So,,, I have a 2 door sitting on coilovers,, with a 5" stretch on the wheelbase. I have about 7" of up travel. Like everyone else,, I have a spare tire hanging off the rear. A 37" BFG KM2(70 lbs) with a spyderlock 17" rim(45 lbs). So that is 115 lbs hanging off the back of my jeep. More exactly,, 36" behind the rear axle. The spare was sitting on the swing arm of a M.O.R.E. rear bumper,, which I love,, but with that much weight, I was changing Heim Joints every 6 months to keep it from squeaking due to wearing out( the only fault I found with the bumper). The bumper also carried my Highlift Jack above the bumper and at an angle that placed the top of the jack level with the roofline( another 30-40 LBS, 36" back)
The way my jeep handled with this set up was not great. That much weight, that far back was causing my Jeep to bottom out too easily over less than large obstacles. My first solution to this was to go purchase and install King bump stops. ( who wouldn't want to spend $600 just burning a hole through his pocket?) The bump stops helped the bottoming; however, I was still hitting them going up such mundane things as a driveway, although at considerable speed. I still thought this was unacceptable, so I came up with the following plan.

I decided to put the spare in the rear of the tub where the back seat used to be. I don't have kids and never used the rear seat anyway. This alone would move the 115 LBS directly over the rear axle, thereby eliminating the 36" fulcrum affect. When I placed the tire in the tub,,,, the difference in the way the Jeep handled was amazing!!!!!! I could hit any driveway or street type bump as fast as I wanted and The suspension didn't even make it to the bumpstops!!! When I accelerate away from lights, the body movement from the front to the rear was also greatly diminished. I was very happy with the improvement!!!

So,, I decided to make that change permanent. The spare will be mounted directly to the rear seat mounts, angled forward, and the Highlift Jack will be mounted sideways behind the front seats, with the heavy end (Base) on the drivers side. Then I needed something to take up the rear of the Jeep where the spare used to sit. I decided on 2 Rotopax gas cans mounted to the same arm the spare used to be mounted on. I also thought this would be a great time to move my rear license plate from the corner to the center rear of the Jeep. And lastly,, place a CB antenna base centered on the swing arm. For the License plate I ordered a GenRight License plate light/3rd brake light.

Today I started the project by cutting off the spare mount on the M.O.R.E. swingarm. A buddy of mine fab'd up the mounts for the Rotopax cans and made a new heavier duty joint attaching the swingarm to the tailgate. The plate will be mounted centered, directly behind the Rotopax cans with a quick disconnect for removal of the cans. The antenna mount is also pending. The spare tire cradle bracket is next on the list of things to do. I will keep you guys posted on the progress.

These pics are of how it used to be.

 

Here is the first step in the process. As you can see, we cut off the top of the swing arm and made it flat Vs. the round top it had. I think I'm going to cut off another inch or inch and 1/2. The antenna will sit on top of that flat space, and the license plate will be centered toward the top of the Rotopax tanks. I forgot to mention the other benefit of this mod. I will now be able to see out the back of the Jeep via the rear view mirror. It was worthless with a 37" tire out back!
The tire is just sitting in the back of the tub right now,,, later it will be in a cradle, held down with a TRI Ratchet Strap.

 

I saw where some used a plate that is made to fit a larger wheel and tire on the door and mounted it to the bed so it would hold the Sapir

 

So,, I finally finished this project. These pics show what we came up with. The cage is actually capable of holding a 40" tire ( for the future shoes). The gas rack got tabbed for the CB antenna.

The only issue I have is that I don't like the Speed Strap Tri-ratchet strap. so I will be ordering the pieces I need from US CARGO and making it myself.

The CB wont be in until I install a Rock Hard Roll Cage because thats what I'm mounting the CB to.
Overall,, I'm very happy with the results. It looks Bad Ass,, and it is very functional. The Jeep suspension handles much better with all the weight moved forward. I cant wait to wheel with it like this!

The whole cage unbolts from the floor with 3 bolts(two were pre existing and the third was drilled and nut-certed) and I can remove it and have the back seat in place in about 5 minutes! The rack ended up weighing 28 lbs, but I probably removed 20 Lbs from the prior bumper system, so I might be 8 Lbs heavier.

 

Nice work man! Love to see the ideas for spare relocations. Let us know how it handles on the trail.

 

Thanks,,, I hated the weight off the back end! I realize this solution wont work for everyone,,, but like you said,, just throwing ideas for others to use or modify for their own needs.

 

I had mine like that for a couple of years before I back halved.... I have two suggestions/questions to your relocation.

1. Why build that huge rack?
Isn't one of the reasons you wanted to do this was rid weight.

2. Lay the tire flat.
You can use the top to place your tool box, cooler, etc.... slanted it would seem would have an exact opposite effect, losing valuable space.

 

Thats a good question. The reason I needed a rack of some sort is because I have a subframe for my coilovers which comes up into the tub about 10". There isnt enough room for the tire to sit flat. The subframe is sheeted off with aluminum. I wasn't comfortable laying the spare on top of the aluminum sheet for fear it would not hold up structurally with the weight of the spare, let alone the weight of anything else I secured on top.

But your suggestion still offers a second option where I could have raised the front (leading edge) of the spare to be even with the rear, over the suspension tunnel. This would have provided me with a good 10" space of storage below the tire, then I could have also had additional storage on top of the tire.

That option would have still required a carrier of some sort to be fabbed, and would slightly raised the weight of the tire; however miniscule.
You can see the suspension tunnel here.

But now you have given me an idea for a flat rack that goes from the jack to the rear top edge of the tire!

 

beasty build

 

I like your thought process in getting to this point. Makes perfect sense for your build.