Am I going to have a spare tire problem?

Michigan TJ

Michigan TJ

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Feb 8, 2021
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Bought my 2003 TJ a while ago and didn’t like the wheels or tires. Bought new ones and put them on. Went with 15x8 wheels with 3.75 backspace and 31x10.5 tires. Never thought about the spare. Yesterday, decided I better take a look at my spare. My spare is stock, I think. Size is 225/75/15 with 5.25 wheel backspace. Will a new spare with the new wheel and tire size mount up ok to the stock spare holder?
 
Should be fine. Make sure the tire rests firmly on the rubber bumpers when you torque it down. 3.75 might stick out too far. You may want to extend out the rubber bumpers. If you only intend to use it as a spare, you might possibly buy a wheel with more backspacing like 4.5” if you can find it.

(stock 15x7 jeep wheels have 5.5 backspacing)
 
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Vtx531 said:
Should be fine. Make sure the tire rests firmly on the rubber bumpers when you torque it down. 3.75 might stick out too far. You may want to extend out the rubber bumpers. If you only intend to use it as a spare, you might possibly buy a wheel with more backspacing like 4.5” if you can find it.

(stock 15x7 jeep wheels have 5.5 backspacing)
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Is there a spacer that goes behind the rubber bumpers? How are the bumpers attached?
 
If your new spare wheel is the same 5 x 4 1/2" bolt pattern, the spare will bolt right up to the spare tire bracket. However, with a 3.75" backspace, the spare tire won't make contact the rubber snubbers. I recently changed my factory spare wheel to a wheel with 3.62" backspacing, and had just over an inch gap between the rubber snubbers and the spare tire. To fix this, I am going to cut the handles off a couple Harbor Freight 1lb rubber mallets, drill a hole through the centers, trim the mallet heads to the width i need, and use longer bolts to attach them behind the factory snubbers.

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22D49FA1-EF99-4B2C-BEB8-0AACC4E23575_1_105_c.jpeg
 
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BlueRidge304 said:
If your new spare wheel is the same 5 x 4 1/2" bolt pattern, the spare will bolt right up to the spare tire bracket. However, with a 3.75" backspace, the spare tire won't make contact the rubber snubbers. I recently changed my factory spare wheel to a wheel with 3.62" backspacing, and had just over an inch gap between the rubber snubbers and the spare tire. To fix this, I am going to cut the handles off a couple Harbor Freight 1lb rubber mallets, drill a hole through the centers, trim the mallet heads to the width i need, and use longer bolts to attach them behind the factory snubbers.

View attachment 238132View attachment 238134
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The spare wheel will be the same as the new wheels I bought. I like your idea to extend the bumpers. Cheap and simple. Thanks
 
How tight should the tire fit on the bumpers? Let’s say the gap is 1”, should the filler pieces be 11/8”?
 
Michigan TJ said:
Bought my 2003 TJ a while ago and didn’t like the wheels or tires. Bought new ones and put them on. Went with 15x8 wheels with 3.75 backspace and 31x10.5 tires. Never thought about the spare. Yesterday, decided I better take a look at my spare. My spare is stock, I think. Size is 225/75/15 with 5.25 wheel backspace. Will a new spare with the new wheel and tire size mount up ok to the stock spare holder?
Click to expand...
Option:

Have you had a flat since you got the Jeep? Many cars don't even have spares today. Just do a spare delete and move on. Get a plug kit and valve stem remover tool and you should be able to fix 99% of problems you might have, which are rare.

8E4C48FC-81F8-4102-9E72-E6DF8837FD52.jpeg


4B50A1BF-2F5F-48E5-9F0A-2D372291C6E5.jpeg
 
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JMT said:
Option:

Have you had a flat since you got the Jeep? Many cars don't even have spares today. Just do a spare delete and move on. Get a plug kit and valve stem remover tool and you should be able to fix 99% of problems you might have, which are rare.

View attachment 238138

View attachment 238139
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That looks so freakin' clean like that.
 
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BlueRidge304 said:
If your new spare wheel is the same 5 x 4 1/2" bolt pattern, the spare will bolt right up to the spare tire bracket. However, with a 3.75" backspace, the spare tire won't make contact the rubber snubbers. I recently changed my factory spare wheel to a wheel with 3.62" backspacing, and had just over an inch gap between the rubber snubbers and the spare tire. To fix this, I am going to cut the handles off a couple Harbor Freight 1lb rubber mallets, drill a hole through the centers, trim the mallet heads to the width i need, and use longer bolts to attach them behind the factory snubbers.

View attachment 238132View attachment 238134
Click to expand...
Your Harbor Freight rubber mallet head solution is exactly what I did about 2 years ago. Works great with a 33×12.5×15 BFG tire.

20210327_204734.jpg
 
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If a tire goes flat, just jack up the jeep. unbolt the tire and put the flat spot on top. Or you can move another tire on the jeep to that location that isn’t flat.

Relax, we got ya covered.
 
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Excuse my ignorance I am but a mere Stock TJ owner :) why would you have less backspacing, is it so wider tires stick out further to stop them rubbing on the inside?
 
Fishtaco said:
Excuse my ignorance I am but a mere Stock TJ owner :) why would you have less backspacing, is it so wider tires stick out further to stop them rubbing on the inside?
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My TJ is stock also. Yes, I like the look of the tires out further. My reason for the backspacing.
 
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