Best TJ tire carrier?

TerryMason

Administrator
Staff member
I think my 33 inch spare is putting too much stress on my tailgate, so I'm thinking about upgrading to a tire carrier. Any tips, things to look for, or to avoid?

One thing to note though - my Jeep barely fits in my garage now, and if my spare were to stick out another 6 inches I don't think I'll make it. How far does the average tire carrier push out the spare?
 

Ground Pounder makes one of the best ones I've seen. It might stick out a little to far for your liking though. But the strength of the spindle he uses is outstanding and the De-Sta-Co latch make for a completely rattleless swing out. I've had mine for 2 years and its seen its fair share of Minnesota winters and the salt that follows, still no noise. Great bumper!
 
Either way you look at it Terry, it's gonna stick out farther than the stock mount did. I'm estimating around 2-3 inches at least farther towards the back.
 
I can do 2-3 inches, but 6-7 may be a bit much.

Paul, can you post some photos of your carrier? I've emailed Eddie from Ground Pounder, and am waiting for a reply. He's local, and is the guy who made my front bumper.

Every bumper I've seen seems to move the tire up alot - is this the case for most of them? I'd hate to loose the view out of my rear view mirror.
 

Since 'Betty' had no tailgate and learning from my old Steppenwolf CJ that had no tailgate either, what I did was construct a locker box for the back that bolted into the rear seat mounts (pretty usless on a CJ anyway) and then bolted through the sheet metal to the stock spare tire mount. This relieved the stress on the rear sheet metal panel of my Jeep and made for a great Bass Box (after adding a pair of 6x9 speakers as well as room for my LaGrande chains and tools.
I dig the engineering would be more difficult on a Jeep with a tailgate but one more gifted than I will likely come up with an idea.
 
LoD Off-Road. Bumper/tire carrier combo. Once you have room in the garage you can get the rack too. I like mine because when I'm not wheeling, I just take the tire and carrier piece off. My theory is that it's better for fuel mileage, but I haven't tested it yet.
 
Since 'Betty' had no tailgate and learning from my old Steppenwolf CJ that had no tailgate either, what I did was construct a locker box for the back that bolted into the rear seat mounts (pretty usless on a CJ anyway) and then bolted through the sheet metal to the stock spare tire mount.

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This relieved the stress on the rear sheet metal panel of my Jeep and made for a great Bass Box (after adding a pair of 6x9 speakers as well as room for my LaGrande chains and tools.
I dig the engineering would be more difficult on a Jeep with a tailgate but one more gifted than I will likely come up with an idea.
Updated with photos
 
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