Stepsides with the Spare on the Bed

[kyull67]

I'm thinking about adding the spare wheel and tire to the side of my bed. Besides the Fender cutout, what else do I need and how does it attach? If you've got some pictures of the setup I would apprectiate seeing those.
Thanks.

[tcb-1]

I'll get some pics tonight for you if you need one. I know we discussed this a few weeks back and someone posted a good pic of the mounting bracket.

first off, there will only be one fender support for the front fender section. you'll also need a few pieces of angle iron that the mounts to the bedside (for bracket support)

you'll have to form your own fender, or find one with the cutout. they are not reproduced.

and bless you for going with a side mount!!!!

[rscam]

I just did the conversion and I have a complete extra setup for the tire mount. I bought 3 of them off Ebay a few years ago. Used one and sold one. Yoy can have it if you want it just pay shipping. The only problem with the third one is its for a longbed. The longbed fender is different than the shortbed so beware when you buy a fender. I will post some pics of mine this evening so you can see it withou the tire mounted. The shortbed has a bracket that goes thru the fender and mounts to the bedside under the fender and mounts to the top of the bedrail. The longbed has the whole setup mounted under the lip of the bedrail and sits lower than the shortbed. The radius of the cutout in the fender is lower and farther forward on the fender. The biggest give away is the hole in the fender for the bar to go thru. I found a fender on Ebay also for $175 shipped. So be prepared to pay at least that for one since they are hard to find. I actually had my truck at the paint shop with a regular fender on it to paint. At the last minute I found one. I got both fenders painted so I could offer it one day "IF" I ever sold it. Some people hate the way it looks and some don't. Let me know if you have any other questions.

[sameyrasmea72]

Originally Posted by rscam

The longbed fender is different than the shortbed so beware when you buy a fender. .....

So is the entire fender is different??? I have two super nice fenders without the sidemarker cutouts/ with spare cut out from a longbed and I don't want to make someone mad when I get ready to sale them.

Is the passenger side fender different too?

[kyull67]

Thanks for the replies. If I do go with the spare I just realized that I'd have alot of work to do with my tailights to get them to match. Either that or chop up my perfect fenders. I might just be crazy enough to do that. Looking forward to the pictures later of the mount. I just think my bed would look sweet with one of my wheels and tire mounted on it. Maybe I'll make the spare on the passenger side?

[my67chevytruck]

are you going to paint the rest of the truck to match the bed or repaint the entire truck.

[19673ontree]

when I was looking to buy a 67 I was looking for either a fleetside or a stepside , but one of my HAVE TO's was if it was a stepside it HAD TO HAVE the side mounted spare !!
kyull your truck will look killer with the side mounted spare !!!!!!!!!!

[kyull67]

Originally Posted by my67chevytruck

are you going to paint the rest of the truck to match the bed or repaint the entire truck.

If they can match the color, then yes with the top of the hood and cab pearl white or creme.

Originally Posted by 19673ontree

when I was looking to buy a 67 I was looking for either a fleetside or a stepside , but one of my HAVE TO's was if it was a stepside it HAD TO HAVE the side mounted spare !!
kyull your truck will look killer with the side mounted spare !!!!!!!!!!

Thanks, the idea has really been growing on me!

[rscam]

The fender is entirely different. Look at TCB-1's green truck. When the cutout goes around the front of the fender above the step its about 2 inches above the body line. On a longbed in the same spot it goes below the body line because a longbed has the tire lower than a shortbed. The whole tire bracket is revited together because it dosen't go thru the fender so it doesn't have to be taken apart the mount it.

[Boog]

Along the same line as the outside mounted spare is an inside mounted spare. My stepside came with the spare standing up inside the left front corner of the bed so no fender cutout. It is a factory mount and super simple bracket to hold it. You probably wouldn't want the spare mounted out on the right bed side as it will be an obstruction when looking out the back window for traffic on your right side. imo

[Shane]

I'd have to see both fenders side by side before I made up my mind. I always thought they were the same fender.

[bull1kevin]

I thought about removing mine from my short step but my bud (hotrod) said he'd disown me. I'ts growing on me.

[hotrod 80]

Originally Posted by bull1kevin

I thought about removing mine from my short step but my bud (hotrod) said he'd disown me. I'ts growing on me.

You need a build thread .

[hotrod 80]

Originally Posted by bull1kevin

I thought about removing mine from my short step but my bud (hotrod) said he'd disown me. I'ts growing on me.

You need a build thread .

Here is mine .

[tcb-1]

make sure you run an inside rearview mirror because you will NOT be able to see a thing out of you driver's side door mirror!!!!!

[rscam]

compare. These are the 2 best pictures I could find. Look at the body line as it turns around above the step. The cutout is lower on the longbed.

[sameyrasmea72]

Originally Posted by rscam

compare. These are the 2 best pictures I could find. Look at the body line as it turns around above the step. The cutout is lower on the longbed.

Thats funny, both the blue long bed above and the red long bed way above are mine. . and I have several short beds, but I have never noticed the difference.

Thanks for the info rscam.

[rscam]

The only reason I found this out was I was frantically trying to find one before I had my truck painted and I saw one on Ebay that I was bidding on and I was out bid. After I lost I was pouting about losing and looked at the auction one more time and I noticed there was no hole in the cutout for the bracket to go thru. All the others I had seen in the past had a hole. So I started looking into it and noticed the bracket on a longbed was different also. I am glad I didn't win that bid. They did that on the fender because there is so much more room for a tire on a longbed so they lowered it. They sorta had to squeeze it in on a shortbed so its higher and farther back on the bed.

[68shortstep]

rscam is right. Notice on tcb-1's photo that his 6-lug wheel has three bolts threaded on, holding the wheel onto the bracket.

You can't see them on mine, because the ralley cap for my five bolt wheels sort of confuses the picture, but only one bolt is holding my spare on, instead of three. It's a bracket from the original six-lug bolt truck, but now I'm running five-lug rims. The bracket only has one lug bolt on it, since one of the original three bolts would barely "catch" & hold my spare on the bracket. Other two bolts were cut off.

The spare is held very firmly in place with one lug nut. Good enough for me. It's never tried to shake-loose on me.

The tire sits very-slightly forward of where it should in the fender cutout, toward the cab, but if you don't really look close, you'd never see it. So I didn't have to hunt to find a five-bolt bracket.

Like my avatar says: "looks good at 20 ft."

[Shane]

I'll be dang if they aren't different ... thanks for sharing that rscam.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by Shane

I'll be dang if they aren't different ... thanks for sharing that rscam.

SAME HERE! Cool! I like the swb one's better.

[CJJ67]

I am also going to keep the spare on the fender. But I would like to smooth out the metal where it overlaps. Other than ebay, where can you find the hardware to mount the spare? If nothing else, along with the small back window, it's a good seat when I want to hide from the wife.

[rscam]

Two things. Make sure you get a bracket for 55-70. The 71and 72 will be 5 lug. Also, the short bed bracket mounts on top of the bedrail. The longbed one would have to be modified.

[caminokid]

Its a shame someone shot out the windows on that LWB.

[tcb-1]

68shortstep

I think your right on the money with your history thoughts. The step bed was the original bed format. Then the ease of having the spare at your fingertips instead of on the underside of your manure caked rig makes sense to me.

I know my truck was a custom order by, you have it, a farmer in Wyoming. bare bones, 350, granny 4 speed, and side mount step side.

by the way. I remember throwing hay bales in the back of a 66 flatbed with an SM465 4 speed. throw the truck into first, get out and walk beside the truck throwing hay bales until my caluses bled...... all for $50 a day.