Wanted: Spare tire mount for 76 Chevy 5/4

[rob love]

Originally Posted by maple_leaf_eh

I recall there was considerable discussion about mounting all 5/4's spare tires on the front bumper. Prior to the arrival of the LSVW (spit!), the 5/4 and CUCV were the utility vehicles for the Army, and I was working at FMCHQ. Some bright spark put ina suggestion award for this, and my brain cached the Maint office's response in spare memory space.

The Maint office refused the award because putting the spare on the front was going to restrict air flow even more. Their position was that the radiators were working hard enough thank you Corporal without further restrictions. The CPs were tolerated because there was no other place to put the spare where it was still accessable.

From memory, the mount was completely hidden by the tire, so you could weld up almost anything.

Terry: The CPs had it on the front alright....the front top left corner of the van box. No 5/4 ton variant officially had the spare on the grill. It wasn't just the cooling. We made the mistake of buying the truck with the puny Dana 44 front axle, which was already too small for the truck. That was why we never had winch bumpers on them, and had to install those goofy truss kits on the front axles.