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Spare Tire Rack repair/upgrade (oem)

MomoJeep

Basic User
Silver Member
City
Seattle
State
WA
Is your spare tire rack worn out and rattling like mine (was)!?

I know there are "big, fancy, impressive and expensive" after-market alternatives out there. But I don't plan on running tires bigger than 33" and want to put my gas cans and hi-lift somewhere else. So I beefed my oem rack up a bit. The original shoulder bolts in the hinges had grooves worn into them!

I drilled them out a bit larger, and welded in a Stainless Steel sleeve and put in a bigger snug fitting SS hinge bolt. See pics so far... try not to cringe at my welds. I haven't been welding in years!
 

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MomoJeep

Basic User
Silver Member
City
Seattle
State
WA
I like the concept, but I feel like stainless might have been a poor choice ultimately.
Please tell me more? Is the stainless not going to fuse well to the regular steel? I was using a MIG dual-shield set up
 

93_Fummins

CJ-8 Member
City
Edmond
State
OK
Please tell me more? Is the stainless not going to fuse well to the regular steel? I was using a MIG dual-shield set up
Any instance that I've personally seen stainless welded to mild-steel, the mild-steel turns into a sacrificial element through the bi-metallic dispersion around the welded zone and ends up rusting at an alarming rate. Also, stainless on stainless (in the case of the hinge bolt) can have a tendency to gall if tolerance and surface finish isn't right. Not saying what you did won't work; just saying that I would have it differently given my experiences.
 

MomoJeep

Basic User
Silver Member
City
Seattle
State
WA
Yeah, I thought about that. The galling too. But now that there is a sleeve it can hold grease inside better... so we'll see how it goes. I live in a pretty wet climate and get so tired of frozen/rusty bolts..

So far it is SO much nicer..!
 

wylder

Basic User
City
petaluma
State
ca
I wanted to keep my original bumper so I modified my factory tire carrier for two Jerry cans. I've thought about enclosing it or at least half of it and storing jumper cables and tools. Did this about 14 yrs ago and it's still solid. I used hardened shoulder bolts in the hinges. Make sure everything is tight or the hinges may stress the body to failure.
 

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Jeepn-n-TX

Member
City
Whitehouse
State
TX
I've been considering doing something similar to sure-up mine (on one of my CJ-7s) ... either doing sleeves like this or bushings. I just want to try and keep it from rattling so dang much!
 

MomoJeep

Basic User
Silver Member
City
Seattle
State
WA
So far the sleeves I put in are doing great after lots of rough road driving. If I was to do it again, I'd put grease zerks on the outside of the sleeves.. I guess I still could but kinda lazy. The grease I put in there by hand will only last so long. Alternatively if it gets dry and wears out I could pop some (bronze?) bushings in there and go back down to a smaller bolt. I imagine the bushings themselves would just get replaced if/when they wear out...(?)
 

Jeepn-n-TX

Member
City
Whitehouse
State
TX
So far the sleeves I put in are doing great after lots of rough road driving. If I was to do it again, I'd put grease zerks on the outside of the sleeves.. I guess I still could but kinda lazy. The grease I put in there by hand will only last so long. Alternatively if it gets dry and wears out I could pop some (bronze?) bushings in there and go back down to a smaller bolt. I imagine the bushings themselves would just get replaced if/when they wear out...(?)
Looking at your design, would you have room for a grease zerk? With the bolt going through and all? Or are you thinking greasible bolts?
 

MomoJeep

Basic User
Silver Member
City
Seattle
State
WA
Looking at your design, would you have room for a grease zerk? With the bolt going through and all? Or are you thinking greasible bolts?
In the 3rd and 5th pictures, you can see the side of the tube/sleeve. If I had drilled and tapped into it, I could screw in a grease zerk. Maybe I'd have to shorten the threaded length of the zerk. Then I could pump in some grease!
 

bigwalton

Alaskan Postal nutjob
FORUM MANAGER
SOA Member
City
Dexter
State
MI
I love the idea of beefing up the OEM setup, but just to throw it out there, simply because it's not well known and is another body-mount solution: TnT Customs has a sick aftermarket body-mounted carrier that is absolutely amazing.

It's not cheap, but it does NOT move, you can adjust for location/height/depth and you could go crazy customizing it to hold anything you want. I just love that it doesn't involve a bumper. You position the adjustable tire mount so that the lug nuts suck the tire back against the frame and that makes it ultra rigid. I love mine and wish I hadn't waited so long to get it.


Not trying to hijack, just thought it was worth including for people who may find this thread.
 

wjtstudios

1985 CJ 8
BENEFACTOR
Gold Member
Lifetime Member
SOA Member
City
Rochester
State
Mi
I love the idea of beefing up the OEM setup, but just to throw it out there, simply because it's not well known and is another body-mount solution: TnT Customs has a sick aftermarket body-mounted carrier that is absolutely amazing.

It's not cheap, but it does NOT move, you can adjust for location/height/depth and you could go crazy customizing it to hold anything you want. I just love that it doesn't involve a bumper. You position the adjustable tire mount so that the lug nuts suck the tire back against the frame and that makes it ultra rigid. I love mine and wish I hadn't waited so long to get it.


Not trying to hijack, just thought it was worth including for people who may find this thread.
I ordered that tire carrier a few weeks ago and I can't wait until it arrives. Once it arrives and I get it back from PC, I'll get some pictures of it up.
 

bigwalton

Alaskan Postal nutjob
FORUM MANAGER
SOA Member
City
Dexter
State
MI
I ordered that tire carrier a few weeks ago and I can't wait until it arrives. Once it arrives and I get it back from PC, I'll get some pictures of it up.
I think I did an install thread on mine.
 

MomoJeep

Basic User
Silver Member
City
Seattle
State
WA
I love the idea of beefing up the OEM setup, but just to throw it out there, simply because it's not well known and is another body-mount solution: TnT Customs has a sick aftermarket body-mounted carrier that is absolutely amazing.

It's not cheap, but it does NOT move, you can adjust for location/height/depth and you could go crazy customizing it to hold anything you want. I just love that it doesn't involve a bumper. You position the adjustable tire mount so that the lug nuts suck the tire back against the frame and that makes it ultra rigid. I love mine and wish I hadn't waited so long to get it.


Not trying to hijack, just thought it was worth including for people who may find this thread.
Yes, I think that's a great addition to this thread. It is spendy, but looks like the ultimate solution. Pardon me for not looking closer, but does it carry gas cans? Hi-lift?

And at what point does the sheet metal of the body mount locations become compromised?
 

wjtstudios

1985 CJ 8
BENEFACTOR
Gold Member
Lifetime Member
SOA Member
City
Rochester
State
Mi
Yes, I think that's a great addition to this thread. It is spendy, but looks like the ultimate solution. Pardon me for not looking closer, but does it carry gas cans? Hi-lift?

And at what point does the sheet metal of the body mount locations become compromised?
At this point, I just need it to carry a 35” with out destroying the mount. I was about to have my fabricator build me an upgraded version of the stock, but this will be cheaper and cleaner in the end. It does look like I could add a Jerry can holder to the passenger side of the mount though🤔
 

bigwalton

Alaskan Postal nutjob
FORUM MANAGER
SOA Member
City
Dexter
State
MI
I can’t seem to find your install thread on yours, just when you painted it. Do you think it exists?
I guess not. Iswear I did. I had a couple picture in JPFreek (push past the security warning, I never renewed the SSL after stopping publishing)


To the question on the sheet metal, one of the things I really like on this one is that they use a plate on the hinge side to tie the hinges together and reinforce the mounting area and the latch side spreads out the load wide as well. I put this on Poison Spyder armor and the latch side even picked up an existing hole, which was awesome.
 

wjtstudios

1985 CJ 8
BENEFACTOR
Gold Member
Lifetime Member
SOA Member
City
Rochester
State
Mi
I guess not. Iswear I did. I had a couple picture in JPFreek (push past the security warning, I never renewed the SSL after stopping publishing)


To the question on the sheet metal, one of the things I really like on this one is that they use a plate on the hinge side to tie the hinges together and reinforce the mounting area and the latch side spreads out the load wide as well. I put this on Poison Spyder armor and the latch side even picked up an existing hole, which was awesome.
Thank you, when we were filling holes on the body, we added a reinforced plate in that area as well. The old carrier had cracked and torn the body at the upper hinge mount. We made sure that wasn't going to happen again.
 
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