$63 Spare Tire Carrier Sling DIY – 15 min install, full 6 ft bed length + vault closes perfectly

[hemiarch]

I'm glad Tesla didn't waste the space under the bed for a spare tire. The Smuggler's Bay contains my tire air compressor, air hoses, tire plugging kit, kinetic recovery rope and assorted recovery gear, soft shackles and ropes, receiver attachment point, mobile charging connector, extension cord, gloves, glass cleaner, rags, and a small collection of assorted hardware/tools and various other emergency gear.

I don't need a stinkin' spare wheel assembly weighing me down and taking up space. All the gear mentioned above weighs less than a spare wheel/tire assembly (not to mention the associated jack and lug wrench).

Yes. That’s fair but it would be nice if it would have been designed large enough that it COULD accommodate a wheel and tire. Lots of stuff can also fit inside and around a spare.

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[TyPope]

I'm in the camp of "over time, that's going to pull in the bed sides a little and that tonneau isn't going to like that much" camp. As a first stab at a viable solution, it's brilliant. I think the ultimate solution is 2 or 3 offset brackets attached to the tracks on each side and something solid going from side to side.

On the "Hey, this is a cheap fix" crowd, a piece of chain through a pipe that spans the bed. The chain has carabiners attaching it to O-ring T-Rail tiedown things. The length of the chain would determine the drop. And you could easily make something that goes through the tire (like on a conventional truck underneath) to hold the tire to the pipes.

This would change the force from mostly pulling the sides towards each other to pulling directly down on the L-Track.

Just idle thoughts. I do applaud your solution even though I would be uncomfortable with it.

 

[Mark Lindgren]

This is my solution

 

[hemiarch]

This is my solution

I love it. How ? What ? Etc?

 

[Mark Lindgren]

I love it. How ? What ? Etc?

I bought 4L track stud fittings from Amazon. I bolted four pieces of aluminum angle to the L track. creating the four legs. I then bolted two pieces of aluminum angle to the four legs as cross members to support the tire platform. The tire platform was made with sheet aluminum riveted to some additional cross members between the two width way pieces to create a frame. At the bottom of the four legs, I riveted some thin aluminum angle up to the front of the bed of the truck to keep the legs vertical and spread the point load of the legs The whole assembly weighs only about 20 pounds and will support 300 pounds easily. This gives 12” of clearance and allows for full 4 x 8 sheets of plywood to be slid into bed.

 

[kpanda17]

I bought 4L track stud fittings from Amazon. I bolted four pieces of aluminum angle to the L track. creating the four legs. I then bolted two pieces of aluminum angle to the four legs as cross members to support the tire platform. The tire platform was made with sheet aluminum riveted to some additional cross members between the two width way pieces to create a frame. At the bottom of the four legs, I riveted some thin aluminum angle up to the front of the bed of the truck to keep the legs vertical and spread the point load of the legs The whole assembly weighs only about 20 pounds and will support 300 pounds easily. This gives 12” of clearance and allows for full 4 x 8 sheets of plywood to be slid into bed.

I’m inspired, got my mind thinking the possible
Nice work

 

[Urander]

Another clever Cybertruck setup: spare on the L-track, bed cap on top, slider on the bottom!

Just wanted to share another perk of having the bed cap

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