Weight capacity of tire carrier

Has anyone come across info on how much weight can be hung on the original tire carrier that bolts to the tailgate? Or personal experience on when things go awry?

 

The only thing i have been told, by an experienced jeeper , was that the tailgate will bend, tweek, rip out, before the tire carrier fails.

 

This is a solid back panel? Technically that's not a tailgate, but ... a solid back panel. The body will break out at the sides before the carrier will break. On my '73 with this carrier, I put a piece of angle iron across the top of the wheel houses and bolted through the back panel to reinforce it. Worked, but not pretty.

If a tailgate with a carrier mounted to it, that's not factory. The aftermarket carriers (Whitco, Kayline) bolt to the body around the tailgate, not the tailgate itself. The Kayline is pretty strong, but the Whitco (looks like a paperclip) will break if you put a big tire on it.

The side-mount carrier for the spare (on the passenger side rear fender) is only suitable for a narrow, factory-sized tire. Anything larger both won't fit and will tear out the fender.

 

Just as I feared, though i looked for a weight limit and couldn't find one in owners manual. I sized myself out of the side mount, though I loved the look. An original selling point for me. I definently do not want to warp body or tailgate. Mine has the factory sapre carrier, and the holes were drilled into tailgate, but of course I have no way of knowing who did that. No holes in side. Thanks, new pics of Jeep at http://danasjeeps.com/1973_cj-5. Once the seat belts are in and the passenger seat installed she's ready for liability insurance!

 

It seems you have the same question/problem I do right now. I am looking at replacing the stock front and "cheap POS homemade" rear bumper on my 74. After many phone calls and research, I got my answer. There are very few options for the older jeeps. I am a "Warn" diehard, so I called them and talked to Steve. He used to own a 74 CJ5; my good luck I guess? The Warn Rockcrawler front bumper (#61859) will work; you have to enlarge the mounting holes to approx 7/16". You will have to use 1 long bolt on each side versus 4 bolts. You also need the winch plate kit for installation. That's the good news.

Now the bad news; there are not any aftermarket bumpers that will mount to the rear without major adapting and work. Also, the rear cross member is too weak for a tire carrier. It will not support the weight. It will bend, break, twist, etc. Again, you will need to add extra supports, braces, etc. Probably will have to drop the gas tank to do this extra work.

I am goin with Warn for the front, unknown on the back right now (except for no tire carrier), and am looking into an overhead rack or bulding some type of support on my roll bar. Hope this helps! R) R) R)

 

I've already got the bumpers on- happy with them. Its just the spare tire bit. Theres one by Wilco the attaches into the bumper hitch. Quickly removable. Oly4x4 has one that will bolt up to my existing rectangular bumper. Pics of bumpers at www.DanasJeeps.com on the 1973 CJ-5 page.

 

http://www.crossenterprises.com/index.html

Here ya go.....
I think it was Boyink that had one from them and like it. I know someone on here did....
Nickmil

 

Anybody ever thought about taking an entire spindle w/lockout and using it built onto a swing out tire carrier? This would give you a spare lockout, wheel hub, spindle, possibly ball joints depending on how its mounted. I'll be building my own setup eventually and would like to see if anyone has done this.

John

 

I saw one at EJS a couple of years ago. It was prettty slick. his carrier sort of slanted in the bed and was on bushings to swing out when he needed the tire. Looked a little weird to actually unbolt it in that position, but better than hauling it out of the bed I guess.

 

Yes, it's been done, but I cannot seem to find my pictures of it

 

Mikey likey... <click> <save>

 

I stand corrected on the issue about the rear tire carrier. Thanks for the input; now I now what I can put on the back too, once I cut/unbolt/cut somemore... need more coffee... man this gas axe is cool.... R)