thinking about getting a rear bumper for my cherokee. anyone run a rear tire carrier? downside of having the extra weight?

 

I'm in the middle of instaling a rear Smittybilt XRC right now so I'll let you know.

 

There have been reports of heavier tires (33" and larger) causing cracking in the rear uni-body/bumper supports. Lots of unsatisfied tire carrier customers.

Here's a pretty bad one:

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f67/re...racked-206762/

 

yea I've seen that as well. As long as the bumper brackets tie into the frame it works fine. The factory mounts were definitely not designed to alone support that kind of weight. the smittybilt bumper ties into the frame rails where the hitch is bolted making it plenty strong enough.

 

I hated mine mostly because with a 38 back there I couldn't see out the back window. May not be as big of an issue with smaller tires but something to consider. Even with a 33 you'll loose a good bit of visibility.

 

Yeah that one cracked because it wasn't fully tied in to the body like most are.The downsides i see are the rear springs will sag a little because of the extra weight and seeing out your back window is next to nothing.The cheapest one i would run is Smittybilt but i have read some bad reviews on the fit of their bumpers and they are made in china.Money no problem jcr offroad or rock hard 4x4 are my favorite ones.

 

my real question is how does the extra weight feel back there when wheeling?

 

Like your Jeep is gonna break in half every time you hit a bump.

 

Had mine on for over 3 yrs. now and I never even know its there and have had no leaf sag with my Rustys leafs. Mine is very HD but I only carry up to a 35" tire but a heavy load in the cargo area all the time 100+#.

 

I'm running one that a buddy of my frankensteined out of one for a TJ. Running the stock 4 bolt bumper mount on each side, as well as the under frame support tab on the swing out hinge side. No problems so far, with a 35" spare.

The one thing I did do was invest in Nordlock washers and grade 8 bolts in order to keep everything tight so it doesn't wobble around and cause metal fatigue.

With a 35 back there, I can't see out the back at all. I even just pulled out the rearview mirror to make room for the radio.

 

Did you get the one with tow hitch like this?
http://4wheelonline.com/jeep/smittyb...ee-xj.254111.0

 

nice... i am thinking about the JCR rear tire set up

 

Yep that's the one.

I read a lot of bad reviews about it, but just as many people seemed to have good things to say and for the price I couldn't pass it up ($650 shipped to my door.)

The worst part was getting my old bumper off everything after that was pretty easy. I plan on going a little more in depth with a review on my build page soon. Here's a quick photo I snapped after I finished. I have to get a better spare, but I think it looks and feels great. It did weigh down my rear a little more than I had hoped so I'm probably going to end up running shackles.

 

If you do wheel with one keep your spare aired way down so that when you slam down on the tire, and you will, it has some give and doesn't rip the bumper off or jar your teeth out.

 

I keep mine aired down also (have Viar compressor) and use cheap Azz grade 2-3 bolts to hold it on instead of lug bolts/nuts.