Tailgate rack

[Mowgli]

Does anyone on here use the tail gate rack that puts a small rack above the spare tire?
I've been looking at the garvin trail rack and also the bestop rack. I'm not happy with the price of the garvin but I like the metal basket compared to the plastic on the bestop. I don't plan on putting tons of weight. It I need to keep the truck space clear for my lab.

 

[Longtallsally]

I'm planning on fabbing one up at some point. Back with my YJ, I too did not like the cost of the Garvin one, so I fabbed one and it worked really well and I even landed on it a few times and dragged it a bunch on the rocks. If you have a welder or access to one, that's what I'd do.

My only problem is that it will be to carry spare gas cans for the dirt bike when it is on the hitch carrier, making it necessary to be offset to the passenger side a bit.

 

[rodi]

You might check out the kit from rock slide engineering. Holds rotopax cans on the sides and a basket option on the top. Like $150 for the aluminum version.

 

[nwoods]

I had one from Hanson that was pretty beefy. They had a couple of options, a small one above the tire, and a much larger one more or less centered on the tire. I never installed the bigger one, but the small one was incredibly useful.

This is the combo photo of both racks together:

 

[Mowgli]

I forgot to say I have a jk

 

[JIMBO]

:sombrero: In that case, you better make sure the tailgate rack will be supported by the bumper or swingaway spare carrier-

The JK/JKU tailgate hinges are notoriously weak and will become unwelded-

I forgot to say I have a jk

:costumed-smiley-007:wings: JIMBO

 

[rodi]

I forgot to say I have a jk

I concur.
If you get the Teraflex hinge and tire mount, you can put a lot of weight on it. You might want to get that to go with the rack mount that I linked to before.

 

[County98]

I'm looking at racks also, but the TF hinge was why I was waiing.

I already have the TF hinge and carrier, so will any or all of these racks still bolt up? I can never seem to find any good info on that, nor any photos of people with this type of cargo rack that already has the TF setup installed.

Any ideas?

 

[rodi]

The rock slide engineering rack is merely a ratcheting strap to the spare tire, with aluminum plates for rotopax mounts and the rack on top. It's sweet but is not secure from theft.

 

[Mowgli]

The rock slide engineering rack is merely a ratcheting strap to the spare tire, with aluminum plates for rotopax mounts and the rack on top. It's sweet but is not secure from theft.

Yeah I'm not liking that also. I want something hard mounted so they would have to remove the spare to steal the rack.

 

[stockhardcorejeeper]

I built mine to go into a pair of vertical receiver tubes at the bottom (on top of the bumper) with stabilizer tubes midway up at the top of the tailgate. Its just over the width of the tailgate. this is on a CJ but I think the same logic applies for a swing out tailgate as long as you leave clearance for the gate on the back side of the hinge. This makes it removable leaving only the attaching points. I don't remove it much but could if needed.

 

[IBEX]

I have already been conversing with a couple of you guys. If you can hold out I will get you guys some CAD drawings or some pics of some protos. I have this one almost ready, just sourcing the strap material and we are off to the races. It will have an upper basket, side baskets, mounts for Rotopaks, Powertank, whatever you want to put on it, and... you can take it off when you get home. And it doesn't rattle.... just let me know. And if you need info, I will get back to you. We are on jamb with 6 project for Moab, our Powerwagons, and our racks...

 

[Mowgli]

I built mine to go into a pair of vertical receiver tubes at the bottom (on top of the bumper) with stabilizer tubes midway up at the top of the tailgate. Its just over the width of the tailgate. this is on a CJ but I think the same logic applies for a swing out tailgate as long as you leave clearance for the gate on the back side of the hinge. This makes it removable leaving only the attaching points. I don't remove it much but could if needed.

That sounds pretty cool. Do you have pics of this?

 

[County98]

I dont think I'm interested in the ratchet strap solution for my use. I would always be leary of it working it's way loose on the highway, especially loaded down with heavy fuel, etc. Only way I would feel it was secure would be to crank it down so tight it was cutting into my tire.

Not saying these aren't perfectly fine solutions, but I don't run wheel spacers either. I'm sure they're fine also, just dont give me a warm fuzzy.

Anyone know of an over the spare rack that hard mounts and works with the TF hinge/carrier?

 

[IBEX]

I totally understand your position. The ratchet strap will never loosen. The mounts locate themselves into tread blocks, not allowing for any movement. It won't cut into the tire either. We have taken this mount to Moab, and I have one that is out in AU., and the guy loves it. He has it strapped to a 38" tire with a can on each side, and our basket with god knows what on it.... And that one is a pre-production one with hand sewn straps. You have to remember, these are 10k straps with 12k ratchets... It is never going to fail with 100-400lbs. on it.

Mowgli, I will either post some pics of the basket and other stuff by the weekend, or I will just email you. I send an email to the guy that I built the behind the fac tire carrier one for, he said he would get us some action pics of it loaded down....