Mark Doiron

EDIT: Hey, everyone, thanks for the concern. Quite a few of you suggest that the best option is to replace the bracket (See below if you haven't already read this, but then return here). Seer1 has graciously offered to send me the one removed from his JK for a fair price, and I've accepted. Thanks for the help, advice and words of concern!

ORIGINAL POST:

My son backed my JK into a pole just a little while ago. It jammed the spare into the sheet metal of the tailgate, making minor bends in that sheetmetal, and cracking the tire bracket in three places. Here are some images, lest this thread be deemed worthless. Worst damage is shown in the first image.







The paint is missing because I've already done quite a bit of pounding on the bracket to get the tire to set straight--which it's pretty close right now. The problem is that I can't get that gap in the first image to close any more until I bolt the tire into place. Then it closes down to about 1/16". I'm considering repairing the damaged areas on the inside with Marine-Tex, a very powerful adhesive that I've had remarkable success with in the past. But, I'm concerned about losing a tire while wheeling or, worse yet, tooling down the highway.

So, my options are:

1. Continue with my repair idea. If I do that, any suggestions on matching the paint and pebbly finish?

2. Buy a new bracket from the dealer. I'm going to have a seal replaced on the top tomorrow, so I'll check the price of that.

3. Get lucky and find someone here on JK-Forum who has replaced this bracket and will sell it to me for a song (are you out there????)

I'm interested in your opinions.

And, for the record, this is my 17-year old son's second run-in with a pole. The first occurred at Sugarite Canyon in NM when he backed the soon-to-be-his Ford F-150 into a post while departing a campsite. I've told him and told him that trees and poles will jump in back of a vehicle if the driver doesn't pay close attention, but it takes a few of these for all of us to learn. At least it was only a pole and in both instances the poles survived unscathed (and in this second one, there's plenty of evidence that he is not the first person to hit this pole directly behind a parking spot where we're having the windshield repaired on same F-150!!!).

Robar

Look here for the tire carrier.
https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/show...t=tire+carrier

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/show...t=tire+carrier

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/show...t=tire+carrier

Not sure I would trust repairing the damaged tire carrier.

LidLess07X

Unless you are planning to hard core 'wheel your JK and tear it up anyway, I would get it fixed professionally and hand your son the bill. Tough/good lesson for your son to learn and your JK will be fixed right and be safe from worries of your tire falling off. On the plus side, someday, you and your son will laugh about the time he smashed your new Jeep and you made him pay for it.

Mark Doiron

Uh, it's more complicated than that. Suffice it to say that if he pays, it'll come from money that I have to spend on his behalf (I'm a widower and he draws social security benefits because of it). If he had a job, he'd gladly pay from money he earns. But, he can't have a job because the high school he attends (Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics) is a residence school and won't let them off campus except on the weekend--and then he has a ton of homework. It is arguably the number one public high school in the country, but it does cramp a teen's lifestyle.

Anyway, I'm not going to get too excited about it. At least they were poles. A friend of his managed to drive his Cheyenne out into traffic, knocking off the entire front end and piercing the radiator and sending the other driver to the hospital. I'd rather a pole get a few tire marks on it.

Robar

Unless the pole is holding up a bridge, they are fairly easily re-set.

FzyPchz

Mark, sorry to read (and see) the damage to your JK, but glad your son and no one was hurt! Rear visibility on the Jeep isn't all that great to begin with (especially w/ the tire there), so a young inexperience driver is definitely in a disadvantage. I agree w/ others posting to have it either professionally repaired or just replacing the bracket altogether. You may want to consider investing in a back up camera system of some sort, especially if your son will be driving the Jeep more regularly (DB8888 did a great Write-up). I personally hope to get one installed soon. Hitting a pole is one thing, but my head does that dreaded "what if"scenarios and worry about hitting a person (especially a child). Good luck w/ getting your Jeep fixed!

Mark Doiron

Thanks! I've posted in those threads.

--mark d.

Mark Doiron

Yeah, except the top and doors are off the Jeep, and it's a very tall pole for a sign (at least 15-20 feet). He knew the pole was there, but he got distracted by watching that he cleared the adjacently parked vehicle with the corner of the front bumper. And, admittedly, the pole is directly behind the parking spot in a very vulnerable location. My annoyance with him, and my counseling to him, was that had he chosen to turn the other direction, there was no vehicle on that side, and he could have made the same 180 degree turn to enter onto the roadway. Instead, he chose the way with the greatest risk. We had a discussion about that, and I do believe that a lesson was learned.

BTW: Normally I look back when he's backing up, but I too was distracted. With the doors off the label on the passenger seatbelt had started flapping around and was coming off. So I was in the process of pulling it off when the bump/crack occurred. :(

jeepcrd2008

I got one for my TJ for 15 bucks including shipping.
Wait for one to show up.. setup a snipper bid at you max price, and bam, your done.

Make the kid do the wrench work to make up for it.
.

Magister

Insurance? Why not just file for it? If you dont' have a bad insurance track record, it won't hurt you too bad. Just pay your deductible.