Project ZU: Rear Tire Carrier

[VXorado]

I finally finished my spare tire carrier using a junked VX door I picked up over the summer. Over a year ago I had an idea to make a tubular spare tire carrier for the VX. The project was quickly ruined once I realized how funny it would look with the rear door bulge...which started the next project

Goal: use a VX rear door to make a spare tire carrier (like Tom4bren, Marlin, & eblank) but remove the "bulge" & have the bumper wrap the tire.

Last January I told Jack (PBkid) my plans at a VX meet & he told me "you don't want to do that"

In July I sourced a junked VX for the back door & met Mdwyer in the process

In September I cut the center of the door out and test fitted it.

In October I welded 1"x1" square tubing into the door & found a trooper spare tire carrier from the junk yard.

In November I welded in sheet metal without the "bulge" and began the long process of fiberglass/bodyfill work.

In December I pulled the glass & cladding from my old door and installed them on the custom door.

Overall I'm happy with the door. I finally don't need to worry about where to put the big spare tire

And here we are:

Test fitting the door




















I used a bump stop to take the weight off the latch. The bumper had to be cut for the tire to fit so I used sheet metal for the finish.



I left some imperfections on the center of the door because I'll always have a tire back there. I also decided to make the cladding end under the tire rather than attempt to fit the cladding across the door.


I kept this project pretty quiet until the end. There were several members following the build so for my next project I will post a thread and keep it updated with progress.

[Ala5ka]

Sooooo great, I cant wait to try something like this with mine! Way to go and take the plunge. Do you have a picture of the back with the tire off? How is the HiLift mounted as well?

First!

[VXorado]

If you look at the pic with the square tubing you can see two bolts going through the tubing which go into the hi-lift jack & secure them to the door.

I don't have a pic without the tire but can take one if you want.

[vt_maverick]

Truly amazing work Jon! Too bad shipping something that size is so expensive or you might have orders already...

[LittleBeast]

Awesome job, looks great!!!!!

[Mile High VX]

Looks great...can't wait to see it in person.

[tom4bren]

Fantastic work. The end product is very clean.

If you haven't already, I recommend that you add a plate behind the upper hinge. The hinge is stout enough but the sheet metal of the door isn't & my hinge is tearing loose from the door. That bump stop should help but is only for vertical support. There will also be longitudinal stress applied to the hinge (especially during rock crawling).

[VXorado]

Thanks guys, I considered working on a second one with my old door & putting it for sale but the time (increased price) & size would be a major issue. I have smaller projects planned for the future & hope to offer those things for sale if there's interest.

Tom, I looked into reinforcing the hinges but didn't have enough room behind them to add strength. If I start having issues, I'll weld the hinge to the door... or something

[VX KAT]

It looks Amazing! I love the look of the tire on back, and reducing the depth makes it look proportionately perfect!
Plus, it's really cool to see something totally fresh and different.
I'm in awe of these skills many of youz guyz have! WoW!!

[Scott Harness]

Looks fantastic!! That 1st picture is scary though

[VX KAT]

That 1st picture is scary though

at least it was a spare door..

[JoFotoz]

WOW..this is .......

Love it.

Jo

[eblank]

Dude... thats just... dude.......

I want....

Looks great. the black looks really good too. and this should be alot more solid than mine. I'll definitely be looking for an extra door to do something similar (preferably closer than Colorado) when I get some time.

Nice job

[pbkid]

nice job jon.. looks great.

and i said that you dont want to do that because the rear door is weak and if you get rear ended you have no support. Im all about modding the crap outta something



now we need to go test it out, come spring.

On a side note, i might need to meet up with you before may to do some testing with fitting your tires on my Runner and see what happens (i got a hold of a saw and would LOVE 35's)

[VXorado]

Looks fantastic!! That 1st picture is scary though

I didn't want to risk my good VX door just in case the project went bust. The donor door was a mess from a rollover and required hrs of body work just to get the door good enough to torch a giant hole through it

Dude... thats just... dude.......

I want....

Looks great. the black looks really good too. and this should be alot more solid than mine. I'll definitely be looking for an extra door to do something similar (preferably closer than Alaska) when I get some time.

Nice job

I wasn't sure if the black would look okay & actually painted the door victory white to match the rest of the VX. I paid quite a bit to get matching paint which didn't actually match so I decided to go with black truck bed spray paint instead. Now with the hood & tailgate black, its possible that my VX will be an Ebony after a few more mods.