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My $55.00 spare tire carrier

100K views 23 replies 13 participants last post by  wjlizard 
#1 ·
I needed a way to carry my 35* spare tire and was not going to try to muscle it up and strap it to my roof basket. I also still wanted the ability to haul my quad trailer without having to remove the spare, switch hitch inserts, find a place to strap the spare down, etc...





I bought the Hitch Haul from Walmart for $29.99......It's rated to carry 500 lbs.



I had to shorten the length due to it stuck out a bit from the hitch, and drill new hitch pin holes (think they made it that way to clear all rear bumpers}.

I had a friend weld up the upright and tire mount. Cost me $25.00 for the 2x2, making the tire mount, and welding.



Simply pull the cotter pin and the hitch pin and lower it down to have access to the rear cargo area. I snugged the nut and bolt down to put tension on the upright, so it wouldn't just flop down.



surprisingly it's not too heavy to let the 35" spare down, and pivot it back up into place.

I also drilled a hole in the bottom of the receiver near the back and welded a nut on, so i could use a bolt to lock it in the receiver and eliminate any rattles.{sorry no pics of that}

I have had this on the rear for close to a year now, did many off road excursions, and have had no issues with it whatsoever.

I have an aftermarket rear hitch so that's why it looks like it sticks out a bit from the rear bumper, I plan to change to a factory hitch, so that it will sit a bit higher and tighter to the back bumper,

I relocated the license plate to the rear bumper, and used some led motorcycle license plate light mounts to attatch it.

 
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#5 ·
It did when i first installed it, thats why I drilled the hole in the bottom of the reciever with the welded nut and bolt. It took out the littlle bit of rattle.
 
#8 ·
With the 97's larger mirrors, i have no issues with lane changes, etc. Used to drive semi cross country so used to using mirrors to their full extent.

The dark tint at night causes more issues than anything.
 
#10 ·
Cool! Looks like a thread worth reviving now and then. I had seen it before but forgotten about it, I put a hitch in recently though so hmmmm might be worth doing too
 
#11 ·
I can take some more detailed photos and maybe do a brief write up if anyone is interested. But here are the 2 photos that i took at the shop yesterday.

Total cost:
$26.99 for Hitch Haul Receiver at Walmart
$~$70 for steel and labor of whelding (Man i wish i had a welder)
Parts w/o labor would probably have been like $30

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Automotive tire Tire


Tire Vehicle Automotive tire Car Bumper
 
#12 ·
Glad my write up helped.

I think it's a good low cost alternative to a fully built bumper and tire carrier setup.
 
#13 · (Edited)
Mine is still holding up great, even after a Michigan winter

 
#15 ·
Bushwhacker flat fender flares.
 
#18 ·
Depending in your wheel your mounting on it and its lug pattern (5x4.5 5x5 5x5.5 common jeep patterns) would have to cut out a circle or triangle that will fit inside of the wheel mounting surface and use lug studs or bolts that fit lug nuts. That fit the lug pattern of the wheel you want to use.
 
#22 ·
His user name has wk in it. My guess is he has a wk.
 
#24 · (Edited)
That's what I was going on also. For the record I have my old JK rims on my white WJ and WK2 rims on my Overland WJ. How could I forget, my commander is also 5x5. They are all 5x5 that I mentioned above.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 
#23 ·
Brake rotor would work as well.
 
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