Some help with spare tire carrier.

(before I start, yes, I searched)

Got a good deal on a stock swing out tire carrier. I have the bumper from it and all the hardware. My question is this: from the factory, xj's with this as an option had extra bracing inside the passenger rear fender area to support the piece that bolts to the outside, right? And my 98 wouldnt have this, since the option wasnt availiable then, correct?

Does anybody have any pictures at all of the stock swing out rack mounted, I would like to see a few things, especailly any of the bracing or bolt locations, also where on the rear panel the piece bolts to. But any pictures would be cool.

Any help is appreciated, cant want to get this on!

(Criticism, laughing, comments, and grammer corrections are also welcome if you must.) :laugh3:

Oops, I meant to post this under OEM. Oh well, too late now. Any moderators, you can move it if you want.

www.madxj.com Scroll down until you get to the "Factory Bumper with Tire Carrier" link. I think that's what you want.

Thanks, that answered a lot. But what do you recomend I do since I most likely do not have the support bracket inside my passanger rear fender area?

Go to Lowes, Home Depot, et cetera and get some 1/8" plate (maybe even 1/16" strap for the one that goes horizontally from the outer fender to the inner) and make one. If you have an electric drill, a bench vise, and a BFH it should be pretty easy.

Give the tire carrier to me than you wouldn't have to worry about mounting it on your late model Cherokee. :laugh3:

I have a stock carrier completely disassembled right now including that interior bracing... I can take a pic tonight to see it close up. You should be able to fab something up pretty easily to replicate it. Do you have the support bracket that goes from the bumper to the rear bulkhead? Whatever you need pics of, just ask.

-kevin
cyberbackpacker

Yes, I have the entire bumper that it was on before, with the bracing inside the bumper(in the center, right?) and have all the pieces except any inside bracing on the right side. Also, I have a piece that I'm not sure what it is. The best I can describe it is this:An L bracket with a rod attaching the 2 ends, making a triangle shape. Is this part of the latch? I can take a picture if I need to.

Cyberbackpacker, if you could take a decent overall picture of how the bracing and mounts are positioned that would be awesome.

Thanks everyone!

Tried to take a pic but the camera is fudging up.. will use my work camera tomorrow.


BTW the "L" shape bracket goes on the passenger side of the rear bulkhead, and then the lower part of the swing mechanism attaches to it through the bumper cap. Your bumper cap should have 4 rectangular holes notched out for the bracketry and bolts to be fitted together. The "L" bracket is to help support the weight of the tire and carrier.

-Kevin
cyberbackpacker

Sorry for the delay.. was having probs getting pics. Nevertheless go here:

http://www.sounddomain.com/ride/206376/10

The bracket goes up inside the area boxed in blue. The yellow box indicates the approximate area where the part of the bracket that angles in towards the interior attaches to the sheet metal. The end view of the bracket outlined in green tucks in against the sheet metal where the tailight assembly attaches. It should be just slightly above the assembly. It gets anchored to the sheet metal here using the two holes that you see. The nuts circled in orange are welded to the bracket. The bottom two holes below the nuts accept the studs on the outer black hinge/bracketry. So you must use bolts on top from the outside of the rig through the black hinge/bracketry and use two nuts on the lower studs inside the quarter panel.

Where the brace was attached to the sheet metal originally, in areas circled in YELLOW and the area above the taillight assembly, were held in place with rivets. So, you can rivet too, or figure out a better method.

Hope this helps.


-Kevin
cyberbackpacker

BTW check out the tech section on www.madxj.com I forgot they had as many pictures as they did. You can see the bracket installed, and where it is riveted, etc.

Hey thanks for the pictures and the information! I will definitly think about this now....

I dont have that piece, would I be better off trying to find one, making one, or finding another way to support if better than the stock reinforcement did anyways?

That really helped me understand it though, thank you!! :kissyou: