I just LOVE playing with my MIG welder. Its been about the best $400 I have ever spent.

  When I put the larger tires on the Samurai I knew that mounting the tire on the tailgate would last a very short while. At 74lbs a piece the 33x10.50 Super Swamper radials would make quick work of breaking the tailgate.

   The rear bumper on a Samurai was designed for a P205/75r15 tire. It offers little support and is attached to the body.  If I was going to make a carrier for the spare tire then I would have to make a new rear bumper as well. Then I would have a good base for the carrier.

   I started out with a piece of 5" "C" channel. The same size used for my front winch bumper. I had the steel stock and it was wide enough to support a set of lights and not hang down too low.  I unbolted the rear Sammy bumper and had it off in about 10 minutes and could start the real work.

   I decided to keep the 'drop bar' on the Sammy as I could use the protection on the street. The bolts on the drop bar provided a great place for attachment on the bottom.  Attachment on the top edge of the bumper was made by using the body mounts under the tailgate .  The rest of the tire carrier is made up of 1.5"x3/16" box tubing. I kept the bars horizontal so that in the future I could add a few 'ammo boxes' on either side of the tire to store stuff or make a jamboree rack off the back.  The 'pivot' is just a few pieces of welded angle iron and 2 grade 8 1/2" bolts.  The drivers side of the carrier is 'pinned' and allows it to swing out in the same fashion as the tailgate with the pin removed.  I gusseted up the stock wheel carrier with angle iron and bolted it to the bars.  So far there has been no breakage of the stock tire carrier. If it does then I will go back to the drawing board.