Reproducing the OR-Fab Tire Carrier (anyone got a OR-Fab carrier?)

Doesn't look like the instructions are available online that I can see (not even at the link provided to the product above).

It's been a couple years since I installed mine. If I remember correctly, you basically have to loosen the bolts on the hinge-side of the carrier, lift the arm up, tighten the bolts back down, and check the contact between the arm and the latch. Repeat until you get the arm and latch to meet while under whatever load you're planning to carry.

Adjusting the arm without the tire or jerry cans does you no good, because the arm will sag the second you put any kind of weight on it and immediately throw off your work.

I have a 33x12.50 Duratrac spare tire and two jerry cans on my carrier. I was able to adjust it so that the arm meets the latch pretty much spot-on.
I’ll try it in the morning. What sucks is the can carrier uses the old style cans with a lip on the bottom. All I can find are rusted ones or Chinese. I am considering welding a plate on the bottom so I can use the new NATO style cans..
 
I’ll try it in the morning. What sucks is the can carrier uses the old style cans with a lip on the bottom. All I can find are rusted ones or Chinese. I am considering welding a plate on the bottom so I can use the new NATO style cans..
Buy a Jerry can holder to place the plastic container in. The holder has a bottom lip that fits the OR-Fab holders. That's how mine held my 5 gallon plastic NATO water container.

Like this...

RT26088_540x540.jpg
 
Well what a nightmare. In the first pic, you can see my tire carrier (TC) Is way off.
7D713658-156A-4E2B-ACFB-7960FBD10DBB.jpeg


Thinking there was a way to adjust it at the hinges, and a big nope..
ADEDD65E-D651-4E95-B163-F81455090BB0.jpeg


It has to be correctly installed from the start. So I remove the striker plate and what do I find?? Rookie installer crap. This is the very reason I bought a car lift and do all my own work..
F464D54D-2602-4B16-B611-05EF88964A84.jpeg


Keep drilling rookie, you will find it...so I dropped the striker plate and it’s fine now. This is a beefy carrier. I think it’s painted too as it’s flaking off in a few spots. That makes for an easy re-spray. I can see why this carrier is popular.....
 
The way I made sure my OR-Fab gate swung right into the driver's side latch was to compensate for the tire's weight by angling the passenger-side mount a tad so the driver's side of the swing-out gate was positioned just above its latch. That way the weight of the tire brought it down so it was then level. Nearly ten years later it still swings directly into the center of the driver's side latch.
 
It has to be correctly installed from the start. So I remove the striker plate and what do I find?? Rookie installer crap.

Holy crap! That's ridiculous. That's impatience and laziness on the part of the PO. I'll be the first to admit that this install was one of the most difficult installs I've done by myself on my TJ, but cutting corners with this beast is not the way to go.

Were you able to cover up the unused holes with some sealant or something?
 
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Holy crap! That's ridiculous. That's impatience and laziness on the part of the PO. I'll be the first to admit that this install was one of the most difficult installs I've done by myself on my TJ, but cutting corners with this beast is not the way to go.

Were you able to cover up the unused holes with some sealant or something?
Yes, I sealed the holes and the lowered striker plate covers all of the miss drilled holes. I’m pretty good at this stuff and this install would take me about 4 hours for a perfect install. Measure 20 times and drill once.......
 
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Well whaddya know! I finally found the installation instructions!

It sounds like you've already got a handle on your kit, but I hope the link and info are of use to you in case you decide to delve a little deeper.

Now that I'm seeing the much clearer, color instructions online, I do remember bringing my laptop out to the garage. They're a lot better than the crappy photocopied black-and-white instructions that were originally shipped with the kit.

The step to which I was referring in a previous post is under the section marked "finish the installation":

In the step below it may be necessary, depending on your wheel and tire combination, to slightly align the tire carrier so that it hits above the striker plate cup. This is to allow for tire weight and tire carrier flex.

Align the kit tire carrier with the striker plate. Check to see if kit tire carrier closes and alignment is correct. If the alignment is not correct, loosen and adjust the kit hinge plate. Once alignment is achieved tighten hinge bolts, tailgate bolts, and kit bracket bolts.

I also wanted to mention that I slightly modified the jerry can aspect of my carrier: I added a Quick Fist mounting kit, which helped to eliminate the need for the wing nut, clamp, and threaded rods. The Quick Fists are made of rubber; you won't have metal scraping against metal when you're bouncing around on the trails.

I used a couple more of the Quick Fists included in the kit for a spot to mount a shovel or other tool. However, I wouldn't recommend using them to mount something as heavy as a hi-lift jack.

Further, I bought the Rampage jerry can tool kit and Rampage trail can. They're both very useful for helping de-clutter the inside of my TJ. I don't really have a problem with the lip of the can holder, so I haven't modified or added to it, though I do like @Jerry Bransford's suggestion.
 
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I had to leave a review. It bothers me that the only review on their site is 3/5 stars and was obviously written by someone who didn't read the installation instructions.

No doubt, that looks like a phenomenal tire carrier - hopefully after I move they'll still be available. That's an item lower on my list.
 
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Folks, I found an original OR-FAB carrier that has all the rotopax, etc. accessories. Dude wants $600 or trade for a hard top. If you guys remember I bought a crap hard top and repaired it, but it still isn't perfect. I may try and trade, but how does the $600 price sound?
 
Folks, I found an original OR-FAB carrier that has all the rotopax, etc. accessories. Dude wants $600 or trade for a hard top. If you guys remember I bought a crap hard top and repaired it, but it still isn't perfect. I may try and trade, but how does the $600 price sound?

I don’t remember the TJ version having a Rotopax option. Are you sure it’s for a TJ?
 
It's on a TJ: Take a look and let me know if its knock-off or something.
https://nashville.craigslist.org/pts/d/watertown-jeep-or-fab-swing-way-tire/6794481836.html

That's definitely an original OR-Fab. The can he's got mounted in the pictures looks like a NATO-style jerry can. Also, he has the metal strip keeping the jerry can on the threaded rod mounted backwards. It's supposed to be bent over the can, not away from it (just take off the wingnut and flip the strip around).

He copied-and-pasted the description from the JK Rotopax version: check out the description on the Quadratec site. It's word-for-word. As I mentioned before, there was no Rotopax version made for the TJ. I don't think he meant to be intentionally misleading; the TJ version of the description is kind of difficult to find since OR-Fab pretty much just came back into the game.

Just so you're aware, the TJ version of this carrier is still a great product. You can mount two full-size jerry cans onto it. I have two Rampage jerry cans: the tool box and the trail storage can.

There's a mount on the swing-out that will allow you to catch the lip of some jerry cans (like my Rampage cans) in order to properly secure it from bouncing around. However, if you're using lipless cans similar to the ones he's got pictured, you should get a jerry can mount of some kind. The threaded rod will keep lipless cans attached to the carrier, but it won't keep them from bouncing around.

The threaded rods included will scuff up your cans, by the way. I took care of that problem by buying a pack of QuickFists and bolting them in place of the threaded rods. They work great, and you can use the other QuickFists to attach other items to the carrier, too.
 
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I've just about finished the install on mine. Maybe I'm missing something, but with the gate on, I cannot get the latch to close.

If I adjust the threaded latch out any farther, I'll be on 3 or 4 threads. Looks like the threaded portion got lopped a little short?
83107
 
I've just about finished the install on mine. Maybe I'm missing something, but with the gate on, I cannot get the latch to close.

If I adjust the threaded latch out any farther, I'll be on 3 or 4 threads. Looks like the threaded portion got lopped a little short?View attachment 83107

That is not the handle the tire carrier came with unless they changed designs at some point. Mine looks nothing like that. You might have to fiddle around with it. I can't remember how the threaded piece attaches, but replacing that piece with a longer one is probably the easiest option.
 
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