Biggest Tire Size
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and I have power tanks and other air supplies. And I’ve even used shoelaces to stitch a sidewall back together and get me back on the road.
But as far as when should you change it? The factory specifically designed these, like the tailgate and we can go all the way back to YJ. So YJ, TJ, JK and JL, the factory specifically designed the tailgate to hold the factory tire and the factory tire only.
As soon as you change tire size and certain vehicles are more susceptible to it, like TJ, YJ, TJ or early JKs, but the spot welds that hold the tailgate together aren’t designed for the load of a larger tire. So if you drive with one for too long, and I heard somebody else mention, I think it was Keith, it’ll start popping and making noise. Well, that’s when the internal spot welds of that tailgate are snapping. And that’s usually when it starts to make noise.
On a YJ, a TJ and an early JK, there wasn’t enough structural support in the side of the tub to hold that extra weight either. So not only would you start to tear the spot welds of the tailgate and start to damage the passenger side where that tailgate hinges on.
So it’s always a good idea to upgrade
if you have a YJ, a TJ or an early JK. Now, when we talk later, JK and JL, Jeep actually reinforced the hinge location of that tailgate because they knew that they would be running up to a 35 inch tire from the factory. And they knew that before they ever launched the JL. So a JL’s structure is much stronger on the body side, but it’s still only designed for the weight of like the factory 35. Once you go larger than that, you can still cause damage. The difference with the JL is the tailgate is aluminum
skimmed over magnesium. So it’s very light and it has a very strong hinge. So you might not notice it until a little bit later, but you still can cause damage. So I recommend as soon as you upgrade your tire size, you should upgrade the tire carrier
to either one that’s more structural or one that takes all of that weight off and puts it on the bumper.
A couple of people mentioned the tire carriers that still just use the factory door as a hinge and or as a lock.
Hanson was the first company to develop that and they developed that in 2007. AEV was the second one to do it. AEV started doing that in 2008 when they unveiled their tire carrier.
The Hanson one and most of the tire carriers out there just use a trailer spindle as the guide where AEV actually built this huge chromoly base plate that attaches right to the frame.
So pay attention to the tire carrier mounting as well cause the ones that just use a trailer spindle, they are susceptible to braking. I’ve been on trails where a spare tire with its carrier came bouncing down the trail towards us when it broke.
So definitely pay attention to those. But as soon as you change tire sizes, you really should look at how to mount that spare if you’re gonna carry a spare.
Because if you don’t and you carry a factory size spare and you’re running a 35 or a 37,
you can cook your axle. So sometimes not spending $300 on another tire can cost you several thousand dollars when you destroy an axle driving 30 miles.
So that’s mine, sorry it took so long.
No, it’s fine. It’s a good thought, I appreciate it. All right, so I see Matt has his hand up Matt, go ahead.
So I’ve had a couple of, one definitely full size spare if you’re traveling anywhere outside of your home area. So I’ve had, I’ve torn two sidewalls on trails probably more than 500 miles from home. And one, it’s always good to have the spare to put on there for just completing that wheeling trip.
But you also have to get a little at home.
(Laughing)
Drive better.
So I did run, so I’ve got about a hundred pound combo wheel and tire, 37s on a jail. And I ran the factory set up in the rear. I’ve got a Rubicon so it’s a little higher for the actual carrier piece itself.
Ran that for about 50,000 miles, about two and a half years. And I ended up getting sag on the tailgate. So the tailgate would come off the latch and drag the bumper. And so I did finally get it to sag. So I went with the Teraflex’s Alpha HD set up, which replaces the hinge out and has the adjustment necessary, but I’ve been really happy with that since.
I’m not sure, you know, unfortunately I can’t tell exactly when the issue is, but I will say that your tailgate will fail with 37s at some point, no matter what. And probably most heavy 35s.
Yeah, I’d never heard that before. I mean, what Greg says makes sense. The factory designs the tire carrier for the tire that they come with a vehicle. And when you change the size of that tire and wheel, you need to get a better tire carrier, something that’s engineered for the larger tire and wheel weight combination. So that’s a good idea. All right, Rick, I see you got your hands up. Go ahead.
Right, I just recently upgraded mine.
I’m child lover.
(Laughing)
I just recently upgraded mine, literally within the last four to five weeks.
Previous owner had one of the swing out tire carriers on there. It was okay for the 30 inch. It rattled a lot more with the 33 inch and I tried everything. I stuffed stuff in there and tied it. And then it just became a big pain in the keister every time I had to get into the Jeep. So when I went to the 35, it was driving me crazy because of all the rattling. So I actually went with the Moride system and it’s heavier hinges. It’s got a bracket that ties into the roll bar in the back. So that it strengthens that passenger side corner. And then it’s got a big metal plate that goes on the actual tailgate itself.
And then you pass and all that. So far, I’ve been really happy with it. It lowered it down a little bit. It pulled it in closer. I don’t have all that rattling. I pulled the latch on the door and it opens. So far it’s been working great for me and I’ve been really happy with it.
Very good, very good. All right, Tony Mitten, your hands raised, go ahead.
Yeah, I do carry a full size pair with my XJ most of the time.
I just don’t wanna deal with the hassle of slowing everybody down like a trail repair when I have the tire and I can just, I have the rear seat deleted in my XJ too. So I literally just throw it back there.
I learned the spare carrier in the XJ will actually fit a 31 inch tire for the longest. That’s what I was running, but bigger tires gotta match.
Right. Well, it’s nice to have it centered, to have that weight centered as well in the XJ.
Oh yeah, yeah. I wanna really strap in it now. But one point I did wanna make with the Wranglers as far as this spare tire carrier.
A big thing you wanna pay attention to if you are running a bigger tire,
isn’t as much to do with, sorry, the cat came in to attack the dog.
It isn’t as much to do with the height of the tire because that just adds more sheer force to the hardware that’s holding it up. It’s the added width when you go with a larger tire. When you go to like a 12.5 compared to like a 285.70 where it’s a tall narrow tire. You’re gonna be able to get away with that more because it’s not putting that weight way outside. Same with once you switch to an aftermarket wheel with a big offset to it.
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