Oops. Crap. What to do now?

[BOJANGLES]

I bet it's gonna come out nice

 

[BigJ]

LOL! I just spent the last hour over there getting the tour, chompin on some pizza and getting to know John and his girlfriend... who is one very cool lady by the way.

We tossed around a few ideas for the drop bar... he had made less progress on the actual bumper than I'd thought before getting here, but in this case it turns out to maybe be a good thing. He mounted up the horizontal bar to the truck, before adding on the drop down bar. We were holding it up there, trying to decide if I wanted to do what Tiz did with the aluminum plates, or if I wanted to go with vertical tubes between the two instead... and I'll be damned if I'm looking at the thing absolutely loving the look of the solo bar all alone. The way he's refabbed the hitch, and tucked the bar in there... straight up sexy.

So I told him to finish everything up without the drop down bar. He's going to keep the material, and worst case is I change my mind and he welds in on later for me. But I really don't think that's going to be the case. Now that I see it, this just looks like how the truck should have come in the first place (IMHO).

There are a couple very obvious negatives:

1) the redo of the hitch prevents the spare from fitting as is. I asked if it might work if the tire is deflated, and he's going to try that. We think it will, and that's an ok solution for me since I have onboard air to fill it back up if needed.

2) the redo of the hitch loses the factory tow points. I'm going to have to add a hitch tow point. And in retrospect, that's probably not a bad thing from a safety standpoint anyway.

3) With just the single horizontal bar, I have no idea what to do with my license plate.

As we were mulling these issues over, an idea spawned that sounds like it might be a real winner... a hitch mounted spare cradle, with a jerrycan mount on either side. And the whole thing can fold down to allow the tail gate to fold down as well. Ever see those bikerack that do the same thing?

He's done it before for trophy trucks, but never for a Raptor and never with the ability to fold down. Sounded like he has a couple great ideas to pull it off, so we'll have to see.

He's got a couple hours of work left, but he's still plugging away for me. Pics to come in a few hours (hopefully )

 

[BOJANGLES]

I like your idea for the hitch mounted fold-down spare cradle. That would look nice with the tire up there.... It would almost accomplish the great look of a tiregate, yet you'd still have a fully functional bed. Plus you may even find a nice spot to mount your plate.

Great idea, BigJ. I'm hoping you go through with it because now you've got my gears turning....

 

[CineSLR]

Does tizz still have that tiregate available? Sounds like a great solution to all your problems. Just thinking out loud since he was letting it go for SUPER cheap.

 

[BOJANGLES]

Also, if you have the backup cam, you could likely relocate it nicely somewhere in the vertical fold-down tube.

 

[BigJ]

I like your idea for the hitch mounted fold-down spare cradle. That would look nice with the tire up there.... It would almost accomplish the great look of a tiregate, yet you'd still have a fully functional bed. Plus you may even find a nice spot to mount your plate.

Great idea, BigJ. I'm hoping you go through with it because now you've got my gears turning....

Its pretty much a done deal Bo. When he threw out the idea and I started waving my hands around where I'd like the tire and cans to sit, he lit up and the ideas started pouring out.

Like, for example, he was saying the trophy guys are going with a cradle and a ratchet strap to hold the tire in these days. Keeps it much more secure (no rattles!) and you don't need a rear support bar to bolt the tire too. The net result is a unit that tucks up to the tailgate closer, and more securely. And then I mentioned about the folding down like how my bike rack does and he had a solution for that too, and it really seemed to come together in his mind. I told 'em to chew on it, and come back at me with a proposal over the next couple of weeks.

 

[BOJANGLES]

CineSLR, I'm pretty sure BigJ said his big negative on the TireGate is how much it encroaches in the bed space when mounted in the inward position. I kinda feel the same way, I've been wanting to put a TireGate on my Rap for two years now, but I'm still hesitant because I use my truckbed and tailgate so much at work.

 

[BigJ]

Does tizz still have that tiregate available? Sounds like a great solution to all your problems. Just thinking out loud since he was letting it go for SUPER cheap.

I've been eyeballing that for a loooong time. But in the end, I just don't think its right for me. I wish it wasn't so, but I simply cannot afford to lose my actual real tailgate, and I can't afford to lose that much bedspace.

 

[BOJANGLES]

Sound awesome BigJ. I read your description and I felt it move in my pants. Can't wait to see how this turns out. Do you have a backup cam? If so, did you guys discuss where/how to relocate it?

 

[DirtNasty]

damnit where are the pictures, us east coast guys have to hit the sack soon!