Heating spare tire mount post

[Lawson Cox]

I find that my spare tire mount makes my spare lean out a little too far and I prefer that it didn't lean so much. Is it safe to heat and bend it a little to make it stand more upright? I think it is a casting, but not cast iron. 35 Ford pickup. Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[19Fordy]

I find that my spare tire mount makes my spare lean out a little too far and I prefer that it didn't lean so much. Is it safe to heat and bend it a little to make it stand more upright? I think it is a casting, but not cast iron. 35 Ford pickup. Inquiring minds want to know.

Is it magnetic? Is it cast aluminum? Is it die cast? Don't do anything until you find out what metal it's made of.

 

[Steel 35]

Is it magnetic? Yes
Is it cast aluminum? No
Is it cast? Yes
Don't do anything until you find out what metal it's made of.

I find that my spare tire mount makes my spare lean out a little too far and I prefer that it didn't lean so much. Is it safe to heat and bend it a little to make it stand more upright? I think it is a casting, but not cast iron. 35 Ford pickup. Inquiring minds want to know.

How long is your stand off (tube)? Mine is 3 5/8" I would try and shorten it if it is longer then mine and pull it, or make it glow.....

 

[Lawson Cox]

How long is your stand off (tube)? Mine is 3 5/8" I would try and shorten it if it is longer then mine and pull it, or make it glow.....

Therein lies my problem. The original was too short, the tire would rest up against the cab. I lengthened the tube to where the tire misses the bed by about 1/4". I guess I will have to modify the face plate somehow to get the tire angle to look better.

Oh the joy of working on this old iron. lol

 

[19Fordy]

Therein lies my problem. The original was too short, the tire would rest up against the cab. I lengthened the tube to where the tire misses the bed by about 1/4". I guess I will have to modify the face plate somehow to get the tire angle to look better.

Oh the joy of working on this old iron. lol

Could you make hollow round spacers (for the studs?) to give the desired angle of the tire?

 

[oldandtired]

I guess one other thought might be to use the bolt through the center to draw the spare rod a little more toward the bed. You might have to shorten the pipe like piece that the bolt passes through. The pipe-like pieces came two different lenghts depending on year...at least I have ones of different length.

 

[Lawson Cox]

I guess one other thought might be to use the bolt through the center to draw the spare rod a little more toward the bed. You might have to shorten the pipe like piece that the bolt passes through. The pipe-like pieces came two different lenghts depending on year...at least I have ones of different length.

That's my problem. The tube that came with the spare tire bracket was too short and I had to make a longer one to get the spare to clear the cab. Everything mocked up pretty well, but the tire did lean out a little bit. When I put it all back together, the spare tire leans out way too far at the top and looks wierd. I will put spacers on the two bottom studs and hopefully that will straighten it up to where it will be acceptable.

 

[19Fordy]

That's my problem. The tube that came with the spare tire bracket was too short and I had to make a longer one to get the spare to clear the cab. Everything mocked up pretty well, but the tire did lean out a little bit. When I put it all back together, the spare tire leans out way too far at the top and looks wierd. I will put spacers on the two bottom studs and hopefully that will straighten it up to where it will be acceptable.

Use two lug nuts and screw them down as spacers -tapered side facing up.

 

[55 dude]

good idea on using the lug nuts!

 

[Frank The Plumber]

The mounting plate should be a triangle plate with 3 studs that accept lug nuts to hold the rim, tire to the mount, changing the length of the spacer will only move the crooked combo out farther from the body. You will need to hold the bottom out a bit more than the top, I would not heat and bend the bracket that supports the whole assembly. I would spacer the triangle plate or mount rubberized threaded chair feet on the triangle plate, this way you can adjust to the desired angle and cinch them with a lock nut, the rubber on the chair feet will contact the rim face so you will not cut the paint or have scratchy squeaky sounds in the future. Frank

 

[Lawson Cox]

I am planning on taking the approach you mentioned by using spacers of some sort. I have some thick rubber discs that I salvaged from a box something was shipped in years ago. I am planning on using them if they will work. Check your private messages for further info on brace you sent me.