Empty Spare Wheel Well

I recently purchased and installed an aftermarket bumper and tire carrier for my new Method Racing and BF Goodrich K02s. This has left an empty well where the spare used to be. It seems sort of a waste of space to me. Anyone have ideas on how to fill it? I've seen some people putting water tanks there with pumps to have on demand water, but not sure if i'd use it enough to justify the cost and effort in fabricating everything. I like the idea of some basic storage to keep some extra tools and spare parts but not sure how that would look.

 

I dunno but you just made me want to fab up something to utilize that space with. Be a hell of a thing to do, but build up an appropriate sized tool box, put access in the bed itself close to the tailgate, with some good low profile hinges and rubber gaskets to seal it. . .

Why’d you have to go and put that bug in my head?

 

I filled mine with a second spare

 

I would fill it with the Archive Garage cross tube option that goes with their Hammer Hanger shackle hangers.



https://archivegarage.com/explore-archive/ols/products/tacoma-hammer-hangers

 

I just can’t feature that. $1400 plus adding a couple hundred pounds when full is just outside of my limits of functionality. More power to those that do though. Or, more distance?

 

I've run into quite a few people who wished they had an additional spare, myself included. One year when I was doing field research, I ran over a box of tar paper nails that someone dropped off a flat bed truck far from the nearest town in southeastern Colorado. I limped for over fifty miles with three leaking tires, stopping every fifteen minutes or so to furiously pump with a foot pump to keep them on their beads. I couldn't even hitch a ride as I never saw another vehicle the entire way. After that I made sure I had an electric air pump and a tire repair kit in my truck. However, I then bent a rim and was pretty antsy for a couple of days creeping along the trail with no spare until I made it to a place where I could buy a new wheel and tire.

 

I made a part to use the wheel lift and added fuel storage...

 

I carry a plug kit and have a compressor, those along with the second spare offer a bit more comfort when you get a flat and are a good distance from pavement and cell reception.

 

I like the idea of accessing from the bed, but I’m hoping to add a decked system that won’t make it work.