I've been thinking about removing my spare tire and some how placing it in the cargo area. I know this question has been presented before, but I haven't seen any real good solutions. I was woundering in anyone has taken a set (4) of D-rings shackel tabs and have them welded into the cargo area. This would give you at less mounting points and then you can use a set of tie-straps to anchor the tire down.

my main concern are my children and making sure their o.k and if for some reason we get rear-ended, I don't want that tire becoming a missile back there.

 

You can do something like this, placing them where you need them. If you don't want to make the tie downs, you can buy them commercially. They go by the name Bed Bolts.
Hold the tire down with a good cargo net, similar to that in the second picture.

Tying it down will prevent it from becoming a missile, but it will still be a battering ram from the tailgate directly to the back of the seats.

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-w...-downs-179999/

Here is a pic showing the tie down rings from that link.





Cargo net:

 

This is where we plan to run the spare on my build (this shot is just a mock-up but the final version should be very close to this):

 

Why not set something up like a stock XJ or ZJ has, just on the floor? A small loop on the floor and J-bolt to go through it.



You can use some threaded rod and a coupler nut to extend the bolt so it goes high enough through the tire.