'73 spare tire

[neverfinished]

Has anyone pulled the under bed spare tire holder from a newer truck and put it on a '73? From what I can tell it wasn't an option so I'm wondering if I can pull the setup off of later year truck and just bolt it onto mine or if the frame rails changed at any point and are different enough that it won't fit.

[Srubydo1986]

From what i know i think the frames ar the same the older frames are stronger but as in wieth id say it would fit. What ever truck yur getting it from its best to measure and see if you have all the holes needed for it to work.

Id like to know how they work, got one from a truck but never used it. And dont know how to bolt it in as the original bolts rusted to nothing.

[hiway]

It shouldn't be an issue. I've even used the cable ratchet type. Also used one from a ford before.

[xtreme80]

Pfft... spare tire... who needs that.

Mine's in my garage

If I need it, I'll call someone to get it for me.

[neverfinished]

I did that for a while with a different truck which is why I want to carry a spare.
Picture this, it's 11:30 PM on Thursday and you've been driving for nearly 24 hours straight. In the bed of your truck is 1/2 ton of iron plates along with the spare which you took off because it wouldn't fit with the hitch you installed. Attached to that new hitch is a u-haul trailer that you rented so you could clean out the rest of the house and move it to your new house where your wife and kids have been living for the past three months. You're only about 35 minutes from your new home and you're just dying to get there, see your wife, peek in on the kids then crash hard for a couple of days before you start your new job. You check the gas gauge one last time before you hit the upcoming toll road and bang, the truck jerks to the right and he trailer starts wagging behind you. A pair of 18 wheelers fly past you, one on each side and you're doing all you can to avoid throwing the trailer into one of them. You finally get slowed down and off the road after 6 more cars pass you on the right because you're in their way. When you get stopped you see that your right rear is in a state that resembles beef jerky. The last exit before the toll road is only 1/4 mile farther so you limp the truck along the shoulder keeping the bad tire on the grass and listening to the rubber slap the inside of the tire well with every rotation. Once you've made it up the side of the exit ramp you off road it through a Mickey D's lawn, over a curb and gently settle the truck into a truck stop parking lot, the trailer still sitting on the lawn. You take 20 minutes and pull enough stuff off the spare tire that you can get it out of the bed of the truck then you realize that you need a jack. You unload the boxes you have sitting on the passengers seat and on the floor, slide the driver's seat forward, unload all the boxes and misc. crap from the rear seat, flip up the seat and open up the little box that holds the jack and tire iron. That's when you realize that if you're going to use the scissor jack that you're holding that you'll have to spend an hour unloading the truck before you're even close to the weight limit of the jack. Then when you're done it's going to be at least another hour to load up if you still have the energy. You think to yourself this would be so much easier if I had a floor jack and some stands. Then you get the crazy idea to call your wife, she's only 35 minutes away, it would be faster and easier on your already hurting body if she could grab everything and bring it out to you so you grab the cell phone. The conversation goes something like this:
Me: Hey I've got a flat, could you grab some stuff out of the garage and bring it out to me.
Wife: Uhh, what time is it?
Me: 12:15
Wife: You should have been here by now.
Me: I would have but I have a flat.
Wife: Where are you?
Me: 35 minutes west of you.
Wife: What do you want me to do?
Me: Grab a floor jack and a pair of jack stands, throw them in the trunk and bring them out to me so I don't have to unload the truck.
Wife: So if you unload the truck you don't need this stuff?
Me: If I unload the truck I'm going to sleep for a few hours before I even start the process of changing the tire.
Wife: I told your mom we'd be over so we can go out for breakfast at 7, will you be home by then.
Me: Tough to say, I don't have an alarm clock on me.
Wife: Hold on I'm going to call you back.

10 minutes later my phone rings.
Me: Hello.
Step dad: What do you need me to bring you.
Me: A floor jack and some stands.
Step dad: Where are you?
Me: (gives detailed directions)
Step dad: Ok, I'll grab everything and be there in a little bit.

Call to wife:
Wife: Hello.
Me: Hey did you ask Step dad to call me?
Wife: Yes, the kids are asleep and I don't know where you're at so I called to see if he could help out.
Me: No problem see you when I get home.

It's 1:00AM when the crew appears. My wife, mom, and step dad get out of the car.

Me: Wife I thought you were staying with the kids.
Wife: Don't start with me, your sister came over to watch them.
Mom: Why did you load the truck so full of stuff.
Me: Because I had to get it here.
Wife: I still don't get why you didn't just unload the truck.
Me: I'm tired and I'm pretty sure that if I manage to get it unloaded that I'm not going to have the energy to load it and I don't want all this stuff laying in a parking lot all night while I sleep.

I change the tire, my step dad puts all the crap that I pulled out of the truck back into the truck and I'm back on the road. Wife rides with me to keep me awake. The whole way home I keep hearing about how inconvenient it was for everyone to come help me. The phone rings, my mom is calling to tell me how inconvenient this whole deal was. I don't say a word, I just agree, I just want to sleep.

After hearing that same song from two directions for 35 minutes I get home park the truck and pass out telling myself this is the last time I'll ever call anyone to bring me something from the garage.

Then there was the time I called a tow truck because I didn't want a repeat of the inconvenience speech again. I hope he got stiffed by my insurance company after I called them to complain, but that's another rant.

[Slonaker]

That sucks. You know those same people will call you first when one of them needs something.

Slonaker

[hiway]

I would have swarn when I started ready this that you and I are sharing wives.

[Srubydo1986]

i agree same people that will call you when they need help

[N2TRUX]

neverfinished- Awesome story.....Now what was the question????

[tyjoja]

I've got a 73 and a guy from work has a 77 with a spare tire mount, he took his off when he put a tow hitch in, he's going to give it to me this week. I'll let you know if it works and what not. Bob

[neverfinished]

thanks tyjoja.
I noticed that the cross member that's in about the right location for the spare tire mount to go has factory punched holes in it so I was hoping that someone at GM was thinking ahead in '73.

[tyjoja]

got the spare tire mount home today and took a look. the right side bolts to the very end of the frame wich has holes there, its a long bolt that goes thru the top and bottom holes at the very end of the frame. On mine one of the bumper bracket bolts is in the way, but only needs ground off a little bit or a shorter bolt put in. the left side looks like it bolts to the cross tie you or someone else was talking about. Looks simple. Srubydo: I saw the bolts for sale in LMC cat. fairly cheap, the one on the left just looks like a normal bolt, though it is fairly long and threaded about half way. the bolt on right is a special looking bolt with a special nut mechanism that turned the right way slides thru the keyhole in the bracket to let the tire down. I think I would pick up a cheap bolt for the left side, and order the bolt or at least the nut for the right side. lol bob

[Srubydo1986]

cool thx

[neverfinished]

Thanks, looks like I'll be hitting the local yard looking for spare tires.