So I have 315/70/17s on the stock Moabs I thought I needed a spacer, like the spidertrax I have to run with this tire wheel combo, to mount this on the stock tire carrier. Turns out that I need two and the tire just barely clears the bumper with two. With both of those spacers I have a good 2.5 - 3" between the tire and the rubber tire "rests" on the tailgate.

Does the braintrust here think I'll be ok driving for a week and a half like this. I will be driving about 1200 miles on vacation during the week and a half however. The only off-road with a chance to bounce it around will be when I drive on the beach and through the dunes. I could always try to rig something to brace the tire, but haven't really kicked that idea around too much.

Interested in your thoughts. Thanks.

 

I think you will be fine on the road. I had my 35 on the stock mount for months without issue. My tire is about 3/4" away from the rubber stops.

I finally bent my tailgate after hauling ass down a 2 track and hitting a washout which bottomed out my rear suspension petty hard.

you should be good in the dunes too unless you hit a transition at the bottom of a dune super hard. You can always drop the spare while you hit the dunes too.

 

I've been running a 315/70/17 spare on my stock carrier for a few weeks w/o any sign of stress. I picked up the longer daystar bumpstops and the tomken spare tire relocator but the spare is too far away now by about an inch. I also ordered a reinforcement piece from a member on this forum to distribute the weight on the tailgate.

 

If you must go this route, ditch the spacers and go with a bracket that moves the tire up and out, and as mentioned the extended bump stops

 

I appreciate that idea, and it makes sense, but I am leaving in two days. There isn't enough time to pull that together by then, not to mention that I will be putting a bumper with a tire carrier on it not too long after I return.

It sounds like others have done similar for longer, so I think I'm going to roll the dice and go for it. I still welcome any input though.

Thanks all!

 

Why take a chance. Buy tire plug kit and a cheap compressor and leave the spare at home.

 

I've had my GY Duratracs 315/70R17 spare on for about 4000 miles so far with no problems. I've wheeled 2 times on some pretty easy trails as well. It's not long term as I'm waiting for my bumper/tire carrier to arrive in the next couple weeks, but you should be fine.

 

I'm probably just gonna lay my spare 35 in the back until I have the money to buy a carrier, seems like a good idea if your afraid of damaging your tailgate.

 

Try and see if you can use just 1 spacer. This way you can rest the bottom part of the tire against the bumper. This is what I'm doing on mine, but I also have the longer tailgate bump stops. I think it would be better than just let it hang there entirely on the tailgate mounts.

 

35" MTR on stock tailgate carrier for about 7k miles now. No spacer needed.
I think you will be ok for a lil bit but you might be asking for trouble using two spacers.




It's close but doesn't actually touch the bumper, there's about an 1/18" gap