locknuts, zinc yellow chromate, 1/4″-20
• 2 — McMaster 92356A247, 18-8 stainless square-neck carriage bolts, 10-24 x 1 inch
• 2 — McMaster 91831A011, 18-8 stainless nylon-insert locknuts, 10-24

Gear to hang on it

• Hi-Lift XT-485, 48-inch X-TREME
• Scepter 5-gallon military water can, sand. Water only. Gasoline does not go in it.
• Master Lock 99DSPT for the fuel can. Through the handle, so the can stays on the carrier.
• ARB 171507 aluminum air tank, 1 gallon, 150 psi
• QuickFist long-arm clamps, pack of 2, holds 1/2 inch to 4-1/2 inch. The reach for an axe or a shovel handle.
• QuickFist original clamps, box of 4, holds 1 inch to 2-1/4 inch. Each one is good for 25 pounds. Two of them, 50.
• MAGCAP magnetic bottle opener, gunmetal, catches the cap

Picture the pull-off at dusk. The spare is already at the right height, so you are not staring at rubber in the rear window while you look for a flat spot. The axe comes off the QuickFist and the fire gets split wood instead of a sad pile of sticks. If the day went the other way, the shovel was there when the truck sat down in the dirt. Water is in the can for the coffee in the morning. The tires get their air back from the tank that was hiding in the spare the whole time. Somebody finds the opener without unpacking the truck. Camp is just camp. The tools were already where the night needed them.

Built Unlike Anything Else.