As stated above this tire carrier does put it a little off center and if you have a hardtop with the wiper motor you lose most visibility. Doesn't bother me, but others it might. Not sure how you center it nad to be honest it looks good as is. I did read somewhere, and I'll see if I can find it today, about gas can holders for this. Maybe it was another forum where AEV is workign on this and the basket... I know I've see cans with this, but it may have been on the sides. behind the tire is a slot for a shovel, so doubt you could fit back there. Lovin it so far..

 

The Mopar rear bumper with swing was a pretty nice bumper for the price. My local dealer use to sell them for $1000. They are pretty heavy duty. The AEV swing probably weighs 1/3 of the complete Mopar bumper, but I get your joke. Ive owned the Mopar bumper and seen the AEV swing at AEV, so I have 1st had knowledge about both of them. I will probably end up with the AEV swing just because I like how it attaches to the tailgate. When the wife drove my last jeep, she hated that the Mopar swing was seperate from the tailgate. She sometimes had a hard time opening it. The AEV swing would fix this problem.

 

This setup is from Expedition One.

 

You're right about the weight. The swing arm weighs 38lbs. The spindle housing, saddle block and misc. hardware add another 12lbs.

 

The tire on an AEV carrier sits a couple inches higher than the factory carrier. The OEM carrier on the tailgate is meant for smaller tires so it can sit closer to the bumper. I've got a 35" tire on my AEV bumper/carrier and I can't see anything directly behind me. Just a bit out around the edges of the tire. I could be sitting in front of a Ford F150 at a stop light and not know it.

This isn't a design flaw in the carrier though. Its simply a drawback to having a full sized spare.

To get around the problem I added a rear view camera.

 

Here's how mine sits...

 

Exactly. Look how much window there is at the top if the tire. You'll only see a car directly behind you if it's roofline is taller than the top of the tire and he's right behind you. The farther behind you he is though, the taller he has to be for you to see him. You can see around the side's a bit. It looks like there is a lot of clear window space on the driver side.... but it doesn't amount to much visibility.

 

Yup. If a car is right behind you, you will not see it. Otherwise I find I can get around fine. Just this morning I left a traffic light thinking I was all alone. After driving a few feet, realized there was a car behind me

 

Yours looks really well centered compared to others.

 

That's a good point, it's looks a lot straighter then other jeepers pix. Did u do something to install it that way or did it just land that way?