exporunner’s 2013 4Runner Trail Build

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American Expediton Vehicle (AEV) Tire Carrier build.

I’ve done a couple builds in the past (1999 4Runner, 2007 4Runner, 2013 Tacoma) and a few of those got rear bumper with tire carriers. I hate having the spare tire under the truck where it’s always accumulating dirt, debris and hiding road salt since I live in New England. As I was looking at a solution for the Trail I realized that my only options seemed to be tire carrier/steel bumper options. I didn’t want all the weight of the full steel bumper as I primarily don’t get into anything to crazy that would justify the extra weight and expense. I looked at some of the hitch mounted options but couldn’t get over the space that was left between the hatch and tire. (Come from a Jeep background and like having the tire tight to the body).
The idea for using the AEV Tire Carrier came about when I was putting an AEV/Mopar Rear Bumper on my wife’s 2015 JKU. I noticed that the AEV tire carrier for the 2008-2018 JK bolts directly to the frame, meaning it was designed to carry all the weight on the frame and I wouldn’t need to reinforce the rest hatch to hold any weight. I found some pictures online and also watched a few Jk Install videos. Some picture below

 

These pictures show the tire carrier on the Jeep JK and since I had one in the driveway I was able to take some measurements off of it to see if it might work on the 4Runner. My main concerns involved the height of the cross member to see if the 4Runner name plate would be in the way as the JK is just completely flat across the back.

 

Based on the measurements that I took it seemed as though the cross member would fit just under the hatch 4Runner name plate so it looked like it might just work. Also with the taillights as high up as they are on the 4Runner I figured I could push the spindle housing out and still fit it under the taillight as I didn’t want that to be blocked. Luckily I then happened to find a used one for sale on eBay and before I knew it I had the whole set up in my garage…I still wasn’t 100% it would work but I was pretty confident I could figure it out. I also found the install instructions for the tire carrier online and looked over them in detail seeing how it worked.

 

Now that I had all the pieces I went about removing the rear bumper on the 4Runner to see what I was working with. I had looked at some images I could find online but they were few and far between and mainly involved me watching rear bumper install videos and taking screen shots of the 4Runner rear frame area. Noticed my rear frame was a bit rusty so I sanded it down and painted it while I was in there. I also made note of some of the existing holes in the frame on that corner that i might be able to use to bolt a for better words spacer to

 

So after holding up the tire carrier to the rear end of the 4Runner I realized that I was going to have to push the spindle housing out away from the frame, I think it was like 5-6 inches (Ill get more detailed measurements later) so that the hatch wouldn’t hit the carrier when I went to open it as I obviously still wanted access to the rear cargo area. Based on this I started making cardboard templates of what I would need to build to support the spindle housing and tire carrier. Various cardboard models to follow….

 

Now unfortunately I don’t currently have a welder or know how to weld (hoping to change that soon) so I had to outsource the welding to a local shop. I didn’t end up cutting all the metal pieces though which was based off of the “final” cardboard model I made.

 

Here are some of the pictures that were sent to me of the “final” product being built. I still needed to drill holes and there were a couple changes that were made from the cardboard template to this version mostly based on metal availability that I had on hand. Also came across someone who was selling the AEV hilift jack and pull pal mount so I of course picked that up as well.

 

Once I got the piece back from the shop I “mounted” it to the rear passenger side frame rail, which I had to grind down a little as there are some random raised bits and I had the shop fabricate the clear open on that side at 4.25” which just fit with some persuasion from a mallet. Basically it is designed as a sleeve that goes over the existing frame and pushes the housing spindle out to where it needs to be. Metal thickness are 1/8 on top and bottom and 3/16 for the walls, basically looked at it as if the frame itself is only made out of roughly the 1/8 should be able to get it to work in this application.
There are two holes that are on the top and bottom of the rear frame member by the corner which I used as attachment points using some nuts that I bought from C4 Fabrication which have a metal tab welded to them so you can snake the nut through the frame rail to the two existing holes. I also drilled an additional hole in the spacer I had built on the top of the frame. I then drilled holes on the side to mount the housing spindle to my spacer. Two holes in the side and two on top and two on the bottom.

 

Now that my spacer was attached to the frame I attached slid the carrier into the spindle housing to see how it all lined up before I started drilling into the hatch. Some of these picture me are out of order but between juggling work, a toddler and the winter in NH it can be tough to spend the time documenting things appropriately. The first picture below the hatch piece is just held in place by the tire carrier and not drilled and secured.

 

Fitting the bumper back on was a bit tricky ended up cutting off more than I probably needed to, but since I was battling below freezing temps I didn’t want to push it and crack the bumper. Now that the tire carrier was attached to the spindle housing I moved on to the hatch.
Since the JK hatch is flat this means the AEV hatch piece is also flat and since the 4Runner hatch is not flat I needed to see what I could do to contour it to the hatch. Since this piece doesn’t really carry any weight I ended up cutting and bending this part to make it contour better to the hatch. Will probably end up welding some metal in to fill the gap once I have one. I also ended up drilling four holes and installing rivnuts (may eventually replace with a metal backing plate on the inside depending on how it goes.
Also I will be getting some 1/2” aluminum to use as a spacer as the hatch piece needs to be pushed out about 1/2-3/4” it seems so that the tire carrier doesn’t hit the 4Runner name plate on the back. Currently have a 1/4” metal spacer with some vinyl tile as an extra spacer that won’t scratch up the paint. This whole area will need to be cleaned up and redone but it works for now

 

The next thing I needed to figure out was how to get the tire carrier secured to the hatch so that it wouldn’t open when driving. Now on the JK the tire carrier is designed to open with the rear door through the use of a turnbuckle as it opens out and not up. The solution for now is to keep using the turnbuckle and replacing the 1/2” bolt and nut with a 1/2” trailer hitch pin that I can remove when I need to open the hatch. Don’t have a good picture of this attachment at the moment will have to get one tomorrow. Couple pictures of the side view to see how far the tire sits out

 

Last thing I needed to figure out at this point was were to put the license plate. Ordered a tire mounted kit for a Jeep that should work, but until that gets here it’s just held on with bungee cords. Long term solution I would like to try and use the holder from a land cruiser Prada, think I might just be able to get it to work and it would give it more of factory look

 

Final early thoughts. Tire carrier pieces from AEV are well made and are quality pieces. Haven’t noticed any movement in the carrier when I open it and it is rock solid when driving so far, though to be fair it’s only been driven on paved road so far so I wouldn’t expect it to rattle or move around to much. Overall cost at this mount is probably about 1100 - 1200 which puts me right around the cost of many of the hitch mounted options. Granted most of these parts I bought were second hand which helped bring the cost down, but even with everything new:

-AEV JK Tire Carrier - 860-950
-Metal material cost - 80ish
-Welding cost - 150
-AEV hilift/pull pal mount - 250
-Assorted bolts/nuts/paint etc - 30
-C4 Fabrication nuts x2 - 20ish

Total with extras about 1350 ish

Overall happy with the look and function so far no real complaints just glad it seemed to work out in the end haha

 

A couple more pictures because why not

 

Excellent write-up!!! Welding is one of those things that sure comes in handy

 

This is freakin great! Love these kinds of builds, with purpose built solutions like this.

I started on my own little “welding” adventure a couple of years ago and have a few little personal projects under my belt. Let me tell you, “welding” is 90 percent of what you did here.

The better name for what I meant when I said I wanted to learn to weld, is “fabricate”. I know what word means now after a couple of projects (light bulb! )! Basically, what you did here is what I find I like doing. Big satisfaction in figuring out new solutions to something! And then figure out how to stitch it all together without blowing holes through it at the final stage. Gets the adrenalin flowing, when you finally turn on the shielding gas flow, lower your hood, and line up your mig gun. A one second screw up, can mean hours of fixing or rebuilding.

The second runner up “true” name for “welding” is “clamping”. For crying out loud, the saddest thing in the world is watching me figure out how to clamp everything tight before starting a weld. All because I'm too cheap to buy a welding jig table. Granted, I dont have that much space either.

The only problem for me is that I tend to spend a touch too much time on the thinking/designing stage, which affects the git’r’done side of the equation. Still, having something well designed and thoughtfully made is satisfying years after you make it.

Anyway, back to the carrier. The look of this carrier is exactly spot on, for the same reasons you stated you didn’t like the current options available. Nice and tucked in. The positioning and spacing from the hatch is perfect, so is the height. Still allows full use of the hitch at the full factory ratings. I guess you still have to finish your “sea trials” yet, but that is part of the fun. If something about the build needs addressing, you’ll know how to address and tweak the design.

The amount of money it cost is made less relevant, when you consider the reasons you just didnt buy an off the shelf solution. Yes, 20 dollars is 20 dollars, but the point is you couldn’t buy what you built anyway.

Those on the outside only see a “a nice bracket or whatever”. It is only a fellow Stonecutter that understands it’s purpose and meaning. that which was bestowed upon it by you.

Nicely done!

This is me at my initiation:


PS: Early 5th gen Trails are my first love in the 4runner world. They still get the heart all aflutter lol.

PPS: Did you notice the irony in Toyota’s license plate solution? They didn’t like their first attempt either and didnt bother to undo the first attempt lol

 

nice!!! love to see OG 5th gens getting some love. i have a 12 TE, so I will be following along. keep up the good work!

 

Nice project!
I’ve been wondering why someone doesn’t make a center section rear bumper ala the slimline front that would be lighter and cheaper than a full bumper, could have provisions for a tire carrier and maybe an integrated hitch to save weight?

 

i was literally just wondering the same thing. Kind got me thinking if something could be made easily