I was looking at the rear of my Jeep today and had a genius idea for a tire carrier. The thing is every time I had a genius idea so far it always turned out it was already done a hundred times. So I wanted to know what some of you think about this. I already have a bumper that goes really well with my cut and fold, its really short so most swing out tire carriers wouldnt fit on it as they mount all the way on the corner which I dont have. I was thinking of running two pieces of square tuning from my clevis mounts all the way up to the top of the hatch right above the glass. They would be really close to the hatch and glass and angled with the glass. I would use rubber bushings in the clevis mounts and some kind of latch up top. Right in the middle of the glass the two tubes would connect with another one that has a hub to mount a spare. The spare would be really high up and out of the way and angled with the rear hatch. So to open the hatch I would undo the latch up top and drop the carrier down to be able to open the hatch. I dont really use the Jeep much and dont need to open the hatch very often. It will not be as quick and convenient as side opening one but again if I want one of those I would have to get a new bumper or somehow extend this one to the side which then will look stupid with the cut and fold. Cut and fold rear bumper with a carrier is 1000$ so not an option for me. So with my idea the weight of the carrier would be on the bumper but since it would be attached to the top of the hatch I thinl it would be sturdier and rattle free. Any reason this would not work? Also I dot have a welder so cannot make my own bumper. This looks like I could cut everything to fit myself and then just have a friend weld it for me.

Here is a pic of my bumper and where the clevis mounts

First picture is how I want the tire to sit over the license plate agled with the glass. Also it shows why that carrier would not fit on my bumper .

 

Here is a sketch made by a five year old of what I am thinking of.

 

PSC has a tire carrier for TJ/YJs that works this way. check it out, go from there. I wouldnt trust a flimsy roof rack to hold the spare+weight of the tube up. if you had a dedicated cage, sure.

 

Thanks. Btw, it wouldnt attach to the roofrack. I was thinking to go through the hatch over the rear window.



I found it. This is what I waqnt, nice and simple.

 

I think the tire looks better lower, and flat. Not so high and at that awkward tilted angle. It just blocks the rear window more that way.

 

If the tire is big it blocks the window either way. And if its low it hits and gets caught while you drop of steep obstacles. The one in the pic above is bit too high tough. I like the one in the first pic.

 

They block your view somewhat, sure, but not like that. You can't even see over that one.

I'd rather have something like this if I ever got a carrier, which I probably will:



Probably mount the license plate at the side like most do.

 

The loss of departure angle with a setup like this for me is not even worth having a tire carrier. Even the mounting bracket and arm is pushed out a good 2 to 3 inches and then a tire is 12 inches wide and mounted at the height of the bumper. Its like extending the Jeep 15 inches at bumper height.

 

Seems like more trouble than it's worth. I'd go hitch mount or have 1/4" plate welded to the existing bumper bumped out enough to mount a swing out.

Mounting it high up by the glass like that leaves you more prone to breaking the glass, less visibility, and less gas mileage due to higher wind resistance. I wouldn't mount it like that without comp cutting and building it into a cage in the rear.

 

Other than it being a heavy **** and having to tilt it down to get in the back I like the idea. If this is a DD then I don't think i'd like it but for a trail rig I think it'd work well. You're going to need to really reinforce the top mounting point some how.

 

Seems like both those options make for the same amount of trouble for me. Hitch mount just sticks out too far also. Why would that ever brake the glass tough?

 

Oh yeah, reinforcing that is the easy part. I would just put plates on the inside. Its kind of a DD but more by choice. I have a second car, still will be kind of a pain but less painfull then spending 1000 on a cut and fold tire carrier bumper.

 

Because it's like right on the glass and some unknown force might force it through the glass if you have a really bad day.

 

Oh yeah. Makes sense. but that could happen with the lower ones too. Its square tubing so if it gets bad enough to push it through the window we have other problems.

 

My friend is having one fabricated sorta like this from an explorer design