Any idea what the tire carrier will look like?
Not going to lie. Seeing the new post of the tire carrier has me a little excited to see how much the whole setup will cost.
The complete setup is designed to be very affordable, that's one of the key design requirements. Here are the others:
Design requirements for the tailgate reinforcement:
- Support for up to 40" spares
- No flexing in the reinforcement and prevent any heavy spare stress from reaching the tailgate.
- Install without drilling
- Work with either the factory spare carrier or the HD/large spare carrier
- Work with the HD tailgate hinges, and all of the hinge-mounted accessory carriers such as the HiLift carrier and the Rotopax carrier and others
- Maintain factory appearance as much as possible - it shouldn't look like either a huge chunk of metal or a hardware store hanging off the back of the Jeep
Design requirements for the HD/large spare carrier
- Support up to 40" spares
- Install without drilling
- Multiple mounting positions - position 1 for up to 37" spares, position 2 for up to 40"
- Install with the tailgate reinforcement, or install to a stock tailgate
- Adjustable third brake stalk which accepts factory brake light. Use of the stalk should be optional if the user has a different plan for mounting a third brake light, for example if he wants to mount one in the center of the spare.
The tailgate reinforcement supports both sides of the HD/large spare carrier (some on the market only support the passenger side). It doesn't flex and it ties into the HD hinges and therefore the tub, thereby carrying all of the weight of the spare without causing stress to the tailgate.
The tailgate reinforcement, HD/large spare carrier and HD hinges are all installed in these photos. Very little of the reinforcement is visible.
This next photo shows the hinges and the reinforcement installed with the factory spare carrier:
In this photo the hinges, reinforcement and large spare carrier are all installed. It's installed in the high position (up to 40" tires), if you look closely you can see some of the screw holes that would be used to install it in the lower position (up to 37" tires). The 4 bolts on the side of the third brake light stalk provide for adjustment of the height of the brake light. Also in this photo you can see a grommet in the reinforcement on the left side of the spare carrier, this is the factory grommet which has been removed from that location in the tailgate - there are pass-through holes in the reinforcement so the hole in the tailgate can still be used for things like CB antenna wires. Also there is a hole in the center of the spare carrier where the tire mounts, this can be used to pass wiring through if you would prefer to mount a third brake light in the center of the spare vs. over the top of the spare.