My folding spare tire hitch carrier

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Topic author
candymancan
Posts: 3652
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2016 11:32 pm

My folding spare tire hitch carrier

Post by candymancan »

Just thought id share what i did today. I got to cleaning the rust and painting my V style hitch from a 79 cherokee golden eagle i got 2 months ago.

Mounted right up to my 90. I couldnt find anyone who would sell me a wagoneer rim. They just wanted to sell all 4 so i decided to use the steel rim from the factory spare. Had to clean up some rust and paint it. Had a small shop mount my spare on it and you can tell its the original spare lol the bead inside was so fused to the rim it tore right off haha. Inside of the rim was still clean and painted though.

Anyway i used a folding hitch carrier for those baskets people put on there cars hitchs. I got it here.

https://www.sportsmansguide.com/product ... ?a=2213997

And for the tire carrier itself i used the curt spare tire carrier.

https://www.amazon.com/CURT-31006-Hitch ... B0009YIE1O


What i did was cut the lower L shaped part of the curt hitch carrier off. The part that goes in your hitch. And then the remaining main peice slides into the folding carrier i got. Line it up and beat it with a rubber mallet leaving it about 1 inch from thr bottom so it can fold down. Then drill two holes in it to match the holes on the folding hitch carrier.

Get yourself some locking pins with a key so no one steal your tire carrier and your folding hitch.

Then i used M12 1.50 bolts and three wheel locks from autozone so no one steals my tire. Im going to wrape it with a bike cable too just in case. I dont trust anyone.

Anyway it looks great i think. It isnt in the way of my view when driving. The folding carrier i got in the link does has a 5k lbs ball mount so you can still tow if needed. Although when folding my tire down it does stop it from going 100% down. I might add a adapter to the curt carrier to raised it up a few inchs so it can fold down more.

But for now when its folded down i have very easy access to walk in there and get whatever out with the window down. And the tailgate goes down about 90% of the way.

I love it. Just need to do some tweaks to raise it like i said so itll fold down a little more as the tire hits the ball mount. Just need a tire cover to keep the sun off my tire so it doesnt dry rot over the years.


The reason why i made my own vs buying those chinese premade ones is the premade ones on amazon thr bolt holes dont line up properly. The welds are HORRIBLE and they use very thin metal ive seen reviews where the carriers bent in half from the thin metal. The curt tire carrier and this folding hitch mount use extremely thick metal. Thick like your trailer hitch itself. So yea. For safety i made this myself

What do you guys think ?

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1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.9L Limited 219k
1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0 I6 laredo 430k
1990 Jeep Grand Wagoneer 155k
1976 Jeep J10.. 85k(repaired)

letank
Posts: 4010
Joined: Wed Oct 03, 2012 9:16 pm
Location: SF bay area

Re: My folding spare tire hitch carrier

Post by letank »

very clever design, cheers to your ingenuity
Michel
74 wag (349 Kmiles... parked, next step is a rust free body)
85 Gwag (229 Kmiles... the running test lab)

Topic author
candymancan
Posts: 3652
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2016 11:32 pm

Re: My folding spare tire hitch carrier

Post by candymancan »

Ill post an update as i fix thr issue if it folding down all the way, the tire just needs to go up a few inchs so itll fold down more giving more room for the tailgate. But for now the tailgate goes down plenty to gain access inside.

Ill admit a few others have thought of this on google but i didnt copy them. I came up with it myself but then did research and found a few others thought of something similar.

I like this better than just tossing the tire on the thin flimsy roof. Or inside the Jeep itself.
1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.9L Limited 219k
1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0 I6 laredo 430k
1990 Jeep Grand Wagoneer 155k
1976 Jeep J10.. 85k(repaired)

letank
Posts: 4010
Joined: Wed Oct 03, 2012 9:16 pm
Location: SF bay area

Re: My folding spare tire hitch carrier

Post by letank »

candymancan wrote: Tue Sep 15, 2020 6:09 pm I like this better than just tossing the tire on the thin flimsy roof. Or inside the Jeep itself.
If you have a trailer or a motorcycle carrier and you get a flat, that undersidel spare tire location is impossible to reach with stock height... then you cannot use the a bumper jack... Add to misery: try getting it fixed at midnight when you pull out of the freeway in the no so good part of a town, and a poor wandering soul tells you that with its bare hands, he will lift the FSJ so you can change the wheel...

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Michel
74 wag (349 Kmiles... parked, next step is a rust free body)
85 Gwag (229 Kmiles... the running test lab)
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freehold
Posts: 105
Joined: Wed Nov 20, 2019 7:52 am
Location: Cackalack

Re: My folding spare tire hitch carrier

Post by freehold »

letank wrote: Wed Sep 16, 2020 3:24 pm
candymancan wrote: Tue Sep 15, 2020 6:09 pm I like this better than just tossing the tire on the thin flimsy roof. Or inside the Jeep itself.
If you have a trailer or a motorcycle carrier and you get a flat, that undersidel spare tire location is impossible to reach with stock height... then you cannot use the a bumper jack... Add to misery: try getting it fixed at midnight when you pull out of the freeway in the no so good part of a town, and a poor wandering soul tells you that with its bare hands, he will lift the FSJ so you can change the wheel...

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Jeep escape pod!
1987 GW, 202k miles, AMC 360 engine rebuilt 62k ago, all more or less bone stock
1997 Grand Cherokee ZJ, 244k and still going
When it rains, I drive an MDX

Topic author
candymancan
Posts: 3652
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2016 11:32 pm

Re: My folding spare tire hitch carrier

Post by candymancan »

letank wrote: Wed Sep 16, 2020 3:24 pm
candymancan wrote: Tue Sep 15, 2020 6:09 pm I like this better than just tossing the tire on the thin flimsy roof. Or inside the Jeep itself.
If you have a trailer or a motorcycle carrier and you get a flat, that undersidel spare tire location is impossible to reach with stock height... then you cannot use the a bumper jack... Add to misery: try getting it fixed at midnight when you pull out of the freeway in the no so good part of a town, and a poor wandering soul tells you that with its bare hands, he will lift the FSJ so you can change the wheel...

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Are you saying i cant access my tire with what i did or with the tire under the Jeep ? Because mine has a ball attachment for a trailer up to 5k lbs.

If you mean the underside tire..tea i hate that position anyway. I dont wanna crawl under my Jeep to get a tire. Or go on the roof to grab a tire ona steal rim this thing weighs probly close to 80lbs lol.

Only (downside if you csn call it that) with the thing i made is adding the hitch. This carrier and folding thing with my tire, added probably 200lbs of weight in the back im guessing. Which dropped my lift about .5 inchs lol.

. I use bottle jacks the original jacks our Jeeps have can be dangerous as they can shoot back in your face. If you grab some bottle jacks from Jeep ZJs from the salvage yard they can go under the Axles or leaf spring mount in the front to lift the axle up to fix a flat. Chaulk the wheels of course just in case with any jack.

My folding carrier can be modified with this attackment as well. You could have your bike and the spare in the back


https://www.harborfreight.com/dual-hitc ... _8QAvD_BwE
1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.9L Limited 219k
1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0 I6 laredo 430k
1990 Jeep Grand Wagoneer 155k
1976 Jeep J10.. 85k(repaired)

letank
Posts: 4010
Joined: Wed Oct 03, 2012 9:16 pm
Location: SF bay area

Re: My folding spare tire hitch carrier

Post by letank »

candymancan wrote: Wed Sep 16, 2020 4:22 pm Are you saying i cant access my tire with what i did or with the tire under the Jeep ?
I was saying that with anything attached behind the bumper you cannot reach the spare tire easily, this is why your idea is a real useful idea.

Yes, I have a bottle jack after that incident... which I believe was a hand gun fired at me ... I heard the pop... then the rear started to sway... luckily an exit was less than 500 feet away, so I managed to exit and park near a gas station with plenty of lighting to ease the process.
Michel
74 wag (349 Kmiles... parked, next step is a rust free body)
85 Gwag (229 Kmiles... the running test lab)
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