I love the look of running without a spare on the back, but the lack of cargo area and fear of my spare being stolen out of the back lead me to want a cargo, that not only would give me my cargo space back but also act as a cage to keep my spare and other carry items safe from prying hands.

So I turned to my brother "landc2" for help.

Here is what my rear cargo area usually looks like. (I also usually have a frameless ALICE pack in the back also with my bug out gear in it.)


We taped out the correct size as a template


Outer frame, the rack is 6" tall


Here I am doing some horrible welding



Test fit for final placement using jack stands, this helped us gauge the height above the top of the tailgate



Here is the cage with the bottom in


This shows the front with the plate in the center, this is where the "Go Topless" sticker will go after paint. So it stands above the rear gate facing those behind me.


Finished grinding down welds tonight and cleaned it up. Coat of primer is on it now, drying. Tomorrow I will paint it flat black, and mount it in.

I will post final pics once it is in the rig.

 

that's awesome!

 

great build

 

Awesome work !!!!

 

good idea. Nice job!

 

That rack is awesome, you did a great job fabricating it! I have one made by Kilby, probably cost me way more than yours, but I use it all the time.
Your rack looks very similar to my Kilby too.

 

Mine was about $30 for steel and $12 for paint/primer/prep all/ hardware

 

Looks good

 

Hella Nice...

 

to the dude with 9 tires...

if thunderdome ever becomes reality, your set. you drive through nail canyon or what?