my spare tire carrier idea

Time to make a spare tire mount! I didn't want to get into making a swing away carrier, because it would probably just rattle alot, and I don't use my tail gate all that often, so I don't need to move the spare tire hardly ever.

I wanted it as close to the body as possible (not sticking way out) and did NOT want to put all of the weight on the tail gate. So this is my design. Inspired by how my spare tire is mounted on the TJ, which has an OR-FAB tire carrier that uses a single large T bolt, and sandwiches the tire against the bolt/washer and the tire carrier. In the case of the willys however, I will be sandwiching the tire against the tail gate itself, and the tire will be resting it's weight on a metal block that is either bolted or welded to the factory bumper/crossmember. That will take most of the load off the tail gate.

I'm debating if I want to do it off centered, so that I could mount a gas can to the crossmember & tail gate in a similar manor, where the weight is resting on the crossmember and not the tail gate. I'll think a bit before I commit to mounting the tire centered, or off to one side. Off to the side might actually work best, since there isn't a flat area of metal right in the center of the tail gate.

Since the center hole of the wheel is much larger than the T bolt, I could rest the weight of the tire fully on the bumper/crossmember, and then just insert the T-bolt through the wheel to nut that's welded to the plate on the inside of the tail gate, and snug the T-bolt down. The sidewall of the tire would be pressed against the tail gate. The tire will compress just a bit as it touches the tail gate, keeping it from rotating. (works great on my TJ!)

 

Not trying to rude, just curious.

Roll cage mount isn't for you?

Seems like a lot of hackin on your jeep.

Maybe I don't see it?

 

I tried playing around with some roll cage mounts, and I found nothing that I would like to have there every day, it blocked alot of my view looking back. That, and took up valuable space inside the tub.

I may play with some ideas that involve strapping the tire to the tail gate instead of bolting it there, that would save drilling holes (bulk of the weight still supported by the rear cross member/bumper). That would probably just be a bit more tricky to mount with one person, but probably doable. Haven't committed yet, but I know I need a way to get the spare out of the tub, haha! Any ideas are welcome!

 

Ahh, I see, just curious.


Before I trashed my spare, I liked having it on the driver side wheel well, but it didn't really fit, my roll bar takes up nearly the whole width of the well.

Next roll bar it's going back up there, probably will bolt it on with a u bolt.

 

ah, a U bolt, how simple! I was wondering what would be the simplest way to mount it to a roll cage bar, I didn't even think of a U bolt. Nice

 

Yup, I used a ratchet strap last time, I figure there has to be a U bolt out there that will fit!

 

So I had some time to play around today, I put a wood block on the bumper and set the tire on top, and strapped the tire to the tailgate (strap going all the way around the tail gate, horizontally), and I think this will totally work, and I can do it two ways. One which involves no drilling and nothing permanently attached to the jeep, and the other is my idea above, drilling through the tail gate.


Both will require a metal bracket that raises the tire about 6 inches off the bottom of the bumper, so I'll go ahead and start making that as soon as I have more free time. But I tried strapping the tire to the tail gate, and man it's really on there pretty solidly, even with just one strap going horiziontal. I would probably also use a second strap going vertical to help out on big bumps where the tire would want to fly upwards. I think it would totally work even just with straps. The side wall being pressed against the tail gate really grips pretty darn good, and I didn't even ratchet it down super tight.


Here's a quick photoshop illustration. Red is the current bumper, Green would be the profile of the bracket, and blue is the profile of the tire. The width of the bracket will probably only need to be about 6 inches wide, there's already holes in the bumper that I can bolt to.


I won't be doing crazy rock trails with this, but I think this will still leave me a pretty good departure angle. And even with just the straps, I don't think that tire is going anywhere, I gave it a real good shove back and forth, the tail gate didn't even rattle (I've got thin rubber bumpers inbetween the tail gate & tub)

 

I myself wouldn't give up the use of tailgate , go with a good tire rack

 

The loss of every-day use of the tail gate doesn't concern me to much. I've only dropped the tail gate a hand full of times, only when i needed to haul something that was longer than the tub. In which case, I'll just leave the spare tire at home when I need to haul something.

Started bending up some 1/4" plate. The top lip that sticks out is several inches to long, but I'm going to leave it long until I actually mount the tire on it, then I'll mark it and trim it where it needs to be, and round off the corners real nice, and weld in a gusset that goes up the middle. I'm quite sure that 1/4" plate will be plenty strong enough even without the gusset, but might as well get more metal working practice, and make a gusset that goes from the bottom to the top. Then two bolt holes on the bottom to bolt it to the bumper.

 

Not to get off topic but, are your seats as far rearward as they appear to be in the photo?

 

Yes, they have been moved back quite a bit, fender wells cut. If I were to flex the rear axle a good bit the tires would rub where the fenders were welded back up, but I will be putting taller springs on soon, so I hope it's not an issue after that. If it is, then I guess I'll just have to make a taller bump stop. haha! I won't be doing a whole lot of offloading in this jeep, so I'm not to worried about it.

I do need to bend the shift levers (transmission and overdrive) back a little bit, so I don't have to lean forward slightly to get into reverse, 2nd, and overdrive. The extra leg room and the comfortable suspension seats are amazing though, it's so much more enjoyable to drive around town now! (it's my daily driver). Still pondering what I want to do for the fuel tank. For now I just have the factory tank strapped to the tub. I will probably have a custom fuel cell made to fit the angle of the seat backs and fits under the harness bar, so that it takes up minimal room.

 

also curious was to what tire and size you have there..

 

31x9.5x15 Super Swamper Radials. Wheels are 15x6 with 3.75" backspacing (if I remember correctly). Suspension right now is factory spec, so far as I know.

 

You won't lose much departure angle. By the time the draw bar was an issue for me on the trail, I had other things to worry about, like impending severe body and drive line damage. (Definitely not doing that one again.)

 

Yea, I think with the way I'm going to have it setup, I will have plenty of departure angle for the trails I'll be running. My TJ is the rock crawler, the willys is my daily driver and hopefully light-scenic-trail & camping rig

Hopfully I have some more time to work on this this weekend.

 

Ok, here it is! I haven't sprayed it yet, I'll drive around with it for a week or so to make sure that just bolting it down with 2 bolts on the bottom is sufficient, if it is, then I'll spray it black. And I'll probably bolt the tail gate shut instead of using the hooks on the chains.

And I'll add a ratchet strap that is vertical as well.

 

Just make sure you use big enough washers, and keep the flex in mind. The PO on my Jeep bolted it, but the bolts and washers were too small and too tight and the flex warped the washers and pulled them through.

Also, those wheels are nice! Where'd you get those?

 

That's a good idea, thanks! I did use thick washers, but I agree they could probably be larger around.

Maybe instead of washers, I could use a strip of 1/4" plate say, 2" wide or so, with two holes drilled in it just large enough for the bolts. That would be pretty darn secure.

I got the wheels from summit racing: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/wvi-41-5655334/overview/ Oh and I need to paint that spare wheel, haha