My New Spare Won't Fit

That might actually work if I can find a 1" spacer. Most likely I will just weld on a piece of 1" square tubing at the base.

 

Amazon.com: Set of 2 | 1" 5x5.5 (5x139.7) Wheel Spacers | Fits Dodge Ram 1500 Ford F-100 Bronco Jeep CJ | 1/2" Studs: Automotive

 

My spare tire is a 215 75R15 on a 5.5” wide steel rim.
Inside the rear quarter panel is the hat channel brace along with the large baffle.

 

So you didn't need to change anything to get it to fit?

 

No. The spare tire rim is the same as the other 4 rims. The only difference is the other 4 tires are 235 75R15. The 215 is narrower, I didn’t want the side spare tire as wide as the 235’s.

 

Not sure of the off set on the rims, but all the rims are the same. Had lots of thread on the spare tire bracket to mount the spare.

These are the rims ( painted white now though!)

 

Ah, I see it now. My side spare has very little bulge. Thanks Glenn

 

Well not sure about the 75 vs 85 in width but no way I could get mine to reach threads and would not have set straight in line with the body (so would have looked crooked and weird). So as a test, I removed the factory vibration piece of wood which is 1" and it bolted up fine, but of course touched the body everywhere which would have been a no go. But I did have a 1 1/16" junk piece of wood stair tread laying around so I mocked it up as a temporary. As you can see, there is a very slight gap between the tire and wood vibration dampener, but otherwise sits straight, etc. So now I know I need to add an inch to the part of the bracket that bolts to the body. If I can find a 7/8" would better, otherwise I can just cut a new wood block slightly thicker.

 

To add full disclosure, Glenn is kinda correct about having the 4.5 vs 5. These rims are actually 16 truck rims that I got for the wagon. I had decided to go with the Goodyear DuraTrac 215-85-16 for the wagon so I decided I'd buy those tires for the wagon and use them temporarily on the jeep until I get the wagon going. This would allow me to see how I like the cream color against the red on the CJ and see how I liked the tires before I spent another $900 on tires and $75 per wheel on powder coating. I did like both the cream and tires so have temporarily left them on Willie. Probably next spring I will get Willies factory 4.5/16 powder coated and his set of tires. I probably will wait till then to see just how much the bulge changes going from the 5 wide down to the 4.5. My original goal is to basically keep both Wilbur the wagon and Willie the CJ with as much in common as practice for interchangeablity, so tires and wheel size was the first.

 

That’s great !

 

Oh and I weighed both the original NDT and DuraTrac on the 16' and its was 45 vs 65. I'm assuming the rim weight will go down a little but not substantially.

 

The other reason I went with a few sizes smaller for the spare tire.

 

I've a back of tub mount so don't know the exact problem being addressed.
Sounds like perhaps mount needs to be moved away from tub?
I'm working on deck on our house and I'm using deck to wall spacers to move the ledger away from house.
There's a manufactured puck of black plastic material that comes in different thicknesses that might work. Also comes to mind is hockey pucks that could be driled and through bolted.
I may be way off base, yet hearing of using blocks of wood does not appeal to me.
THese pucks could also have grooves cut on each face to allow drainage if desired.

 

UHMW bars from Mcmaster carr. McMaster-Carr
Guaranteed squeak free.....

 

I don't have a spare, but would like to find a smaller 15" wheel to put a thinner tire on that is the same height as my tires, just to throw in the box when I need it. I carry an inflator and plugs just in case I get a flat. Good Luck