I haven't seen these...but always liked them on older jeeps....

idea would be a tire gate instead of a rear door...where the tire mounts leaning inwards, towards the back seat....and then I would need some sort of soft top that ended right behind the rear seat


Example of tiregate:
tiregate.com/prerunner_0.shtml

And an example of a 1/2 cab enclosure (That I know is not recommended...plus the back seats must be laid down for this to work
************.com/softtop4_half.html

Has anybody seen a setup similar to this on a JK??? just curious

 

The only one I've seen "similar" to your idea is the Skunkwerks Rubicon, but they left the door on and mounted the tire in the cargo area at an angle. But I think your idea would be an interesting one, provided you are OK with giving up some cargo area.

 

Sounds like an interesting plan. Let me know if you figure anything out.

 

I'm fine w/ giving up some room....not going to buy a rear bumper until I try to design a tire-carrier that would replace the rear door

thought I may be able to weld something together and put it on a hinge, attached to a beefier rear bumper

....but I still haven't seen any 1/2 cab covers for the 4 door that would leave the rear similar to a small truck bed