Joined: Aug 2016

Posts: 92

Likes: 6

Year: 1999

Model: Cherokee(XJ)

Engine: 4.0 IL6

I posted this on my build thread but thought I would share it here also.

For a long time I wanted a swing out tire carrier for my Jeep. But paying full price for one isn’t something I’m all about so I decided to try to make one using the stock bumper. Here’s how it went:

If you saw the roof rack build you know I made it to keep the spare tire up there. This was never an ideal situation and when I saw an opportunity to make a swing out on the bumper for pretty cheap I decided that would be a better option. I of corse will be keeping the rack since I use it a lot and I like having that functionality available. So on to the swing out build. I started with careful planning and design. I consulted a welder friend of mine and had him look at the bumper and consider my ideas to see if he thought it would work from a strength standpoint. He was confident we could make it happen and so I went ahead and designed the carrier. I took some measurements and figured out how it should look. I decided on 1 1/2” square tubing with 1/8” wall. I wanted to keep it as small and light as I could but still able to handle the weight. I drew it up in a 3D program called sketchup to help visualize it and easily figure out cut angles. For the spindle I went with ruff stuffs tire carrier spindle. It’s 1 1/2” spindle with bearings and an outer sleeve of 2 1/4”. It’s pretty beefy. I ordered the tube and a latch and bought some bolts for the wheel studs. The guy who was going to weld it for me said he had plenty of steel plate we could use. With all the planning done and the supplies ordered, I got to work. I got a 1 1/2” hole saw and put 2 holes through the bumper where the spindle would go through.


Then I worked on cutting and putting together the pieces for the swing out. Since the bumper and the hatch on the Jeep aren’t straight, I had to make it so that it bumped out in the middle and came back in on the ends. Here’s a picture of the bottom arm.

The piece that meets up with the spindle was notched with a 2 1/4” hole saw. Then I just built the upright structure, the supports and the horizontal piece for the wheel. Here’s a picture of it all laid out (it’s not exactly right because I couldn’t actually lay it out the way it was supposed to go since it wasn’t welded together yet, hopefully you understand what I mean).


After that it was time to weld it all together and put everything on the Jeep. I took it to my friends shop where we (he) first welded the spindle to the bumper. (Like a good friend I grinded all paint and rust off the tube and bumper the night before).


As you welders will recognize this was all tig welded. Next we put together the swing out structure and made a plate for the spare tire studs. This took the most time since there were quite a few cuts and 4 sides to be welded on each cut. Plus there were a couple places where we closed the end of the tubing with more steel plate.


Next we tacked the structure to the spindle (after getting it level), finished welding it, welded a closed piece of tube to the opposite side of the bumper for the arm to sit on, welded the latch components on, and it was done.

I had made a bit of a mistake because when we fitted everything up I hadn’t completely tightened the bumper up so when I did it pulled it in just enough so the carrier was now touching the hatch in 2 places. I wanted to keep everything nice and close to the Jeep so it didn’t take much for it to touch. I remedied this by using a washer as a spacer between the bumper and the bumper bracket. Now there’s plenty of room. However since it was level before the washers did cause it to tilt back a slight bit which might be noticeable in the pictures. Anyway after that all that was left to do was paint it and the bumper and cut out the bumper end caps. Here’s how that all turned out.





And that was it, one thing to mention that I didn’t get pictures was I gave my friend the bumper brackets and he beefed them up with extra metal and bigger bolts (If you’ve ever seen your bumper brackets you’ll know what I’m talking about). There’s no sag or flex in the bumper when you open it and only a tiny bit if you move it by hand when it’s fully open. Also the style of latch I used means it pulls the swing out tight against the tube that it rests on so it can’t rattle or wiggle and it takes stress off of the spindle side. I’m really happy with how it turned out and how it looks. I’m also glad to get the spare off the roof rack. I never noticed a huge drop in mpg with it up there but I know there had to be some and just knowing that wasn’t something I was thrilled about. I still have to put in the license plate light which I will just run off of the existing power wire for the light in the hatch. Here’s some pictures of the final product.







Hopefully this gave someone and idea of how to make their own. I didn’t calculate the price but it’s well under 200$. Which I think is pretty good. I hope you guys have enjoyed this post and this entire build thread so far. Merry Christmas and happy new year guys.

Joined: Nov 2018

Posts: 158

Likes: 2

From: Burleson, Texas

Year: 1993

Model: Cherokee (XJ)

Engine: 4.0L

Joined: Apr 2016

Posts: 28

Likes: 1

From: Fort Collins

Year: 1998

Model: Cherokee (XJ)

Engine: 4.0L coming out, 4.7L Stroker going in soon.

Joined: Aug 2016

Posts: 92

Likes: 6

Year: 1999

Model: Cherokee(XJ)

Engine: 4.0 IL6

thank you I appreciate it!

Joined: Aug 2016

Posts: 92

Likes: 6

Year: 1999

Model: Cherokee(XJ)

Engine: 4.0 IL6

thanks man!

Joined: Nov 2012

Posts: 327

Likes: 6

From: Fort Collins, Colorado

Year: 1998 (buggy), 1998 DD

Model: Cherokee

Joined: Aug 2016

Posts: 92

Likes: 6

Year: 1999

Model: Cherokee(XJ)

Engine: 4.0 IL6

i was originally planning on reinforcing the bumper but since the spindle goes all the way through it, it can’t bend or flex. At least not where the spindle is which is the most critical part. So I decided it would be redundant. I’m not worried about it although I don’t blame you for the concern. If it does weaken/break over time I’ll just rebuild it. The part that’s likely to have issues first is the bumper brackets and if that happens I’ll make some that tie into the unibody.

Joined: Oct 2018

Posts: 1,096

Likes: 166

From: Hunt County Texas

Year: 1995

Model: Cherokee (XJ)

Engine: 4.0L

Joined: Aug 2016

Posts: 92

Likes: 6

Year: 1999

Model: Cherokee(XJ)

Engine: 4.0 IL6

I considered one of those too, you can buy them for pretty cheap.

Joined: Nov 2023

Posts: 3

Likes: 2

Joined: Aug 2016

Posts: 92

Likes: 6

Year: 1999

Model: Cherokee(XJ)

Engine: 4.0 IL6

Joined: Oct 2023

Posts: 206

Likes: 101

From: Tip of the mitt, Michigan

Year: 1996

Model: Cherokee (XJ)

Engine: 4.0

Joined: Aug 2016

Posts: 92

Likes: 6

Year: 1999

Model: Cherokee(XJ)

Engine: 4.0 IL6