Where to put spare tire on 71 F250 Camper Special

[tperegoy]

I have a 71 F250 Camper Special and a spare tire that is lying in the bed. Where is it supposed to be stored on the truck. There is no under-body mounting, and the rear end has the extendable bumper hardware located where you'd expect the spare tire to be. Any ideas?

[jor]

There's a discussion on this issue now in the General Discussion forum (http://www.fordification.com/forum/view ... hp?t=12800 Anyhow, I guess you could get the mounting hardware from a wrecking yard for under-the-bed, front corner or rear corner.
jor

[foghorn]

hmmmmm maybe fabracate a mount to go in front of the grille. surely you have seen this done on some truck some where

[FORDification]

With most trucks it would either have been mounted in the bed on a special bracket or under the bed behind the axle. However, considering the likelihood that a Camper Special might usually have a camper in it, the spare would have been mounted under the bed or even on a special bracket up front in front of the grille.

Here's a shot of the aft-axle mounting bracket used on most trucks:
http://www.fordification.com/board/spar ... arrier.jpg

...and here's a couple shots of the spare tire mounted with this bracket:
http://www.fordification.com/board/spar ... derbed.jpg
http://fordification.com/forum/files/sp ... 3___10.jpg

Here are a couple of the in-bed tire carriers:
http://fordification.com/forum/files/dsc_0976.jpg

...and here's one variety of a front-mounted setup:
http://www.fordification.com/images/sparetire-4.jpg

And as long as we're discussing spare tire placement, I just thought I'd include this. The '73-up Super Camper Specials had an extended wheelbase although the frame was the same overall length, so there wasn't room for an aft-axle spare, so it was incorporated into the bedside:

http://www.fordification.com/board/1973-F350SCS_01.jpg
http://www.fordification.com/board/1973-F350SCS_02.jpg

[tperegoy]

Thanks for all the input. I think I'll try a front mount or, if I can find one, an in-bed mount. Since no hardware exists for either and this truck did have a camper on it (prior to my ownership), I suspect the spare was mounted on the back of the camper body.

Btw, this is my first Ford venture since my first car - a '64 T-bird. Sweet! Alas, as a senior in high school in the mid seventies, I only saw it as old.

[FORDification]

Just thought I'd add this to the list. There's an E-bay auction for a cool add-on accessory for adding a cable-winch to the rear-mounted spare tire carrier. It's not a Ford part, but an aftermarket accessory. Just thought it was an interesting idea.

http://cgi.ebay.com/1965-1966-1967-1968 ... dZViewItem


I'm adding the pics here to archive them for later:

http://www.fordification.com/board/spar ... sory01.JPG
http://www.fordification.com/board/spar ... sory02.JPG
http://www.fordification.com/board/spar ... sory03.JPG
http://www.fordification.com/board/spar ... sory04.JPG
http://www.fordification.com/board/spar ... sory05.JPG

Judging by the dates the kit says it fits (up through '68 ) and knowing that the trucks are the same up through '72, I'd venture a guess that this kit was manufactured in '68.