summerinmaine Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 I've always wondered about the design of the spare tire carrier in the MJ. It seems to me that if the cable breaks (an ever increasing possibility as the MJ gets older) then there is nothing to keep the tire from dropping onto the roadway (on my MJ at least). Am I missing something? If not, does anyone have a suggestion for a quick and easy safety bar or net to catch a dropped spare? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akula69 Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Good point. Other then checking the cable and greasing it frequently, there really isn't a whole lot that one can do for that design. Of course, you can always bed mount the tire like Pete and others have done and forgo the cable/winch entirely. Any other attempt to secure it (i.e. nylon net attached with small bolts through grommets attached to the frame, for instance) would be subject to getting snagged by objects or ruined by the elements... :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibby Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 I had my MJ up on the hoist this weekend to do a little work and add some undercoating. I will be adding a full sized spare to the carrier so I took the donut spare off to measure if a full size will fit. There's plenty of space. The wire and winch on my truck are in very good shape and I have no doubts they will hold a full sized spare easily, but I'd really like to have the added security of some secondary device to hold it in. At the same time I don't want something too obstructive or hard to remove should I need to remove use the spare. I noticed there's scads of room to fab up a metal strap basket thing to hold the tire. In the next month or so I'll be rigging something up to do just this. A couple of different ideas have come to mind, the easiest involving using the x frame rails as mounts. I'll likely weld up two slots to the front X rails for a pair of flat steel tabs to insert into, with two holes drilled into the rear portion of the x with nuts welded over them to accomodate a large screw in butterfly bolt. The actual "basket" will just be flat steel that will be bent to the size of the tire. It'll slide into the tabs and be held in with the butterfly bolts. We use a similar setup to hold the spare tires on some of the army trucks we have here in Canada. Simple to make and easy to access when you need it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyc Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 I had the same thought when I put my 245/75/16 spare up there. So once I got it cranked up tight, I secured it with a couple of cargo straps around the tire and frame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Same here. Got a couple of 4' ratchet straps at TSC and criss-crossed them around the tire anchored to the frame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaekl Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Read your owners manual. Maine states that a bar must be used undeer a full size spare. Anbody have one or seen one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
summerinmaine Posted March 3, 2009 Author Share Posted March 3, 2009 Read your owners manual. Maine states that a bar must be used undeer a full size spare. Anbody have one or seen one? Probably a rule that was established after MJ's production run. Saw nothing in my manual. Looks like I'm not the only one to consider this. Some sort of strap would probably be the easiest fix, so I'm going to crawl under and see what will work. I already have a strap that holds my tailgate up against the camper, so I'm obviously no stranger to penny-tech solutions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tallon2064 Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 I'm not sure about the laws in many states regarding this, not even my own, but car builders are still doing it. My wife's 99 full size conversion van has the same set up as well as my boss's wife's 2004 toyota pick up.:dunno: I guess manufactures figure it's a cheap solution to where to mount the needed spare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfpdm Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Yeap, I as well have thought about this and figure, why re-invent the wheel, carrier. Figure when I get to that point in the build, I'd just use one out of an older ford or chevy. Basically find one that will fit without to much modding. :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
super_mr2 Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 Hi all, Sorry to highjack this but pulling into the driveway this afternoon, my spare tire fell off/out. I know - LUCKY. Bottom line is that this is a '91 Pioneer 2WD, can I just replace the cable or do I need a new carrier? Thanks, Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
summerinmaine Posted March 10, 2009 Author Share Posted March 10, 2009 Hi all,Sorry to highjack this but pulling into the driveway this afternoon, my spare tire fell off/out. I know - LUCKY. Bottom line is that this is a '91 Pioneer 2WD, can I just replace the cable or do I need a new carrier? Thanks, Bob Not a hijack at all; you just illustrated my point. But, unless there's something seriously wrong, chances are it was just the cable that broke. Should be easy to determine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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