Tire carrier and HiLift...

[8T6K5]

So Im set to head to the other side of town tomorrow afternoon for a CL deal. Im trading a sub box with 2 12's and a 360W Alpine amp for a Fab-Tech bed mount spare tire carrier and a 48" cast HiLift.

Plan is to pull the rear seat and intsall the mount inside the cab, up towards the console. Im sure a few of you are asking WTF? Why? The K5 is not my DD, more of a grocery getter, tailgating, whatever. I have another ride available if I ever need to transport more than 2 people.

Second half of my plan is to mount a 48" (60lbs?) HiLift to the pass side panel. I pulled it off today knowing that it wouldnt hold with out help. I pulled a panel off today and discovered there's about a 1" lip on the rail. I figure I'll make a template and back the panel with some 1/4 - 1/2" plywood with a 1" reveal and stick that under the lip. So basically my panel will be 1/4 - 1/2".

Will probably need to buy longer bolts for the mounts, but after I mark my mounts Ill run a second strip of plywood across them, probably like 6"X24". Im also going to buy all new screws from the panel about 1/4" longer too. That should hold a 60lb hilift...???

I figure I may as well stuff some fiberglass insulation back there as well.

If it works out Ill prep the other side for what ever....a wet bar maybe?

This is as close as I can get to describing what I want to do... my tire will not be nearly as high, and imaging a HiLift on the pass side rear panel..

You must be registered for see images attach

...are those panels cherry wood?

Just a few more pics of the beautiful 72' K5

You must be registered for see images attach

That exhaust the the Bees Knees!!!!! I will go out of my way to have that on mine when the time comes.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[89Suburban]

JCW sells those pipes.

 

[crazy4offroad]

I have the 60" Hi-Lift and it is more in the neighborhood of 45 to 50#. I fabricated some mounts out of heavy gauge sheetmetal to stand the jack out a couple inches from the bedside, with a bolt sicking out welded in place, and use wingnuts to secure it in place. Each mount is held to the bedside with 6 self-drilling sheetmetal bolts. It may be overkill but I rest easier knowing they aren't coming off. My only concern would be how hard you 'wheel. Would ~40# of metal jarring around be likely to pull loose from plywood? Likely, with time.

By the way that '72 is gorgeous, slathered in awesomeness. I have a single bit axe I'm also wanting to mount. Chose single bit so the back of the axe can be used as a large hammer, which came in real handy once for straightening a friend's bent wheel, bent so severely it was hitting the tierod. I also want to mount a trench shovel. And another thing that would be handy to have is a piece of steel at least 12"x12"x1/8" or a little thicker, since the Hi-lift jack's footprint is so small it WILL sink in soft soil trying to jack up your rig. I like the plans you got, cant wait to see them progress!

 

[8T6K5]

I fabricated some mounts out of heavy gauge sheetmetal to stand the jack out a couple inches from the bedside, with a bolt sicking out welded in place, and use wingnuts to secure it in place. Each mount is held to the bedside with 6 self-drilling sheetmetal bolts.

Sounds like the ones I intend to use.....

You must be registered for see images

Not having a welder limits my ability to fab somethiing more stout. Ha, I just thought of something to add....

I might be over thinking this and will probably spend more hours with it than I need to, but....keeps me busy.

BTW, dont wheel nearly as hard as I imagine you do. Matter of fact not much at all.

 

[Driver4r]

no offence but whats a high-lift?

 

[crazy4offroad]

no offence but whats a high-lift?

AKA "Farm Jack"...

 

[bucket]

Hi-Lift:

You must be registered for see images attach

Basically it's a big heavy duty bumper jack.

 

[RetroC10Sport]

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[8T6K5]

OK guys, I dove into the project today after work.

Left for work with this...

Actually, the tire was already out, but I cam home with this...

Tire, mount, speakers gone......seat, gone too....

Cleaned the tire carrier and gave it a fresh coat of paint...

Will get to the HiLift soon, it will be a more teadious (sp?) task.

Heres the pass side panel and how I expect the HiLift to be mounted...

Thats a 48", I think 60" would've been too much.

Got a little cleaning to do...

Then, just because....

 

[8T6K5]

So here is how I was planning on mounting the tire carrier....

Pretty much centered and pushed up as far as possible. No obstructions underneath, easy to get to.


Then I thought........ What if I push the front mount over the lip and mount it to the "hump"? There's nothing under it right there, easy to get to......but the rear mounts are very close to the OE seat catchers. Gonna have to look a little harder, but it makes a huge difference on how high the tire sits......

Hard to tell in that pic, but I just need to dry fit the tire in there... and make sure my center console will still open.

 

[crazy4offroad]

You may want more opinions on that insulation than just mine, but I think it is a bad idea. It will hold condensation and promote rust.

 

[8T6K5]

I appreciate the tip and if I lived in a more humid-colder climate I might not. I dont think it will be an issues here in AZ, or at least the effects wont be realized for many many years.

I was able to get the mount locked down today....

Im glad I decided to drop the front mount in front of the lip. It really brought the tire down to a less obtrusive angle. I didnt account for the mouth itself to be lower to the ground and the butterfly end was hitting the floor before it got the tire tight. Hard to lop off about 4", problem solved.

35X12.5X15

Couple shots of the mounts...

Cant really go much further on the pass side panel until I pick up the mounts. Didnt get by in time on Sat, not open til Tues.

Started cutting the templates...

Worked late tonight, got the drivers side panel done.... Really feels stout. I think Ill be in good shape with the hilift mount.

 

[89Suburban]

Good job, I can't believe how rust free under the cab looks, I am so jealous. Let us know later what a difference that insulation makes behind the panels. I am curious.

Are you running speakers in those rear panels?

 

[8T6K5]

I definately think the insulation has helped, in conjunction with other things. One being that there also is 1/2 OSB behind the panel. Rear seat was a squeaker, OE tire mount is metal on metal at a points... new mount is not. Locking the panel down with new screws (the top row goes into the osb, the rest just like normal.

A few months ago I did new cab/tailgate seals along with front/rear window channels help a lot too. I ran a quick errand in it this morning and It sounded much better. I had the windows down to enjoy the cool 90* temps we had.

As far as the speakers, I put the ones I had back in, but didnt hook them back up. 1) the subs and amp are gone. 2) there are no rear speakers. 3) I didnt like the quality of wire used for the middle speakers - and the screens keep falling off. Basically the rest of the system was ethnically engineered so Ive decided to do without for now. I do plan on redoing it all, just not right now.

Need to address the steering gear box and the valve cover gaskets asap.

The errand I ran this morning..... scored this off CL cheap!

 

[8T6K5]

And here is the final product....

Firstm, the brackets Im using. HiLift brand. As you can see the bolts that come with them arent meant to go through 1.5" OSB. I bought 2" carriage bolts to use and stepped two washers with a locking nut.

The actual mounting bolts have holes in the ends for small padlocks if you choose.

I put some rubber pads on them where there would be metal-metal contact.

You must be registered for see images

[/IMG]

While most of the panel backing is now 3/4" OSB, I doubled it up at the mounting points with 6X6 scrap....

You must be registered for see images

[/IMG]

Heres the panel installed. I like I said, did the drivers side the other night. When installing them I replaced all the screws, using wood screws for the top row because they will actually go into the OSB. I used plain for the others, but .5" longer...

You must be registered for see images

[/IMG]

And now, 48" HiLift mounted...

You must be registered for see images

[/IMG]

You must be registered for see images

[/IMG]

You must be registered for see images

[/IMG]

The mounts are pretty stout. I dont see me wheeling hard enough for them to fail. Had to do a test run....