icrashbikes

The TF tire carrier came in today. Got it installed. Overall impression is that it's a good kit that will definitely do what it's supposed to. It's a nice piece of equipment. The instructions were straightforward and the installation was pretty simple. Took me around two hours, but consider that I spent plenty of time wiping things down, running back inside for tools and rags, and generally enjoying myself. I decided to get this thing on before bumping up to 35s so I hung the stock Rubicon 32 from it, so unfortunately I don't have any fitment info for you guys. I also reused the stock tire mounting bracket, I figure I'll just use it till it breaks or until I have some other pressing reason to change it. So here goes..

The box.


What's included, the carrier, bag of hardware and instrucrions


Close up of the finish


What's in the bag, two spacers, 4 bolts and washers, a T50 Torx wrench


For reference, the stock setup


Minus the tire


First step is to take apart the third brake light. Apparently for way bigger tires, this setup will change, but I ended up reusing the stocker


Then the tire mounting bracket comes off


The tailgate getting cleaned up


Then the plastic hinge covers come off


The hinge bolts come out of the tailgate..


Then these 3 Torx on each hinge come out of the corner


Here's the clean tailgate. Super easy so far. Also, TF has you prop the tailgate up off the bumper so it doesn't go anywhere when you pull the hinge. I used a strip of wood I had kickin around and some paint sticks as shims


So now it gets fun. The new hinge gets temporarily bolted up on the outside bolts. Then you have to open the hinge to get to the bolts on the inside. The hinges are pretty frickin stiff so you kinda have to hold them down and move the hinge a little at a time, alternating from top to bottom or it feels like you're pulling pretty hard on the tub.


These are the outside bolts


Don't forget to pull the rubber tire stopper thinger from the passenger side. I pulled em both, but the driver side can stay


Now, TF wants you to close the hinge on the tailgate while the T50s are loose so you can put the bolts into the tailgate and get the hinge position right and tighten the two outer Torx screws. Then you have to remove the tailgate bolts to get access the inner Torx screws. Which is exactly what I did the first time. The body side of the hinge (with the Torx screws) doesn't really have much room to move left to right. The tailgate bolts were at the edge of their holes, but I set them in there anyway and tightened the whole thing down in order. The next step is to put the tire mounting bracket back on, but the holes were too far out of alignment. I loosened everything up again and squeezed every last bit of adjustment in the hinge to the right. I put bolts in the 4 holes where the tire bracket mounts, and one in the hinge where it mounts to the tailgate, and then retightened the Torx screws. It's still at the edge of adjustment, but all the bolts go in now without cutting threads into the new hinge. Long story short, the picture shows how I set the proper location of the new hinge


Then everything gets bolted back up. There are 2 spacers included if you're reusing the stock tire bracket. They fit.


And the tire goes back on


Check that the tailgate functions properly (flawless)


And a close up for good measure


Notes:
I had the CB antenna mounted using a Rugged Ridge bracket. The shape of the TF hinge at that top right corner of the tire mounting bracket doesn't allow the RR CB bracket to fit. Someone here mounted his upside down on the bottom left bolts, but I didn't have the coax length to reach and I did not want to open that can of worms today.

The hinge operation is stiffer, but not in a bad way. It used to be real easy to give the gate a little nudge and have it go swinging home. Now it requires a bit more deliberate effort. They may ease up with use, we'll see.

After a quick test drive, there are no rattles or anything that even lets me know something is different. So, good deal there.

The 4 included bolts and washers were not used. I'm assuming they are for parts I don't have.

The instructions for reinstalling the factory tire mount say 'as shown' and yet there is no picture. No big deal, but I'm trying to be thorough.

The only complaint I have is the misalignment of the bolt holes on the tailgate. They are right at the edge of the hinge holes. I'm sure there are slight variations in the Jeeps out there and that's all this boils down to, and it's no big thing because the hinge is mounted up and working perfectly.. So whatever. It's not really even a complaint.

There are more pictures, I uploaded them all here: TF Tire Carrier pictures by halo6 - Photobucket

I'm very pleased with it. Now, time for wheels!! Woooo!!!


To Teraflex: Thanks for the sweet hinge. But now my CB antenna bracket doesn't fit. I don't want to screw around changing mounting locations and playing with the SWR meter over and over. I did my part here, I pre-ordered, I paid in advance, I waited patiently, and I installed a hinge with 3 big shiny threaded holes showing. You owe me a CB/hi-lift/rotopax mount. I'll even pay for it. Please, please... sooner than later. Other than that, awesome and thanks!




And another note, these pictures are huge. I didn't resize everything. I think the forum might do it automatically? If not and they are unbearably large, I'll edit with resized pics. But really, that's a lot of work....

Absolute

Good job and thanks for the write-up.

icrashbikes

I'm assuming they are for the additional mounts that are planned. There are actually 3 more holes, but they are hidden by the tire. And look at that, another one on the bottom. Crazy

JacksonH

Awesome! I might pick one of these up when the HD adjustable spare tire mounting kit comes out. The detailed pictures help make the decision easier

mrlobaloba

The 4 bolts and washers replace the ones on the door. I am not sure why they are longer, but maybe its for extra strength.

TeraFlex

Something like that.....

CFA

Great write up crash, I think I may make a purchase!

icrashbikes

Huh. My instructions said to reuse the factory bolts. Unless I read something wrong. I'll check tonight when I get home. I could just swap them out, but I don't see how the extra length will help any. The threads of the stock bolts are more than enough to fully engage the tailgate.

icrashbikes

Glad I could help! It's a nice hinge. Very tough. As long as the body side hinge mounts are as beefy as TF says they are, you could mount a few spare tires up there.




Don't actually DO that though... I mean, just in case.

conifers4

Great writeup! Very well written and your photos of every step will be a great help to others. Thanks much