Copypasta from What did you do to your Ranger thread, just to keep this in order and up to date:
Here's the deal with the water tank. I have a camp shower that consists of a Zodi heater, a shower tent, and a floor mat thing and have been carrying 7 gallon water jugs in the back of the Explorer when we go camping. Works fine but I hate unloading them and spilling them. Now that I have my spare tire carrier bumper, I don't need a tire in the factory location which leaves me a ton of room to work with... I found a 12x12x24 RV water tank that fits in there real nice. I'm going to fill it through a hose mounted by the fuel filler neck, and I ordered a 12v on-demand water pump with adjustable pressure. When I want to use the shower, I will circulate water through the heater and back into the tank until it's up to temp, then unhook the heater and run water straight from the tank through the pump to the shower head.
A familiar sight
Don't need none of that business. Up until now, literally EVERY piece I've added to this truck has been 100% bolt on parts... and there are a LOT of them. Felt weird sawzalling the spare tire mount out.
I made a cardboard template to make sure it fits, and it does...fits very well. Filler hose should fit between the frame and body easily and I think I will mount the water tank to the body itself rather than the frame... that way when the frame and body flex, I don't run into issues of the tank hitting the body. If it's mounted to the body like I am envisioning, it will basically just float in that spot.
Tons of clearance. I could drop it a couple inches and still not hang as low as my old spare tire did.
I also have a lot of room for the pump and filler/vent/supply hoses on the side.