CARRY a 37" SPARE TIRE on a JL WRANGLER TAILGATE with LoD RISER BRACKETS

DEFCON1

DEFCON1

New member
Darn salespeople.

Glad to see someone with a tire greater than 35 on the back. Went and test drove the new JL wrangler and the salesperson swore up and down that the stock equipment on the back of the Rubi could support a 40' tire. :crazyeyes:
 

wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
POST MOAB UPDATE
As some of you may know, Cindy and I just spent the better part of the last 2 weeks, driving our brand new Jeep JL Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited out to Moab, wheeling it hard out there and then driving it home again. Along the way, we racked up almost 2,000 miles on the odometer and chalked up almost a dozen trails as well including, Metal Masher, Behind the Rocks, Gold Bar Rim, Golden Spike and Poison Spider Mesa. Now, I'm making a point to note all this because during this time, we were carrying a very heavy 37x13.50R17 Cooper STT Pro mounted on a KMC XD231 beadlock wheel and on our un-reinforced factory tailgate. To make it work, we did use an LoD spacer/riser bracket and we made sure to extend the rubber isolators to help mitigate jiggling and we were running a hitch mounted stinger to help prevent the spare catching on ledges but that's about all we did. Of course, the burning question that everyone wants to know is... how did the tailgate hold up?

JUST FINE!!

In spite of all the un-verified rhetoric being regurgitated on the internet, the factory tailgate is in fact quite strong or at least, strong enough to safely hold the weight of a 125 lb. spare. It is CRITICAL that you extend the rubber isolators to mitigate jiggling and take steps to protect your spare from catching on ledges but really, that's about all you need to do to make it work. I should note that I am by no means suggesting that this is a "better" solution than a swing out bumper tire carrier or even one that's as good. I'm am simply trying to show that it can be done and without problems if you do it right.

Here's a of shots of us out in Moab and going through the Golden Crack with our very heavy 37" spare tire mounted on the factory tailgate. As you can see, this is we are running a hitch mounted stinger to help protect the spare.
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Here are after shots that I just took this morning to show how our tailgate is 100% intact. NO buckling, no bending, no breaking or otherwise as everyone insisted would happen if we ran this setup.
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Seeing is believing. :cool:
 

BillArnett

BillArnett

New member
I'm curious about that stinger. Your shot of Golden Crack shows the stinger contacting the rock but had it not been there it looks like the tire would still have been OK. Did you encounter any obstacles where the stinger's restricted departure angle was a problem?

I'm assuming that the potential damage is not to the tire itself but rather to the carrier/tailgate, right?

I've never had this problem with my AEV carrier on my JK 2-door. Does the spare sit closer to the ground on the JL?
 

wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
BillArnett said:
I'm curious about that stinger. Your shot of Golden Crack shows the stinger contacting the rock but had it not been there it looks like the tire would still have been OK. Did you encounter any obstacles where the stinger's restricted departure angle was a problem?
Click to expand...

Oh yeah. Had a problem on Metal Masher where I literally got my rear tires hanging in the air because of it. The stinger is nice but it's far from being a perfect or even good solution. The better thing to do is to get the spare off the tailgate and onto a bumper tire carrier.

I'm assuming that the potential damage is not to the tire itself but rather to the carrier/tailgate, right?
Click to expand...

Correct.

I've never had this problem with my AEV carrier on my JK 2-door. Does the spare sit closer to the ground on the JL?
Click to expand...

That's because the AEV tire carrier is mounted to the frame where it should be. It's only attached to the tailgate.
 

RMC2

RMC2

Member
Looks like the tailgate held up well. That is the second stinger I have seen, but the other one had a “slightly” smaller profile.

Separate question: what was your highway gas mileage like for the trip out and back? It may be a Jeep, but gas isn’t cheap. But I am. Well after my $52k new Jeep. ;). Curious how it did with 37s
 

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Onlyone

Onlyone

Member
Awesome pictures Eddie and thank you for the update! :thumb: I am of the same thought, that with the correct setup the tailgate will be just fine. I ended up taking my Relocation bracket off and just running it on the factory mount. It’s definitely a lot better since it’s sort of being supported with the bumper now, too.

It’s obviously not possible with something like your tires but a little smaller 37 12.50 like mine work great. I even adjusted the brake light back down to the original setting. This new gate is so much tighter and solid feeling than my JK was.
 

BillArnett

BillArnett

New member
wayoflife said:
Oh yeah. Had a problem on Metal Masher where I literally got my rear tires hanging in the air because of it. The stinger is nice but it's far from being a perfect or even good solution. The better thing to do is to get the spare off the tailgate and onto a bumper tire carrier.



Correct.



That's because the AEV tire carrier is mounted to the frame where it should be. It's only attached to the tailgate.
Click to expand...

It seems to me that a frame/bumper mounted carrier either carries the tire up higher (and hence reduces rear visibility) or it’s going to be even worse for departure angle since the tire is farther aft. And I don’t quite see how it helps, either. If you come down off a ledge and bonk the tire even with a strong frame mounted carrier something’s going to have to bend. The real solution is to make sure the thing that hits first is strong enough to take the whole weight of the Jeep, like your stinger but higher up or closer in. ... Looking at a photo of RubiCat it looks like its spare sits a couple of inches higher than mine. Have you ever hit a rock with RubiCat’s carrier?

Do you think it would be a good idea to let all or most of the air out of the spare so that if it did hit a rock the it would deform and hence impart less stress to the carrier? (Assuming, of course, that you have on-board air.)
 

Cozdude

Cozdude

Guy with a Red 2-Door
BillArnett said:
It seems to me that a frame/bumper mounted carrier either carries the tire up higher (and hence reduces rear visibility) or it’s going to be even worse for departure angle since the tire is farther aft. And I don’t quite see how it helps, either. If you come down off a ledge and bonk the tire even with a strong frame mounted carrier something’s going to have to bend. The real solution is to make sure the thing that hits first is strong enough to take the whole weight of the Jeep, like your stinger but higher up or closer in. ... Looking at a photo of RubiCat it looks like its spare sits a couple of inches higher than mine. Have you ever hit a rock with RubiCat’s carrier?

Do you think it would be a good idea to let all or most of the air out of the spare so that if it did hit a rock the it would deform and hence impart less stress to the carrier? (Assuming, of course, that you have on-board air.)
Click to expand...

Dude, if it’s mounted to the FRAME don’t you think it’s gonna be stronger than sitting on the tailgate? The frame is taking all the weight of the tire so even if you hit it then the frame absorbs the impact. Even rubicat with the body mounted carrier is stronger than the tailgate. The carrier is tied into the rock skins which distributes the weight across the body. It’s like laying on thin ice compared to standing on it. Laying distributes your weight when standing puts it on one spot.
 

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