Was wondering how large of a tire you can fit in the spare spot without having to upgrade the bracket?

 

33" is the safest choice. However, I have a 35" on mine. Definitely gonna need to upgrade to a tire carrier.

 

Been running a 315x70R17 on stock 17" for a little over a year. No issues.

Though I have an LOD rear on order.

 

Any concerns with the extra weight on the tailgate? I am surprised to hear you don't need a spare tire spacer for 33's?

 

I'm carrying a 37 on the stock gate with no extensions or anything. Not to much wear yet but the hinges are taking some abuse. Waiting for the tire carrier to come in.

 

I am running 275/65/18 and I had to use a wheeler spacer to make it fit. Just ordered a bracket from teraflex that allows a much large tires to be used.

 

Just put 315/70-17 on my stock moabs. The spare will not fit "as is" on the stock bracket. 2 things have to be done if you're trying to stave off buying a tire carrier: 1) you'll need extended bumpstops (daystar makes them, I just used heater hose that fits in the stock bumpstops...ghetto, but it keeps the tire from moving, 2) you need a relocation bracket for the spare. This raises the tire up and out so it will actually fit on the stock carrier (MBRP makes one, both items are on quadratec). Know that if you're going to run 35's, this is only a temporary fix. You'll need a tire carrier eventually.

 

I would like to see the same. I can get a deal on the duratracs at 275/65/18 and dont know if i should fork up significant more cash for 275/70/18 for not much of a difference.

 

It will depend on wheel offset. And whether you will use a wheel spacer. Many folks are carrying 35s, but there have been occasional reports of damage to the rear gate. I'll let you search for those. Most don't have a problem, however, but a few do. That probably depends a lot on the specific tire (there was 8 pounds difference in weight between different brands when I was researching my Jeep for 35s), and how hard you are on your Jeep (bouncing around on rocks or potholed roads being problematic). I ran 33s on 4.5" BS wheels without a problem for a couple years--used a couple radiator hose sections over the tire bumpstops to keep the spare from bouncing around (this was before Daystar came out with their extensions).