Av1
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I wanted to have a matching spare tire and wheel, for various reasons, but the 295/65R20 Ridge Grappler won't fit under the truck even if I trim the hitch. The diameter is a bit too large. If I had to do things over again, I would have gone with 35 x 11.5's all around so I could make the spare fit underneath.
That left me with putting the spare in the bed. I needed something that would allow me to easily remove the spare and not be intrusive if I needed to use the bed without the spare. I decided on the N-Fab Rapid Strap.
It's a very simple install, but I thought I'd post a few photos of the process if any folks were interested in what's involved.
The first thing I did was unzip the Bedrug floor and removed it.
The next step was to place the tire in the bed to check mount locations. I placed it as far forward as I could get it, so I took up the least amount of bed space as possible. This presented a clearance issue for the forward mount.
The N-Fab directions instruct you to install the single strap at the 12 o'clock position as looking from the rear. That puts the mount directly on a cross brace if you want the tire slid all the way forward.
Reversing the straps where the two straps are forward and locating the single strap at the 6 o'clock position solved the issue.
Make sure all three mounts clear bed bracing so measure twice and drill once as they say. It's easy to see where the bracing is because the spot welds are easily visible inside the bed as the following photo shows when I drilled my pilot holes.
Mounts installed.
Here are photos from underneath the bed so you can see how much clearance you have for the nut-plates.
Aft lower nut-plate.
Right forward lower nut-plate.
Left forward lower nut-plate above fuel tank.
Bedrug floor zipped in and straps in place.
Spare tire strapped in.
One note is that the nuts are non-locking. I used medium strength thread locker on the bolts as a precaution.
Mounting the spare tire in the bed is not what I really wanted to do. But I think this will be ok.
That left me with putting the spare in the bed. I needed something that would allow me to easily remove the spare and not be intrusive if I needed to use the bed without the spare. I decided on the N-Fab Rapid Strap.
It's a very simple install, but I thought I'd post a few photos of the process if any folks were interested in what's involved.
The first thing I did was unzip the Bedrug floor and removed it.
The next step was to place the tire in the bed to check mount locations. I placed it as far forward as I could get it, so I took up the least amount of bed space as possible. This presented a clearance issue for the forward mount.
The N-Fab directions instruct you to install the single strap at the 12 o'clock position as looking from the rear. That puts the mount directly on a cross brace if you want the tire slid all the way forward.
Reversing the straps where the two straps are forward and locating the single strap at the 6 o'clock position solved the issue.
Make sure all three mounts clear bed bracing so measure twice and drill once as they say. It's easy to see where the bracing is because the spot welds are easily visible inside the bed as the following photo shows when I drilled my pilot holes.
Mounts installed.
Here are photos from underneath the bed so you can see how much clearance you have for the nut-plates.
Aft lower nut-plate.
Right forward lower nut-plate.
Left forward lower nut-plate above fuel tank.
Bedrug floor zipped in and straps in place.
Spare tire strapped in.
One note is that the nuts are non-locking. I used medium strength thread locker on the bolts as a precaution.
Mounting the spare tire in the bed is not what I really wanted to do. But I think this will be ok.
