couple of questions,

can anybody think of who might be able to get this thing over here to the states?

and I would think that the extra support built into the body at the hinges would still be there in the U.S. models...

can anybody shed some light on this?

 

Check with CDUFF7. He always posts about selling inclinometers from Japan.

 

If you find out anything make sure to follow up and post it here. This is one of the things at the top of my to-do list for sure. I've looked a little online for one, but no luck so far.

 

will do-

 

i wouldn't be so sure that the supports are built in, the nissan pathfinder that i had came factory with one and i know for a fact that the ones without the tire carrier didn't have the supports in them, however you could but the entire kit from nissan with the pieces that went inside the body to mount one.

a guy named Pat Murphy in Arizona had one of the first modified 3rd gen 4runners i ever saw, he used a modified nissan pathfinder swing away including the hinges on his custom rear bumper he built back probably 5 years ago. he is still around on pirate now sporting a buggy, he sold his 3rd gen probably 3 or 4 years ago. he had a really cool rear bumper using cut stock sides that had sqaure tube underneath them to as as sliders and a piece of steel running across the back with a hitch built in, he secured the pathfinder hinges to the bumper.

 

food for thought.....

 

A little while back, I had asked about this very mod on a Surf forum. From what I was told in the PM, the US Spec 4Runners do not have the structural reinforcements as the Surfs do. Also, you'd not only need to weld in some reinforcement (not tooo difficult), but you'd also need to obtain an entirely new rear hatch.

IIRC, CDUFF7 is in the military? He may be able to ship this stuff over here very inexpensively. If so, I'm down.

 

ahhhhhh the rear hatch......... forgot about that.....

 

I wonder if a latch could be modded to attach to the bumper, rather than the hatch? Let me get some pics...

 

hoju,

i asked satoshi in japan about this and he sent me some pics. i posted them in a separate thread and for the life of me, i cant find it. maybe if you search you can find it.

as others have said, satoshi said that there are internal supports inside the rear quarter panel. moreover, the rear quarter panel and the rear hatch sheet metal are shaped differently (has some indents). therefore, it would definitely be way too costly to do this mod and make it look stock.

seems to me that the best and most cost effective way to get your spare on the tailgate is to buy a modified bumper w/ a tire carrier.

bob