Another Option for Spare Tire Bump Stop

[TrueTexas]

I have been working on mounting my spare tire on the stock carrier.

My wheel / tire combo is. 16x8 4.5" BS wheel with a 265/75r16 (metric 32"). Upon mounting the wheel to the stock carrier, the bottom bumper and 2 lower tailgate bumpers touch (albeit slightly) the tire but the upper 2 had about a .25" gap. All of the bumpers except the bottom one have compressed to 1.5" over the years. Although I have decided to bite to bullet and buy new 1.62" inch bumpers for the bottom and 2 lower tailgate bumpers and 1.85" bumpers for the top 2 bumpers, there is another option that I found if you need much longer bumpers than I did.

As it turns out, import exhaust hangers are almost exactly the same shape and size as the stock bumper footprint and can be purchased from Amazon for as little as $11 for 4.

Check out the following links
Cheap option - close but not exact size
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B081JLHZ3D/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Slightly more expensive.and much closer in size
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GJ4BPLG/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Just throwing this out there as it seems there aren't any really good or value options out there. I paid just over $50 for the 5 Crown bumpers shipped.

 

[BuildBreakRepeat]

I have been working on mounting my spare tire on the stock carrier.

My wheel / tire combo is. 16x8 4.5" BS wheel with a 265/75r16 (metric 32"). Upon mounting the wheel to the stock carrier, the bottom bumper and 2 lower tailgate bumpers touch (albeit slightly) the tire but the upper 2 had about a .25" gap. All of the bumpers except the bottom one have compressed to 1.5" over the years. Although I have decided to bite to bullet and buy new 1.62" inch bumpers for the bottom and 2 lower tailgate bumpers and 1.85" bumpers for the top 2 bumpers, there is another option that I found if you need much longer bumpers than I did.

As it turns out, import exhaust hangers are almost exactly the same shape and size as the stock bumper footprint and can be purchased from Amazon for as little as $11 for 4.

Check out the following links
Cheap option - close but not exact size
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B081JLHZ3D/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Slightly more expensive.and much closer in size
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GJ4BPLG/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Just throwing this out there as it seems there aren't any really good or value options out there. I paid just over $50 for the 5 Crown bumpers shipped.

Slightly softer too which could be a good thing.

 

[Blanquito]

I had the opposite problem. I couldn't mount my 31x10.5 spare. The bumpers were holding the tire too far away from the mount. So, I removed all of the bumpers, mounted the spare, and measured the space between the sidewall and the tailgate. Then cut/saw off the correct amount (front or back) from the bumper to make it just touch the sidewall with a little pressure when reinstalled. Basically had to "shorten" the bumpers a bit.

 

[AndyG]

Sir, I don't see any downside to that idea, have seen those in parts stores, and like the above post , softer may help it move without losing contact.

Good post, I'm putting you down for an extra 100 points at review time.

 

[U8MYDZT]

I have heard of people using hockey pucks to extend the bumpers. I had an aftermarket carrier on my and had to make a 12" spacer to fix my tire bumps.

 

[TrueTexas]

Ultimately, your specific wheel and tire combo is going to dictate exactly what you need to do to mount the spare to make proper contact with the bumpers (touching but not too tight).

Your wheel diameter, wheel width, wheel backspacing and tire size will all play a role in the size of the bumpstops you will need. So there will be a bunch of different specific solutions required.

Why wheel diameter you ask? Because the bulge of the tire will move outwards the larger the wheel diameter, changing the distance from where the bumpstop mounts for the tailgate to the sidewalk of the tire.

Best way to figure it out is to mount the spare with bumpstops if not touching and without the bumpstops if touching... Then measure it.

Hockey pucks may work in some cases but will need to be drilled and sanded to correct oval shape (and possibly height if you need less than 25 mm). You may not need to sand all of them but the tub mount on the bottom and the upper mount near the tailgate hinge will need some attention.

For TJ #1 with 16x8 4.5" bs wheels and 265/75r16 tires - 2 of the longer crown extensions and 2 stock size crown extensions was perfect.

For TJ #2 with stock canyons and 31x10.5r15 tires will need much shorter bumpers than stock. Have an idea how to solve this. Will comment on what I do if it works

 

[jjvw]

I'll give the hanger bushing a try. Mine arrives next week.

 

[TrueTexas]

I'll give the hanger bushing a try. Mine arrives next week.

I'm looking forward to see how well it works since I just ended up buying new bumpers since I only needed to extend them a very small amount.