Found a factory carrier at the j/y today. Has anyone used one with a 33 inch tire and steel wheel? Wondering about durability.

 

so far mine has held up with a 31 x 10.5 4bs
But I have plans to reinforce it later, just in case, I like my sleep at night.

 

I should probably mention that it's my dd it hasn't seen a trail since I installed the swing arm tire carrier

 

No it won't hold it. I saw pictures of a guy who tried that and it just ripped off the bumper. I used to have the stock carrier on my old Jeep with a 31" on it, but i'm pretty sure that's the biggest it'll hold.

 

Thanx for mentioning...
Now I really am gonna loose sleep til I reinforce it...

 

So the bumper mount is the weak point? Have some tubing laying around and plate steel. Might be able to beef it up or make a tube bumper and mount it to that, what do you think?

 

31" tire is the max a oem tire carrier will hold. anything else is too heavy and will just rip off the bumper.

 

^^Yup. 31" is the biggest an OEM one can go.

 

If you want to hold a 33, just go with something bigger. You could beef up the bumper, but the carrier itself will still not be made for the weight. Things like hinges come to mind, but I am speaking theoretically...I have no experience with factory carriers.

 

No.

 

To carry a 33 you need a stouter carrier - both in mounting and the carrier hinge pin. Look in the fab section for ideas. Another option would be the Tailbone system from Detours. It's designed to use the factory bumper, but the entire mounting set up is different and stronger than factory.