80 series spare tire removal

[corsair23]

Ok,

So I got the tire out from under the LX tonight, removed the hitch (without stripping any recessed nuts ), and pulled off the lowering mechanism.

Question for those that have done this before. The crossmember deal that the spare tire lowering mechanism is bolted to and that the tire sits up against when raised, did you guys remove this as well? Not sure if it adds any strength to the frame back there or if it is just dead weight now . It looked like 4 (maybe 6) bolts and off it would come.

 

[Romer]

I removed mine

 

[corsair23]

Thanks for the confirmation Ken...I assume that the aux tank installation you have planned takes up that space and therefore the cross bar has to come out anyway?

I might as well remove mine for now as I can't see any use for it in the immediate future...

 

[nakman]

Only 3 bolts per side, and yeah no structural reason to leave it. I used a couple of the bolt holes for rock lights..

 

[Nay]

I don't know that it's entirely useless since the rear bumper is the rear crossmember. You get rear ended at an angle and I see a bent frame, so support behind that crossmember is worthwhile.

Now whether or not the spare carrier adds any real structure is up for debate. I pulled mine and added this from Slee, which is an awesome mod. You get a hitch plus bolt-on triangulation to the frame and no loss of clearance. Slee doesn't rate it, but IMO and usage it would easy pass a Class III rating.

 

[corsair23]

Thanks Tim and Nay...

I like the idea of the rock lights under there Tim

I'll keep the crossmember just in case down the road it would prove useful for attaching an air tank to or something else. Not that it matters as I rarely throw anything away

 

[nakman]

Yeah, my crossmember's been holding up the side of my garage for 3 years now...

 

[corsair23]

LOL...

Cool pic with the lights!

Well, the crossmember is removed now and the areas have a nice new coating of zero rust on it

As a bonus the parts got a nice cleaning in the rain yesterday before permanent storage