I have a 98 XJ and want to put a tailgate tire like the YJ... I was wondering what would fit on my xj to have a swinging tire mount in the back..

 

There are TONS of companies that make swing away rear tire mounts/bumpers. However unless you want to fork over $1000+ you will have to get creative and make one or make a fold down that mounts to your hitch (assuming that you have one). There is also an illusive stock swing away that was an option on very early XJ's yet I've never personally seen one. Hope this helps.

Personally I went for a fold down. (I've got less than $100 into it.)

First My fold down, Second Stock swing away:

 

I picked up one like the red xj (above) at a junkyard. I think I paid $45 dollars total, and that included buying the rear bumper it was attached to because I didn't want to have to cut holes in my bumper to mount it (seemed like too much work cause I'm lazy sometimes). Just be sure to grab the bracket on the inside of the rear passenger side where the top of the tire carrier mounts to the side of the jeep.

 

anything other then the stock tire is going to be to big for that stock tire carrier and if you ever offroad it can pull out of the body since its not mounted to the frame or anything i would look into something like the hitch mounted tire carrier or get a swing out carrier that mounts to an aftermarket bumper

 

my XJ has the same thing and i got a 31x10.5 tire on there and it works alright, it popped out twice on me while climbing so i had put a bike lock through the rack and around the hitch, that became a real pain so i took it off and the tire hasn't popped out since, i just give it a good slam when i close it.

 

I go wheeling with my buddy all the time, I have a 31x10.50 and its fine on the stock carrier, my buddy has the same one and holds a 33x12.50 just fine. just make sure you have all the right brackets and that thing is plenty sturdy.

 

http://www.jcroffroad.com/Merchant2/...egory_Code=XJB

 

X2 ^ can't beat thoughs prices

 

Detours also has a nice one that keeps the Stock bumper, IIRC it only runs around 400.

 

I'm really interested in that hitch mounted tire carrier. Does anybody have any info on where I could get one? Or a write-up on how to make one?

 

You mean mine?

If so I can come up with some directions. It was not terribly hard to make.