I have my LoD Bumper and carrier mounted...

I have noticed, when I hit bumps in the road, that the carrier shakes a bit....
Makes no noise, but shakes slightly.

Is this a normal characteristic of an aftermarket carrier? I have no experience with them.

 

Can you move it around by hand? I guess a normal amount of sway in the joints would be acceptable, but if the pivot point moves around or the latch isnt tight, that may lead to problems in the future. I'd think those things are supposed to be pretty well tightened down...

 

I've got the LoD rear bumper with the carrier like you. No shakes or rattles, here. Check your snubber to make sure it's snug against the rack. I was actually surprised how steady/sturdy the tire carrier is...

 

by hand i absolutely cannot move it. the snubber is very tight against the carrier, it bulges pretty good.

When I say shake, its not like its moving too much.. but when I look out my rear window, I can see movement, almost like just vibration I guess....

Im thinking of tightening the latch more, but I feel like if I do, my girlfriend wont be able to operate it.

 

I'd recommend tighting the latch just to see if that stops the slight movement. If that fixes the problem, then you'll have to tell your girlfriend to buy a weight set.

 

she is a weakling

 

Same with my wife. I just use the fact that she can't open the tire carrier as one more reason for her not to drive the Jeep! She can ride shotgun all she wants!

 

I have the Mopar carrier and it is pretty solid form a shake standpoint but I have had one issues with the way it latches into the bumper. It's a spring loaded pin that drops into a hole in the bumper. That's it. It has twice popped out when I hit a really hard bump. The spring comprised and it moved out. I am working on a fix now so it will not happen again. Needs some sort of safety latch or something on the spring mount plate.

Not a very good design from a latch standpoint from Mopar but other than that it's a solid mount for the 35.

 

The LoD tire carrier latch is really solid. User has the ability to tighten/loosen. I've got a 35 on the carrier, with the tire mount in the middle length hole.

Racer, which hole do you have the tire carrier mount attached to the mount tube? When you notice movement, are you seeing the tire move, or the whole carrier?

 

I've been having this issue as well. It was just the tire shaking/vibrating causing that adjustable bolt to squeak and give way. I since installed some rubber stoppers to add contact between the tire and the carrier rack and now the whole rack vibrates/shakes when going down the highway.