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| Spare Tire Carrier Installation |
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| In order to have a spare tire attached to the vehicle in case of the unlikely
event I would need a spare (yeah right), I decided to go with a pre-runner style setup that would allow for me
to have a spare tire mounted on a 45 degree angle in the rear of the Jeep. I didn't intend to put a rear seat
in the Jeep and didn't want to spend the money to have a swing away tire carrier on the bumper, so I figured
that this was the logical place to put one.
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So, I proceeded to buy a spare tire carrier from
diamond-plate. They were
shown on the show trucks with the Crazy Horse Bronco build-up and got rave reviews. So I ordered up the
tire-carrier and when it came in, I set out to install it.
The tire-carrier is fully removable except for the bed mounts. I assembled the tire-carrier as per the
included directions and drilled some holes in the floor to mount the assembly. Make sure you check to ensure
that you don't drill down into the gas tank or anything other that is vital. After the test fitting was
completed, I bolted everything down and then put the spare tire in to make sure that I had everything where it
should be.
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| Lessons Learned the Hard Way |
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So, my lessons learned here would have to be that you should measure before you
do something like this. I got lucky and my 33x12.5x15 BFGoodrich Mud Terrain tires fit, but a 35-inch tire
will not fit, so if you want to go bigger, you are out of luck unless you raise the height of this so it clears
the wheel wells.
Secondly, now that I have run this for a few months, I think I might have been better off going with a swing
away tire-carrier mounted on the rear bumper. I say this because the CJ-5 and my size don't mix with having a
lot of extra room to put stuff. If you have a passenger, there really isn't any room to put anything. I
somewhat fixed this issue with some storage/speaker boxes mounted to the rear fender wells, but this might not
work for you. Keep your extra gear in mind when doing this.
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| Conclusions |
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This is a pretty easy thing to do for a nice different look to the rear-end of
the CJ. I really like the look and the spare is easy to get off, however, it does come with its drawbacks.
Space is limited and you have to lock up the tire if you don't want it to walk off.
You need simple hand tools to complete this installation. I had to drill some holes and torque down the
mounting holes. That was about it for the installation. This isn't for anyone, but if you want a unique look,
this will definitely accomplish that task.
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