Hey guys,
I need a reccomendation b/c I can’t take the banging driving down the road… I’m at my wits end.

I have a pretty much completely stock Sahara unlimited, with aftermarket 18 inch rims, running Nitto 285 65 R18’s…

I don’t think these tires/rim combination exceed the stock Jeep spare tire carrier weight limit, but mine bangs like crazy whenever I hit a bump in the road… it is so loud, it’s become extremely difficult tolerating it, as we have crap roads wjth lots of pot holes and bumps here.

What aftermarket fire carrier won’t break the bank but, importantly, will stop the constant banging?!?!?

Many thanks in advance!!!!

 

I'd go with a hinge model like the Teraflex one. There are a lot of knockoffs of that design, but IMO this is a get what you pay for thing. I'd get the original and look at it not as sunk cost, but as an asset you could resell if you sold the jeep. You don't see those things for sale second hand very much and there is good reason for that.

 

Not sure why as my34" 285/17 tires just fit on my stocker carrier and really quiet on equally shitty Calgary roads and OR. Does the tire bind up against the rubber bungs near the midpoint of attachment? Should do that when you tighten the holding lug nuts.

 

Did your new wheels space the tire far enough away from the tailgate that the tire no longer contacts the two rubber bumpers/rests? You may just need to buy the Daystar bumpers that are longer and be cut to length so that you still compress them with the tire when on the tailgate.

 

Seconding the hinge carrier reccomendation. Teraflex one is very pricey, but smittybuilt has a very similar one thats quite a bit cheaper. I had same issue and its 100% resolved with smittybuilt hinge tire carrier.

I agree with get what you pay for in general, but these are just hunks of metal holding your tire, not sure there is much difference in structural integrity of tire carriers between 2 reputable brands. and smittybuilt one is still around 400, but its not 700!

I did opt to not re-locate the 3rd break light and instead went with LED ring, so i got me some nice spare hardware as well.



https://www.extremeterrain.com/smittybilt-pivot-hd-tire-carrier-0717.html

 

Just remove it and get a plug kit and on board air system. Why carry around that extrra 125 pounds everyday.