How to safely carry a larger spare tire on a Jeep Wrangler TJ tailgate

Chris

Chris

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I originally found this article on 4x4xplor.com. I take no credit for this article whatsoever, I'm simply reposting it here so that it might help other TJ owners out.

Okay, so you just got a set of bigger tires and new wheels with less backspacing to match. You go to mount your spare tire back on the tailgate carrier and what do you see? The tire no longer touches any of the rubber isolators. Well that no big deal right? Wrong! It may not be such a big deal if your Jeep is a pavement princess but if you just threw on a set of bigger meats, I'm gonna guess you take your rig out on the trails. Without your new and bigger spare making contact with the rubber isolators on the tailgate, the entire thing will jiggle hard with every bump you encounter. Eventually, this will cause metal fatigue in the tire carrier and it will break.... believe me, I have seen it happen.

My solution? Re-establish contact between the spare tire and rubber isolators by extending them.

Does it work? It has worked for many of us, myself included. Your stock tailgate should typically be able to handle up to a 33" A/T tire (M/Ts are heavier) before you need an aftermarket bumper with built in tire carrier, or an Exogate (the latter being my preferred choice).

What You Will Need

Installation
  1. Before you can do anything, you will need to track down a used set of tailgate spare tire carrier rubber isolators. I suppose you could buy them new from the dealer but I would be willing to bet they ain't cheap. I bought mine off Amazon here.

    spare-bumpstops01.jpg


  2. You will need to find replacement screws measuring about 1.5" long. I'm pretty sure that they are 6mm fine thread screws but take a factory one with you to the hardware store just to make sure. I was able to find a phillips head one at Lowe's Hardware in the specialty hardware drawer section.

    spare-bumpstops04.jpg


  3. Once you got all your pieces together, clamp down a rubber isolator in a bench vice and cut it in half along the seam using a hacksaw as shown in the pic to the left. To get a clean cut, I found that it helps to make a light cut all the way around the entire isolator first and then hacking straight through it. Repeat process on all the rest.

    spare-bumpstops02.jpg


    spare-bumpstops03.jpg


  4. Remove your spare tire from the carrier and then remove the OEM rubber isolators on your tailgate.

  5. Remove and replace the screw with a new and longer one and then, stack your OEM isolator on top of one of the ones you just cut down.

    spare-bumpstops06.jpg


  6. Screw the whole thing together onto your tailgate and repeat process.

    spare-bumpstops05.jpg


  7. Re-attach your spare tire onto your carrier. You should now have a tight fit again and much less jiggling.

    spare-bumpstops07.jpg
That's it! Simple but effective!
 
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Chris,

I used your idea, but with a twist. I was too cheap to buy new rubber isolators, so I looked around the house for something I had on hand. I ended up using hockey pucks. Hockey pucks are the thickness I needed, and the puck diameter is the same as the length of the isolators. I matched the oblong shape on my belt sander. Wear a mask or respirator while sanding because there was a lot of dust created.
 
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LukesfirstJeep said:
Chris,

I used your idea, but with a twist. I was too cheap to buy new rubber isolators, so I looked around the house for something I had on hand. I ended up using hockey pucks. Hockey pucks are the thickness I needed, and the puck diameter is the same as the length of the isolators. I matched the oblong shape on my belt sander. Wear a mask or respirator while sanding because there was a lot of dust created.
Click to expand...

Yep, that would work just as well as this, no doubt about it!

I second wearing a mask too, don't forget to do that!
 
Chris said:
Yep, that would work just as well as this, no doubt about it!

I second wearing a mask too, don't forget to do that!
Click to expand...
I just bought mine on Amazon too. I found them here too https://www.factorychryslerparts.com but, they were exactly the same price. I have Amazon Prime so the free shipping was the deal breaker. My space on mine between the old bumper and tire looks like I could fit an entire new bumper in that space. I'll measure when they get here.
 
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Been rocking 33s for a couple years and a 35 for about 6 months this way and everything is still tight. Helps that the 35 slightly rests on the bumper as well. If it starts to get loose I'll go with an exxogate.
 
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I needed to space mine out only a quarter inch. Found a piece of 1/4" plastic and used a 2" hole saw to make spacers, worked great!
 
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How precise do the measurements need to be? Mine don't look like they need an entire insulator - the rounded portion to fit snugly, but I'd think it's better to have them too tall (i.e. contacting the spare tire before the wheel is flush against the carrier) as opposed to not tall enough to contact it.
 
I used rubber mallet heads.
Also with the bigger heavier tire watch the factory mount mine cracked. The tailgate is fine but the actual mount cracked. I put an exxogate just to be safe and having a friend fab me up a 1/4" steel mount to keep it from cracking again.
 
JackDirt said:
How precise do the measurements need to be? Mine don't look like they need an entire insulator - the rounded portion to fit snugly, but I'd think it's better to have them too tall (i.e. contacting the spare tire before the wheel is flush against the carrier) as opposed to not tall enough to contact it.
Click to expand...

I ended up cutting just below the joint between the base and the curved part. Worked like a charm.

Thanks for the OP!
 
So I would just like to throw out something. I’m not sure if the 03-06 vented tailgates have the spare tire mount higher, but on my 02 I had to add a body lift in order to get my 33” to clear the stock bumper. So maybe 97-02 need some extra clearance?

The extended snubbers work great. So great in fact, that I didn’t need to tighten down very hard on the lug nuts at all. Tire is firm and solid 🙂
9FD26D1D-DEFA-4F67-902C-918CD51F13AF.jpeg

92C6D1D0-B8AB-474A-9A25-6A04C4FE73F9.jpeg
 
Chris said:
I originally found this article on 4x4xplor.com. I take no credit for this article whatsoever, I'm simply reposting it here so that it might help other TJ owners out.

Okay, so you just got a set of bigger tires and new wheels with less backspacing to match. You go to mount your spare tire back on the tailgate carrier and what do you see? The tire no longer touches any of the rubber isolators. Well that no big deal right? Wrong! It may not be such a big deal if your Jeep is a pavement princess but if you just threw on a set of bigger meats, I'm gonna guess you take your rig out on the trails. Without your new and bigger spare making contact with the rubber isolators on the tailgate, the entire thing will jiggle hard with every bump you encounter. Eventually, this will cause metal fatigue in the tire carrier and it will break.... believe me, I have seen it happen.

My solution? Re-establish contact between the spare tire and rubber isolators by extending them.

Does it work? It has worked for many of us, myself included. Your stock tailgate should typically be able to handle up to a 33" A/T tire (M/Ts are heavier) before you need an aftermarket bumper with built in tire carrier, or an Exogate (the latter being my preferred choice).

What You Will Need

Installation
  1. Before you can do anything, you will need to track down a used set of tailgate spare tire carrier rubber isolators. I suppose you could buy them new from the dealer but I would be willing to bet they ain't cheap. I bought mine off Amazon here.

    View attachment 38361

  2. You will need to find replacement screws measuring about 1.5" long. I'm pretty sure that they are 6mm fine thread screws but take a factory one with you to the hardware store just to make sure. I was able to find a phillips head one at Lowe's Hardware in the specialty hardware drawer section.

    View attachment 38364

  3. Once you got all your pieces together, clamp down a rubber isolator in a bench vice and cut it in half along the seam using a hacksaw as shown in the pic to the left. To get a clean cut, I found that it helps to make a light cut all the way around the entire isolator first and then hacking straight through it. Repeat process on all the rest.

    View attachment 38362

    View attachment 38363

  4. Remove your spare tire from the carrier and then remove the OEM rubber isolators on your tailgate.

  5. Remove and replace the screw with a new and longer one and then, stack your OEM isolator on top of one of the ones you just cut down.

    View attachment 38366

  6. Screw the whole thing together onto your tailgate and repeat process.

    View attachment 38365

  7. Re-attach your spare tire onto your carrier. You should now have a tight fit again and much less jiggling.

    View attachment 38367
That's it! Simple but effective!
Click to expand...
Chris reinstalled spare tire and the rubber pcs. Don’t even come close to the tire . Notice in pic. There is a spacer off the factory mount . Why would that be ?
 
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