Rear Hatch Tire Carrier???

Question, Would the struts on the rear hatch hold an extra 100lbs? I would love to put my spare on the hatch. Its only a 33" and 16" rim with a total weight of 100lbs. If it wont work, anyone know of some heavy duty struts? I dont want to fork out $300+ for a rear bumper.

Has anybody tried this before? Any info and pics would be great.

short answer: no.

Think about how much force you use to pull the hatch down. Considerably less than 100lbs of force, right? Also, you didn't mention what year the Jeep is, if it's 96 or older, the hatch is fiberglass, so forget it. 97+ are steel, but I bet you'll run into issues with the hinges either wearing out or falling out of adjustment.

Put the tire on your back floor, or bite the bullet and get Detours' Tailbone. http://www.detoursusa.com/tailbone.php

whatevah said:

short answer: no.

Think about how much force you use to pull the hatch down. Considerably less than 100lbs of force, right? Also, you didn't mention what year the Jeep is, if it's 96 or older, the hatch is fiberglass, so forget it. 97+ are steel, but I bet you'll run into issues with the hinges either wearing out or falling out of adjustment.

Put the tire on your back floor, or bite the bullet and get Detours' Tailbone. http://www.detoursusa.com/tailbone.php

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I was going to just say, "Hell No!" but your answer is much more complete
Billy

so was I, but hey, I'm laid off... I've got a lot of free time.

Thanks guys. Ive never heard of the tailbone. Is it reliable?

It's a new product (released a month ago) but everything Detours makes is top-notch, so you can be sure it'll last you a while.

tmmoll said:

Thanks guys. Ive never heard of the tailbone. Is it reliable?

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All Detours stuff is really reliable

I found this idea a while back and saved it.... FWIW

that's high quality right there... high end lift blocks, too. I see he's trying to hide where he lives by covering up the license plate. Looks like Georgia.

Yeah, it's a cool idea, but it needs a good bit of work.

^ if you're going to go to all that work, why not just make a new rear bumper?

One small tap from another car or backing into a tree is all it would take to make that rear bumper and hatch turn into tinfoil with the tire carrier set up like that.

My brothet in law had a very nice after market bumper with swing out carier on his 98 XJ. Its one of the big $$$ designs and looks great. That said its still a pain to get in and out of the back ands a lot of weightto the back bumber and does still rattel and wiggle some. All the warnings about hatch mounting asside I think its doable. I have already found struts that will do the job and tested them. Using A dual strut design with mismatched leangths . Found struts and brakets that work perfectly . I am using struts from a Pontiac Transport. Modified two sets of brackets to install the extra struts . Works fantsticwith the extra weight of a 35 spare. 3 struts hold ,fails with only two. I believe the only way to truly test the practicality is to actully try it. The carrier will be designed from 1x3 or 1x 2 perimiter frame sourrouding the hattch window bolting though the hatch and numerous points to evenly spread the load across the from entire hatch mounting the tire at the center of the lower cross beam. with an x brace from the top corners to the mid cross beam where the carrier is mounted the framework will be spaced aproximatly two inches from the back glass . Ill be using a back up camera to compensate for lost visability. . I know this is going to ruin the hatch from ever going back to stock, but it already jacked up from a previous wheeling misshap. I think the hinges will hold and with the dual struts system there are 6 mounting points open 7 closed. Also the hatch opening and seal act as further support when the hatch is down. I WILsee if its works or not . Plan on wheeling the crap out of it .If all goes well ill be the envy of all the xj owners with those expensive swingouts . If not guess ill need a new hatch . posting a link to my strut test http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PNR6FVotPyc

I had the same idea a while back. Had to put it on the back burner for a while. Would be killer though. The other point to consider is the top hinges. A few have said there's broke with just the weight of the door alone so it will probably need some beefing. Interested in some closer shots of your strut mounting

tmmoll said:

Thanks guys. Ive never heard of the tailbone. Is it reliable?

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I love my Tailbone - here's some pictures and installation info:

Detours Tailbone Installation Pictures

The tailbone has brackets inside the frame rails for rigidity, which is great.
Unfortunately, though, they conflict with the factory nut-strips.
So if you're running a hitch, you'll have to do something about it.
I'm just getting around to that, now...

kndrewa said:

I prepared the brackets for their union. I cut the weld nut off of the end of the JCR nut-strips. Then, I cut the end off of the Tailbone bracket. In the picture below, the original pieces are on top, the modified on bottom.

Tacked in place:

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My lift gate shocks can't even hold up the hatch let alone 100lbs.

The last thing I would want on my hatch is 100 extra pounds to fall and hit me in the head. I think I would pass on this idea.

I just built a swing out tire carrier and it's a pain to get the tire up on the mount. Can't imagine that above my head.

if you have a trailer hitch get detours knucklebone its fantastic

Last I heard the tailbone wasn't available. Has that changed?

favaguitars said:

Last I heard the tailbone wasn't available. Has that changed?

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Last I heard it is not produced anymore .

Tom95YJ said:

Last I heard it is not produced anymore .

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he temporarily discontinued because he was way behind on orders for them and other stuff cause they took so long for him to make he announced it when he did it

favaguitars said:

I had the same idea a while back. Had to put it on the back burner for a while. Would be killer though. The other point to consider is the top hinges. A few have said there's broke with just the weight of the door alone so it will probably need some beefing. Interested in some closer shots of your strut mounting

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http://m1076.photobucket.com/albumview/albums/Greatwhitejeep/20120428_190917.jpg.html?o=6
http://m1076.photobucket.com/albumview/albums/Greatwhitejeep/20120428_190949.jpg.html?o=8
http://m1076.photobucket.com/albumview/albums/Greatwhitejeep/20120428_191001.jpg.html?o=2
Havent figured out how to post Pics direct from phone . But these are the close UPS of strut mounts. This is a just mock up mounting. Going to use new hardware and in addition the hatch bracket from transport will be tack welded to hatch for additional strength. Plann on picking up some extra struts and mounting brackets from another Pontiac Transport at PicknPull as spares in case of a failure. Like all pressurized struts the do ware out so having spares stashed away is only prudent. The struts can be bought brand new for double the used cost . But because the Pontiac minivans were such POSs the struts outlived every car I checked. Finding a donor was not a big deal hardest part is opening latch without a key . It has an electric release so I had to rip appart the interior panel to get to the lock / latch.